Kensington Symphony Orchestra is back at Fairfield Halls on Saturday 11 May, when conductor Russell Keable – celebrating his 40th season as music director – leads the group in a performance of Elgar’s 'The Dream of Gerontius' (1900).

The composer’s powerful and moving two-part work for voices and orchestra, which uses text from John Henry Newman’s poem of the same name, relates the journey of a pious man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgment by God before he settles into Purgatory.

Elgar, who was commissioned to write the piece for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, had long admired the poem and quickly completed his complex, demanding setting, which is widely regarded as one of the composer’s masterpieces and his finest choral work.

Although the premiere was a near-disaster, far finer performances in Germany over the next two years convinced Elgar – and Richard Strauss, who dubbed him “the first English progressive musician” – of the quality of the piece.

KSO is joined by Epiphoni Consort and a trio of up-and-coming soloists: Glaswegian mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor, described as “outstanding” by the Financial Times; tenor Oliver Johnston, whose engagements this season have included Beethoven’s 'Symphony No.9' with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Christopher Warren-Green; and baritone Alaric Green, who is currently studying at Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Described as “one of the very best amateur groups in the country” by Classical Music magazine, KSO has been hailed by Classical Source for “putting on bold, adventurous programmes that few of the ‘big five’ in London would either think of or get away with”.

Performers:

Kensington Symphony Orchestra

Epiphoni Consort

Conductor: Russell Keable

Chorus Director: Tim Reader

Mezzo Soprano: Beth Taylor

Tenor: Oliver Johnston

Baritone: Alaric Green

Running Times
Doors: 7pm
Act One: 7:30pm - 8:10pm
Interval: 8:10pm - 8:35pm
Act Two: 8:35pm - 9:35pm
All timings are approximate and may change on day