Hitchin clarinet player performs on home soil

A CLARINET player who has performed with a national orchestra will feature in a concert on home soil next week.

James Mainwaring, from Hitchin, will be joined by Stevenage Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, January 28, for a performance at St Martin’s Church in Knebworth.

James has performed widely with the National Orchestra of Wales, the City of London Philharmonic and with internationally renowned artists such as Bryn Terfel and Vanessa Mae, as well as playing in a number of musicals to hit the West End.

For the concert he will be performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto alongside Stevenage Symphony Orchestra.

“This virtuoso work provides a soloist such as James with a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the full colour and range of the clarinet,” said conductor Phillip Brunton, who also knows him well through his workshops with local schoolchildren.

Other works to be performed by the orchestra include Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, with its musical description of the dramatic seascapes surrounding Fingal’s Cave, and the romantic symphony No. 2 by Sibelius, written in 1902 when Finland was under oppression from the Russians.

The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are available either from Gower Interiors, London Road, Knebworth, or at the door. Tickets are priced at �9 or �7 concessions.