John Gibbons's 21st celebration concert with Worthing Symphony Orchestra

"A wonderfully fluent performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto by Jennifer Pike. Still only 26, the British violinist has turned from child prodigy to superbly graceful virtuoso without airs or affectation." (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by John Gibbons) **** Richard Morrison, The Times, 07 September 2016

A special celebration concert to mark John Gibbons’s 21st season as Music Director of Worthing Symphony Orchestra includes his own realization of Malcolm Arnold’s famous film score to the WWII film 'Heroes of Telemark'. The original score and parts were lost, so in 2017, John recreated them from listening to the film soundtrack and premiered the concert suite with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Malcolm Arnold Festival. Early in his tenure Worthing Symphony Orchestra performed the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies so it is fitting to conclude this concert with Tchaikovsky’s most popular symphony with its gorgeous slow movement horn solo and uplifting conclusion.
Renowned for her "dazzling interpretative flair and exemplary technique" (Classic FM), violinist Jennifer Pike has taken the musical world by storm with her unique artistry and compelling insight into music from the Baroque to the present day. Born to British and Polish parents in 1989 she gained international attention in 2002, when aged 12 she became the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the youngest major prizewinner in the Menuhin International Violin Competition. At 15 she made celebrated debuts at the BBC Proms and Wigmore Hall, soon after becoming a BBC New Generation Artist, winner of the international London Music Masters Award and the only classical artist ever to win the South Bank Show/Times Breakthrough Award. Passionate about helping young people from all backgrounds enhance their lives through music, she is an Ambassador for the Prince's Trust and Patron of the City Music Foundation. In demand as soloist with top orchestras worldwide, she recently recorded the Sibelius with the Bergen Philharmonic and Sir Andrew Davis and the Mendelssohn with the CBSO on Chandos to great acclaim.

The Viennese child prodigy Eric Wolfgang Korngold was invited to Hollywood in 1934 by the actor Max Reinhardt. He soon became one of the most important film composers in Hollywood ever. He composed his Violin Concerto for Jascha Heifetz using lyrical themes from some of his film scores: Another Dawn, Juarez, Anthony Adverse and The Prince and the Pauper.