The Kapiti Concert Orchestra will present a concert to commemorate those who fought and died in the First World War, those who lived through the tumult and destruction, and all those who dared to dream of a more peaceful world in the future.
The concert which will be held in the Otaki Memorial Hall on Saturday 9 May at 4 pm will be conducted by Kenneth Young and will feature Inbal Megidda as guest soloist performing the Cello Concerto in E minor by Edward Elgar.
Edward Elgar wrote his Cello Concerto in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War. It has been described as his “War Requiem” — not to the war dead but to the end of a civilisation. It is a concerto of incredible sadness, regret and heartache yet it has become one of the most performed and loved of all the cello concertos.
Guest soloist, Inbal Megiddo is a cellist with a considerable international reputation as a performer and a teacher. Her playing was hailed as having “magical expression and technical expertise” after her debut at the Lincoln Centre in New York. Inbal is currently teaching Performance Studies (Cello) at the New Zealand School of Music.
Another featured work is the Orchestral Rhapsody: A Shropshire Lad by George Butterworth, a young English composer killed in action at only 26 years of age in the Battle of the Somme.
Other music will include Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Crown Imperial March written by William Walton for the Coronation of George VI and later that of Queen Elisabeth II and the very popular London Suite, a tribute to that city by Eric Coates as well as two short pieces by Elgar.
The “Combined Coast Choirs”, made up of members of the Otaki Ecumenical Choir, Otaki Community Choir and the Kapiti Women’s Choir along with their Music Director Ann-Marie Stapp will join the Orchestra to conclude the concert with a selection of popular songs from the both the World Wars.
Last year the Kapiti Concert Orchestra thrilled the crowd at Nga Purapura
