Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra Celebration - Wagner, Beethoven & Saint-Saëns

Suffolk's fully professional orchestra celebrates its third anniversary with the return of the captivating violinist Thomas Gould to play the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Thomas gave an unforgettable performance of Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending at the Launch Concert of the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra threee years ago to the day, and audiences will not want to miss his performance of the Beethoven concerto, timed to coincide with the launch of his CD of this work: Thomas will be signing copies in the interval.

After the interval, cathedral organist Dan Soper joins the Suffolk Philharmonic for a performance of Saint-Saëns's Third Symphony, one of the few works to combine the splendour of full symphony orchestra with the magnificence of the four-manual Cathedral organ. Rarely performed at the professional level outside of the main centres, the 'Organ' Symphony with its sinuous high strings rapturously entwined with gentle low organ pedal notes, and its spectacular grand finale, remains one of the most unforgettable of all symphonies.

Opening the evening on a note of suitably celebratory grandeur is the Overture to Wagner's Mastersingers of Nuremburg.