City of London Sinfonia launches new concert series 'CLoSer'

**salymap** · 03-09-11, 14:02

Chris Newman has told me about the orchestra and I wish I could get to one or two of their concerts Becca.
Good luck to them after their recent office problems and keepus posted on the concerts salymap

**Al R Gando** · 03-09-11, 14:07

A very talented orchestra indeed - best wishes for this excellent endeavour.

**french frank** · 03-09-11, 14:29

The further details are here.

Bite-sized concerts with a glass of wine and 'talking programme notes' sound as accessible to new listeners as 'Elvira Madigan' and a chance to tell everyone which holiday it reminds you of ...

Ignore the dig: I just regret that it's in London. Maybe we could all get our local orchestras, pro, semi-pro and pro-am, to do something similar.

**Becca_mezzo** · 18-11-11, 12:19

If you're unfamiliar with the Village Underground venue, more information is available here:http://cls.posterous.com/introducing-our-newest-venue
There are still a few tickets available for the first concert next week, which is conducted by the lovely Michael Collins. The programme has changed slightly - it now features the Jacob Mini-Concerto for Clarinet instead of the Milton Clarinet Concertino.

**aeolium** · 18-11-11, 13:08

I'm a great fan of Michael Collins. He brought his London Winds down to give a concert here a while back, and it was superb (including the Mozart Gran Partita). I also remember seeing him, as principal Philharmonia clarinet, give a short illustrated talk (with IIRC John Amis) about Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin suite, before a performance of the work at the South Bank. What a musician!

**Eine Alpensinfonie** · 18-11-11, 22:02

Not wishing to spoil the party, but I wish people could simply listen.

**Chris Newman** · 18-11-11, 23:44

I have been to two CLS concerts this year and can thoroughly recommend them. I heard their Britten, David Bedford and Mozart Requiem Prom. They, the soloists and the chorus were grand. It was the excellent Stephen Layton conducting that time. I also heard them at the Wiltshire Music Centre (Lovely, lovely accoustics, though like the Queen Elizabeth Hall built to double as a nuclear bunker). There they had Michael Collins who played fabulously in his orchestral of Weber's Clarinet Quintet and is a great conductor. The programme was pretty much as below which is repeated at Chelmsford on Sunday the 20th November:

Rossini: String Sonata No 1
Shostakovich: Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra (Peter Donahoe, Nicholas Betts)
Weber: Clarinet Quintet arranged for clarinet and strings
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence

I would tip Mike Collins as a LNOTP conductor.

I must try to get up to one of concerts at Spitalfield's Village Underground. I'll try to tie it in with a gallery visit.

**Chris Newman** · 23-11-11, 22:32

Last night (Tuesday 22nd November) I was lucky enough to get up to Shoreditch to hear the City of London Sinfonia in the first of the series of 'CLoSer' concerts. at the Village Underground in Shoreditch in association with Spitalfields Music where they keep the famous Spitalfields' summer festival ticking over throughout the year.

Victorian Shoreditch was a mainly industrial area of London's East End riddled by miles of tunnels and raised tracks of railway sitting on vast red-brick arches. The streets were lined with warehouses whilst terraced houses lined back street. Adolf Hitler helped drive out the citizens whilst successive Governments closed the industry down as they sold industry abroad. Modern Shoreditch is undergoing a revival where gutted warehouses become brightly lit office blocks and flats as the area becomes an extension of the City of London. Many of the railway viaducts have disappeared but three of the arches remain standing like a Mayan Pyramid and the space between them and the neighbouring buildings has been turned into the Village Underground an elegant brick auditorium, part of an Arts Centre. The whole kaboodle is crowned by four retired Undergound coaches now used as studios by artist and artisans. One arch is a foyer, another a bar whilst the third is storage space for seating, lighting etc. The tall auditorium is often used for jazz, folk and rock music but Spitalfield's Music and Festivals have got regular feet in the door.

There were no programme notes. Music was introduced by the musicians (mostly conductor, Michael Collins, and cellist, Sue Dorey). In the flesh this works well. Musicians demonstrated key moments and effects in the style of unscripted Pre-Proms Talks. This first CLoSer programme was like a substantial sandwich: hot crusty wholemeal bread on the outside with something sweeter in the middle.

John Adams Shaker Loops is often used to end concerts but here made a bracing starter. Early Adams; I find the work has the drive of Sibelius: En Saga or Nightride and Sunrise. The CLS Strings were crisp and fresh sounding, often blazing, when required in the warm accoustic . Next, a change from the advertised work brought us Gordon Jacob's delightful Mini Concerto for Clarinet and Strings with Michael Collins playing and leading the ensemble. Delectable music strongly influenced by Gerald Finzi it made a good contrast particularly with its short movements. Mike Collins told a moving story by way of introduction when he gave the finest example I have heard of what musicians mean by the colour of a piece played. He said that when young he had the great honour of playing the clarinet with Olivier Messiaen at the piano in a performance of the latter's Quartet for the End of Time. "The third movement starts with a held note on the clarinet that begins with an inaudible ppp which rises slowly to a painful fff. The first time I played it Monsieur Messiaen stopped me and said 'Each stage up must be smooth but the colour must be different. Think you are playing through the whole rainbow.' It was then I realised how hard I must work on sound colour." Needless to say, the this Jacob gem was filled with colour. The last work yet again called for more cliff-hanging string virtuosity: Bartok's Divertimento for Strings. Not a long programme but a very challenging one for the players and very much appreciated by an audience, some at chairs but many on huge cushions. It was a warm, friendly atmosphere. I shall certainly go again. It will pay to book next time as word gets round.

**Becca_mezzo** · 22-02-12, 18:36

29th February 2012, The Village Underground, Shoreditch

Preparations for the next CLoSer concert are underway! 'Spirit of the Voice' is the second concert in this brand new series. This concert presents a celebration of the voice in all its glory, with works by some of Europe's greatest masters, as well as French Suites by JS Bach and Poulenc. Guest artists include the Holst Singers and conductor Stephen Layton.

Poulenc: Suite Francaise
JS Bach: French Suite
Poulenc: Le Bal Masque
Nystedt: Immortal Bach
Stravinsky: Mass

These concerts offer an opportunity to get closer to one of London's leading orchestras with 'talking' programme notes throughout the performance, post concert entertainment and discussion, as well as the chance to mingle with our musicians.

Please note there will be no traditional concert seating (see Chris Newman's comments above!)
Doors and bar open: 6:45pm
Concert: 7:30-8:45pm (no interval)
Encore: from 9:00pm

Cash bar available throughout the concert

Tickets: £15 (includes one free drink)

To get an idea of what these concerts are about, have a look at this short video of Michael Collins, CLS musicians and audience members at the last concert: http://www.cityoflondonsinfonia.co.uk/CLoSer-/

City of London Sinfonia launches new concert series 'CLoSer'

City of London Sinfonia launches new concert series 'CLoSer'

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