DSO celebrating the birds and Bach in concert series

Leading players with Dunedin Symphony Orchestra will shine during two matinee series concerts, "Bach & The Birds", on August 3 and 4.

Conducted by principal guest conductor James Judd, the concerts will feature works by Telemann, JS Bach, Rod Biss, and Jaydn.

In his Don Quixote Suite, Telemann’s skills as a composer of programmatic music are demonstrated in highly entertaining fashion, as he depicts Don Quixote’s adventures.

JS Bach’s iconic and joyful Brandenburg Concerto No 2 features solo oboe, violin, recorder (or flute) and trumpet, which will be performed by concertmaster Tessa Petersen (violin), Hye-Won Suh (flute), Nick Cornish (oboe), and Ralph Miller (trumpet).

The concert’s bird-themed second half opens with Four New Zealand Bird Songs by New Zealand composer Rod Biss.

The work, which features soprano Rebecca Ryan, was initially inspired by the threat of development of the main nesting site of the tara-iti (New Zealand fairy tern).

It also depicts the pukeko and the karearea (New Zealand falcon).

Haydn’s La Poule (The Hen), which rounds off the concert, gained its nickname from the first movement’s humorous, hen-like, quirky exchange between violin and oboe.

The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra Matinee Series " Bach & The Birds" concerts will be held this Saturday at 5pm, and Sunday, at 3pm, at the King’s & Queen’s Performing Arts Centre, Bay View Rd.

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz