Accordion playing with an unusual accompaniment at York Hall

Published: 7 June, 2012
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is being celebrated by the Highgate Choral Society at a Barbican concert on Saturday evening.

Alongside such classics as Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Parry’s I was Glad are pieces from Britten’s Gloriana together with Walton’s Coronation Te Deum, both written for the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

A new piece, This Sceptr’d Isle, for choir and orchestra by its conductor Ronald Corp is getting its world premiere.

Top drawer soloists are soprano Geraldine McGreevy, alto Frances McCafferty, tenor Philip Sheffield and bass Nicholas Folwell.

• The Wigmore Hall’s second Late Night Series of hour-long concerts starting at 10pm gets under tomorrow (Friday) – and concerts are followed by late, late night musical soirées in the bar from 11.15pm going on into the wee hours. Young American composer-pianist Timothy Andres is playing at the concert. Afterwards, in the soirée, brilliant young clarinettist Julian Bliss explores the legacy of Benny Goodman as part of his King of Swing project.

• If the Wigmore Hall is not for you, why not head over to the York Hall on Bethnal Green tomorrow (Friday) or a spot of accordion wrestling promoted by the Barbican? Finnish accordion adventurer Kimmo Pohjonen and 10 Finnish wrestlers are performing their highly innovative music theatre project.

• Cesar Franck’s famous and much-loved violin sonata is being played by -acclaimed young Japanese violinist Lisa Ueda on Sunday morning at The Forge arts venue in Camden Town. Also being played by Lisa and pianist Daniele Rinaldo are works by Dvorak and Beethoven.