Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra
Jac Van Steen: conductor

Strauss Don Juan, Op. 20
Schubert Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (Unfinished Symphony)
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra

Musicians from the world-renowned Chetham’s School of Music go on to form the backbone of the nation’s music industry and can be found in every UK orchestra including the London Symphony, BBC and Hallé orchestras. Its alumni include international artists such as pianist Stephen Hough, violinist Jennifer Pike, and conductor Daniel Harding. Three of the last six BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition winners have come from Chetham’s.

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra, with a catalogue of over 20 acclaimed CD recordings to its credit, perform three Orchestral Masterworks under the baton of conductor Jac Van Steen, Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Chief Conductor of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra.

The programme includes Strauss's exuberant and virtuosic tone-poem Don Juan,which perfectly depicts the legendary seducer, Schubert’s universally popular Unfinished Symphony, often described as the first Romantic symphony and Bartók’s brilliant showpiece for the orchestra written in Boston in 1943, the Concerto for Orchestra .

“You get an eagerness when you listen to Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra that you don’t get when you hear a professional orchestra playing, and I urge everyone who hasn’t heard them perform to go to one of their concerts.”

Roger Wright, Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the Proms.

“If you close your eyes when listening to one of its two orchestras, as I did last week, you’ll find it impossible to believe that these players are teenagers.”

Richard Morrison, Chief Cultural Writer, The Times. (Article printed in March 2012)

So many places in our major orchestras are taken by these wonderfully gifted people”. Sir Mark Elder CBE

Pre-concert Talk with Jac Van Steen 6.30pm

Tickets for Chetham's Symphony Orchestra (subject to booking fees) at City Hall - Sheffield are available online at www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk through the ticket hotline on 0114 2 789 789 and in person at the Sheffield City Hall Box Office.