It was a great pleasure to have Laura Rossi playing in the ESO for a while several years ago, and while she sat and played in the second violins I was totally unaware of her composing prowess. Suddenly, about 3 years ago, this came to light and we gave the first live performance of her work Voices of Remembrance in last November’s concert.
Laura grew up and was educated in Devon including time at Exeter College, and while we were not intending to return so soon to her music, the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, and the vast project with Laura and the Imperial War Museum to bring this tragic and terrifying battle back into the public domain, seemed too important not to be involved in.
100 orchestras including the BBC will be giving performances of the 1916 film – digitally remastered – throughout the land, and our performances will be on Saturday 11th February in Exeter Cathedral, and a schools’ workshop and second performance in Teignmouth pavilion on Sunday 12th February 2017.
To find out more about this project do have a look at the Video on Youtube with excerpts and the composer talking about the project. See you at the event I hope – Brian Northcott