Congratulations to violinist, Conor Woodbridge, who recently gained a place in the intermediate National Youth Strings Orchestra.
Tour 2017
Exciting times - plans for our tour to France in July 2017 are nearing completion. Wonderful venues including Poitiers and Orleans cathedrals and two chateaux in the Loire. See our tours page for more info.
Sponsors
We are delighted to announce that Mortgages for Business will be supporting Lydian for another year.
Guest conductor from Germany
Christoph Nielbock from the Wiesbaden Musikschule is coming back to conduct Lydian for the Spring course and concert. The concert will be at St. Stephen's Church, Tonbridge on Monday 3rd April.
LTO
The first course of this academic year took place just before half term. The children worked so hard our tutors had to find more music to challenge them on Sunday morning! The next courses are at the end of February and mid-June 2017. See the LTO page for more info.
Basset Clarinet
A masterclass in liquid tones produced by Katherine Lacy, principal clarinet of the RPO, who started off our soloists workshop day in August with the Mozart concerto. Followed by James Drake (clarinet), Sophie Westbrooke (recorder), Alex Trigg (keyboard) each performing part of a concert with the orchestra. The evening was spent socialising, combining Scottish dancing, 'fluffy bunnies' and a quiz with a light supper. Thanks Pippa!
40th Anniversary Concert
What an amazing day! 75 musicians (including a handful of ex-Lydians) performing our most ambitious programme to date. It was a great pleasure to welcome back Nils Schweckendiek to conduct Rimsky Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. A professional DVD was made of the concert - and we hope to have some clips on the website soon. We gave our thanks to Anthony Daniel, who stood down as chairman after 14 years, and a fond farewell to Helga Merrick - a Lydian 'institution' !