Concert to celebrate unique partnership between University and orchestra
The University of Leicester doesn’t have a Department of Music but that doesn’t mean we don’t have any music. After all, we don’t have a Department of Visual Art but we host an annual sculpture exhibition in our Botanic Garden.
What we do have are orchestras, choirs, bands and a lot of very talented students. So in October 2009 we teamed up with the Philharmonia Orchestra – the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, next door to our campus – in a project which is thought to be the only collaboration between a major orchestra and a university without a Music Department.
Philharmonia musicians provide mentoring and support for performers in the University ensembles, including one-to-one study with soloists on our University music scholarships. For example, Paul Jenkins, the University of Leicester Orchestral Society’s conductor, is working with Robin O’Neill who is not only principal bassoon with the Philharmonia but is also Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music.
Student musicians are also able to attend rehearsals and enjoy other networking opportunities with the orchestra. Heavily discounted tickets for Philharmonia performances are available to all University of Leicester students.
A concert to celebrate this arrangement will be held on Saturday 13 March 2010 at the Church of St James the Greater, London Road, Leicester. It will feature the University of Leicester’s Big Band, Orchestral Society, Symphonic Concert Band, Choral Society and Chamber Choir – all of whom have been working with Philharmonia musicians during rehearsals.
Tickets are a very reasonable eight quid (£4 for NUS and under-19s, £6 for other concessions), available from Embrace Arts at the RA centre, the University Bookshop, the Tourist Information Centre in Town Hall Square or on the door.
The University of Leicester has a long history of supporting and promoting music. Among the classical names who have received Honorary Degrees from Leicester are Sir Michael Tippett, Sir Malcolm Arnold, Yehudi Menuhin and Dame Joan Sutherland.
