Woking Symphony Orchestra - Extraordinary power from Woking young musician

Woking Symphony Orchestra’s March concert in the HG Wells (Saturday 17th March 2012)
was graced with the presence of the Woking Young Musician of the Year 2011 – Emmanuel
Bach, who played the Glazunov Violin Concerto. Emmanuel, a former pupil of the Royal
Grammar School in Guildford, tackled this highly virtuosic concerto with gusto, impressing
with his depth of tone, powerful playing and immaculate articulation. Woking Symphony
Orchestra accompanied him expertly and this seldom-heard concerto was a highlight of the
concert.

The first half began with the Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn (also known as The
St. Anthony Chorale) which was capably delivered by the orchestra, who then went on to
tackle the Schumann Symphony No. 2. This, again, is a symphony that is rarely played
by amateur orchestras, mainly because of the fiendishly difficult first violin part. However,
Woking Symphony Orchestra’s musicians rose to the challenge and gave a very respectable
performance of this beautiful, but challenging work, and not for the first time justified
their reputation as one of Surrey’s best amateur music groups, under their very popular
conductor, Roy Stratford.


--- Susan Bennett