Recent Concerts

Spring Concert
with the Sing for Fun Performance Choir
St. John the Baptist Church, Andover
Friday 17th May 2013

Enham Place
Christmas Concert
Enham Alamein, Andover
Thursday 13th December 2012

Christmas Concert
St Marys Church, Andover
Friday 7th December 2012

Summer Concert
with the Donnington Wind Band
St. John the Baptist Church, Andover
Saturday 16th June 2012

United Reformed Church, Andover
Thursday 10th May 2012

Open Orchestra Day
John Hanson Community School, Andover
Saturday 24th March 2012

Enham Place
Enham Alamein, Andover
Thursday 23rd February 2012

Christmas Concert
with the Sing for Fun Performance Choir
John Hanson Community School, Andover
Saturday 3rd December 2011

Autumn Concert
St. John the Baptist Church, Andover
Thursday 13th October 2011

Summer Concert
Bridge Street Methodist Church, Andover
Thursday 30th June 2011

Open Orchestra afternoon
John Hanson Community School, Andover
Saturday 26th March 2011

Christmas Concert
Vernham Dean Village Hall
Thursday 16th December 2010

St Michaels Church, West Andover
Saturday 11th December 2010

This was a joint concert with the choir from Rookwood Prep School. Although it was a cold evening the church was filled by a large and very appreciative audience, made up of both regular supporters of the orchestra and family and friends of the school choir.

The orchestra played a range of pieces with a seasonal theme, some traditional and some less well known. These included Leroy Anderson's 'Sleigh Ride' and 'A Christmas Festival', the Radetsky March by Johann Strauss, and 'The Christmas Song' (better know as 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire') by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells.

The evening's programme also featured a few familiar carols, which the audience were encouraged to join the choir in singing.

However the high spot of the evening was undoubtedly when the children from Rookwood joined together with the orchestra to perform 'Home is Where the Heart Lies'. This is a cantata by Libbie Noakes, a teacher at Rookwood School. It is a challenging piece, but the young singers rose to the challenge and gave a very confident and enjoyable performance, and being able to perform with a full orchestra was a wonderful experience for them.

Mrs Noakes originally composed the piece for children whose parents work within the Armed Forces, so this performance was in support of the charity 'Help for Heroes', and ticket sales from the evening raised £150 for this worthwhile cause.

St. John the Baptist Church, Andover
Thursday 21st October 2010

A thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by all those attending and performing in this concert. The evening comprised light music performed by the Andover Light Orchestra, guest appearances by Oren Myers (classical guitar) and Jacqueline Pischorn (soprano), and solo performances by orchestra members.

Not only is Oren Myers a talented player of classical guitar, he is also a guitar maker whose beautifully crafted instruments are much sought after. Jacqueline Pischorn originally hails from Austria, and she works as a coach with opera singers rehearsing German operas. She is currently coaching the Welsh National Opera – including one of Britain’s most popular bass-baritones, Bryn Terfel.

Several local engineering companies agreed to sponsor the event and covered all the expenses of the evening. The concert raised £515 to aid the work of Missio, with an additional £144 being collected through donations given for refreshments and purchase of raffle tickets.

Spring Concert
St Michaels Church, West Andover
Saturday 20th March 2010

The orchestra played a wide variety of music as usual this evening. There were film and show selections, and some beautiful solo items, as well as exciting full orchestra versions of pop classics.

We were pleased to welcome the Junior Singers from Rookwood School, under their director Mrs Noakes. They sang songs from the show "Rainmaker" which they will be perfoming at school next week.

Bridge St. Methodist Church, Andover
9th July 2009

This was a concert for everyone. Such a wide variety of musical styles were represented - from Beethoven through to arrangements and original compositions by Musical Director Kevin Riley - that all tastes were well catered for.

After a rousing selection from 'The King and I', popular favourites came out one after the other, including 'Moonlight Serenade' and Leroy Anderson's 'Blue Tango'. The theme music from 'Schindler's List' allowed Orchestra Leader Karen Snook to demonstrate her skill with a poignant and haunting violin solo which echoed in our minds long after the final notes had died away.

Picking up the pace again, the trumpet section changed to flugelhorns for the feature 'Laughter in the Rain', and highlights from 'Shrek' gave the whole orchestra a good workout to end the first half of the concert. We resumed after the interval to hear 'Moonlight Sonata' and 'The Humming Chorus' interspersed with well known themes from popular musicals.

These were followed by an original composition by Kevin Riley called 'Lullaby for Clarinet and Orchestra' in which Charlotte Barlow played a stunningly beautiful clarinet solo which was greatly appreciated by audience and orchestra alike. Far too soon the lively ‘Be Our Guest’ brought the concert to a close.