Welcome to the Emerald Ensemble’s Spring 2008 Season

The Emerald Ensemble is Bristol’s Professional Chamber Orchestra, and has been bringing top quality performances of the finest music to audiences in the West of England and beyond since 1994. The first half of 2008 promises to be another busy and exciting season for the ensemble, with over 30 concerts ranging from intimate chamber pieces to large orchestral works, and working with several outstanding soloists, choirs and conductors.

On 18 January we will continue our successful association with film by performing Charlie Chaplin’s original music (recently rescored by Timothy Brock) to his classic silent comedy The Gold Rush. The performance, part of the Bristol Silents Comedy Festival, will be presented by Paul Merton, fresh from his BBC2 series Silent Clowns.

The film theme continues on 5 April, when we will be at St George’s Bristol performing music from Edward Williams’ beautiful score accompanying the BBC series ‘Life on Earth’. We will share the billing with another group of talented local musicians, the Pindrop Band, who will provide a slightly different perspective on the theme of birds and birdsong.

Our regular engagements at the Henleaze Concert Society will be enhanced this year with a series of free pre-concert talks given by Jonathan James of The South West Academy Of Dramatic Arts, promising to provide an informative and entertaining introduction to each evening’s programme.

During May we will be collaborating with some of today’s most innovative artists in ‘Elektrostatic’, an exciting series of concerts of 20 th Century music in the newly-refurbished Colston Hall Bar. Come along to encounter unique sonic and visual experiences and rarely heard classics of the avant-garde.

We are delighted to be involved in this year’s Prom on the Close, one of the annual highlights of Bristol’s musical year, which this year features Lesley Garrett. Hopefully the great British summer will be kind to us – why not bring a picnic and join us there?

As always, full details of these concerts, including any late changes or additions, will be available on our website www.emeraldensemble.com. I look forward to seeing you at some of these concerts!

Roger Huckle

Founder and Artistic Director