As Bristol Beacon’s Orchestra in Residence the BSO is delighted to be performing a BBC Proms performance, with a concert featuring Tchaikovsky’s heart-on-sleeve Symphony No. 5, alongside Jennifer Higdon’s flamboyant Percussion Concerto with soloist Evelyn Glennie.
The concert opens with a little-known gem of Ukrainian music. Feodor Akimenko was born in Kharkiv in 1876, going on to teach Igor Stravinsky before writing his beautiful ‘Poème-Nocturne’ Angel in 1912. The BSO’s Ukrainian Chief Conductor (and Akimenko aficionado) Kirill Karabits conducts it here as a prelude to American composer Jennifer Higdon’s exuberant Percussion Concerto, played by Evelyn Glennie, and Tchaikovsky’s evocative Symphony No. 5.
Knell by Iranian composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh offers a glance back to Akimenko’s Angel in its momentary, symbolic plea for peace