Under the baton of the Orchestra’s permanent Music Director and Conductor Mark Hodgkinson, the Philharmonia will perform some significantly grand repertoire.

Holst’s A Somerset Rhapsody is an evocative depiction of a romantic English countryside in pre-World War I using folksongs to portray rural landscapes of Somerset (rural Somerset includes the Cotswolds, Exmoor, Mendip Hills, Glastonbury).

The Philharmonia is pleased to continue our Emerging Artists Programme by offering the concert platform to young soloists. For this concert, Burnside High School student Louise Shen will join the orchestra for the popular one-hit-wonder Flute Concertino by Cécile Chaminade. This charming work is a dazzling exposé for the flute, with great musical gymnastics for Louise to showcase her skill.

The concert concludes with the monumental Symphony No. 1 by Tchaikovsky. With the title Winter Daydreams, this less-performed symphony caused the composer extraordinary anxiety and stress in its creation. None of this shows – in this significant symphony, overflowing with charm, excitement, virtuosity and plenty of soundscapes which are typically Russian, typically Tchaikovsky, and typically popular.

Established in 1952 the Canterbury Philharmonia Orchestra is the longest established recreational orchestra in Christchurch Ōtautahi.

Gustav Holst: A Somerset Rhapsody
Cecile Chaminade: Concertino for Flute
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 “Winter Daydreams”