Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra

The Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra paid a visit to St Peters Church, Newnham, last Saturday, presenting a well chosen and demanding programme of music to a packed house. Newnham is the home of the orchestra, as they rehearse in the village school, and the church has the grandeur and the acoustics to inspire the performers to another fine performance from this ambitious group. The Forest’s church buildings seem to be the best local venues for classical music, and the orchestra have previously performed at Coleford Baptist Church and Newland, Parkend and St Briavels Churches.

I can’t recall the orchestra playing Mozart before, but the opening piece this time was the Overture to his Magic Flute opera, a lively, if short, opening to the evening.

Next was a Concertino (which I discovered was a short concerto) for trombone and orchestra by Ferdinand David, performed by the phenomenally gifted local musician, 14 year old Rhiannon Symonds.

You don’t usually consider the trombone to be an instrument for soloists, but this piece from the German romantic period was beautifully and expressively played by Rhiannon. It was a precociously assured performance, and the audience called her back twice for curtain calls at the end of her performance. The last time I heard Rhiannon she was playing in the Forest Woodwind Ensemble and singing cabaret songs in a quite different environment (musically and in all other senses) at Newnham Club, highlighting the breadth of her musical interests.

The last piece was Brahms’ 2^nd Symphony, a powerful and reflective work that took the orchestra into new areas that they confidently found their way through.

Thomas Payne, the ridiculously youthful and empathetic conductor, has a great rapport with the orchestra and is a great ambassador for classical music in the community, especially in the Forest of Dean. He challenges and encourages the musicians, and the success of this difficult programme and the large and appreciative audiences that they attract, testify to the growing strength of RFODO.

Review by Forest View

I was at St Peter’s Church, Newnham, for the Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra’s spring concert last Saturday. The setting and acoustics were superb, and the Orchestra added to their growing reputation with spirited and accomplished performances of some well known and less well known pieces. They started off with the mercurial Overture to Mozart’s opera ‘The Magic Flute, followed by perhaps the highlight of the evening, the concertina for trombone and orchestra by Ferdinand David, with the astonishingly gifted Rhiannon Symonds as soloist. The Orchestra always feature a guest star as soloist, and the performance of 14 year old Rhiannon of Yorkley was at least as accomplished as any of the national and international musicians who have preceded her.

The show concluded with a fine performance of Brahms’ 2nd Symphony. The RFODO musical director, Thomas Payne, is passionate about developing the orchestra and taking them to new challenges. They have certainly come a long way since their perhaps uncertain start 20 years ago. The next concert will be at Newland Church on 30^th June, with another young musical star Elin White of Gloucester, who will be playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto.

The Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra is delighted to announce details of its forthcoming spring concert on Saturday 24^th March at Newnham Church. The orchestra will once again be under the musical direction of its energetic young conductor, Thomas Payne, who studied violin and conducting at the Birmingham Conservatoire and will perform Mozart’s Overture to ‘The Magic Flute’ and the concertino for trombone by David in the first half. The soloist this term is local trombone prodigy Rhiannon Symonds from Yorkley.

Rhiannon, 14, has been playing the trombone for 5 years. At the age of 11 she passed her Grade 8 with Distinction and at 12 became the youngest ever brass player in the prestigious National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales where she is currently Principal Trombone.

In 2009 Rhiannon was awarded the Robert Lewin Scholarship by the AYM, became a Future Talent Star and the youngest member of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Orchestra. In 2010 Rhiannon was again awarded the Robert Lewin Scholarship as well as an EMI Music Scholarship and Musicians Benevolent Fund Scholarship.

2011 was a very special year for Rhiannon. In January Rhiannon competed at the Chandos Symphony Orchestra Young Musician of the Year competition and was awarded the title of Most Promising Player for the second successive year and in February she won the Newark National Brass Festival. During March Rhiannon was a concerto soloist with the Solihull Symphony Orchestra and became the youngest trombonist in the UK to pass the Associate of the Trinity Guildhall London (ATCL) examination following a 40 minute recital. In July she performed at the Ryedale Festival on behalf of Future Talent in the presence of HRH Katherine Kent and took up the co-principal trombone position with the National Youth Brass Band of Wales. In November, Rhiannon was runner-up in the AXA Ambition Awards in the Arts category, a highly competitive national competition, and performed for the third time at the Royal Albert Hall for the Music For Youth Schools Prom. To close the year Rhiannon was successful in auditioning for positions with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain and securing her Grade 8 with Distinction on Euphonium.

A spokesperson for the orchestra said, ‘we’re thrilled to be playing alongside Rhiannon in this concert – she’s easily the youngest soloist we’ve ever had but she’s also so inspirational – we recommend all young musicians to come along and hear what can be achieved with hard work and determination.’

Following the interval the second half will entirely devoted to a performance of Johannes Brahms’s mighty second symphony. The orchestra is led as usual by distinguished local performer and teacher, Ros Taunton. The concert will start at 7.30pm and tickets are available at the door, £8/£5 concessions with children under 14 getting in for free, so long as they are accompanied by an adult. The orchestra now has a fully updated website www.rfdo.org.uk and a facebook page where further details about the orchestra and recruitment can be found.

For any further info about the orchestra please contact The Chairperson on 01594 510604.

Photos of Rhiannon will be forwarded on from another email.