Historic News

A Concert of Remembrance, St John’s Smith Square, London SW1P  3HA, Wednesday November 11th 2015

Following a hugely successful concert at the Canterbury Festival in October 2015, Kent Sinfonia, with pianist Nicholas McCarthy, performed a poignant Concert of Remembrance in Westminster on the 11th November 2015, conducted by Phillip Hesketh and Steven Wassell.

The programme included music by Ravel, Butterworth, Vaughan Williams,

Ivor Novello and Elgar, and featured Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand played by Nicholas McCarthy, the first performance by a one-handed concert pianist since 1951.

Nicholas McCarthy (born in 1989) is the world’s only one-handed concert pianist.  www.nicholasmccarthy.co.uk

Who is Nicholas McCarthy?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZbdRwUiSZ4
Ted Talk, Royal Albert Hall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9dNZKNVqrw
‘Ocean’ Etude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoLE31Y83LM
BBC Breakfast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tddz0v2P038

Soprano Philippa Mercer performed an Ivor Novello song selection including We’ll Gather Lilacs, in tribute to wartime entertainers (orchestral arrangements by Trevor Denyer).

16 year old tuba prodigy Tom Wu performed the first movement from the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto.

98 year old BBC and WW2 Singer Helen Clare was invited as the guest of honour. (Editor’s note: Helen died in September 2018 at the age of 101. She was very well known as a singing star from the 1930s – 1950s www.helenclare.com)

The concert raised awareness for SSAFA and Veterans of War charities, and we were also joined by Roger Bacon, head of bereavement services. The performance of Elgar’s Nimrod was also played in dedication to all those that have suffered through conflict.

‘Kent Sinfonia performing Howard Blake’s beautiful film scores for Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman and The Bear,  with conductor James Ross

Winter Gardens, Margate, 21st December 2019