SIR: Last Saturday night, more than 150 local amateur musicians joined together to form the Bolton Festival Orchestra and Choir and delighted their audience with performances of Bruckner and Schutz.
Chorus master John Powell positioned both choirs and instruments to give the best effect. . This precision singing and playing was not achieved without hard work during only two weeks of rehearsals before the concert. It is a credit to both musicians and conductor that such a crisp and balanced performance was achieved in the Victoria Hall. There were sublime moments in particular the voice obligato of Jane Hyde.
Bruckner's 8th symphony is a work of enormous proportions which taxes even professional orchestras. Paul Payton gave much confidence to his enthusiastic amateurs who must have shared with the audience a tremendous musical experience.
How delightful it was to see and hear Wagnerian tubas. Congratulations to all concerned with the organisation and performance and those who showed faith and vision.
It is thanks to these enthusiastic performers and conductors that Boltonians were given the oportunity to hear such great musical offerings. Sadly professional performances seem outside the reach of the town's budget and support today.
However, Saturday night's performance gave one hope that the musical culture of Bolton is not dead. Bessie German,
Bradley Fold Cottages
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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