Blackpool Symphony Orchestra to perform very own Last Night concert at Blackpool's Grand Theatre

Blackpool’s very own Symphony Orchestra will be raising the rafters at the Grand Theatre on Sunday, September 22 with their very own Last Night concert.

This is the second time that Blackpool Symphony Orchestra, with their resident professional conductor Helen Harrison, will have presented a ‘Last Night’ concert at the Grand and it comes hard on the heels of their very successful Let’s Dance concert there in March of this year.

A spokesman for the orchestra said: “The Last Night of the Proms is one of the great British cultural institutions. Although in recent years the BBC have made great efforts to make the event less London-centric, it is rare to say the least for the people of Blackpool to hear this fantastic music played, as it should be, by a live orchestra. There is simply no better sound!”

As well as the traditional Last Night favourites such as Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia and Jerusalem, the concert will give the orchestra the opportunity to present some other orchestral favourites. These will include a selection of music from Guys and Dolls, Strauss’s Bahn Frei and Beethoven’s Coriolanus overture.

The orchestra are delighted that they will once again be joined by international opera star Jane Irwin who will be singing Mahler’s hauntingly beautiful Songs of a Wayfarer as well as highlights from musical theatre.

Jane, who lives in Poulton, has sung leading operatic roles in concert halls and opera houses all over the world and it will be a complete joy to hear her talents once again on the stage at the Grand.

One of the features of the evening will be the northwest premier of a new work by Manchester based composer and song-writer, Anna Appleby. Anna, who hails from Newcastle, wrote Bridges as a commission by the Sage Gateshead for premiere with Young Sinfonia conducted by Helen Harrison. Each movement, complete with visuals and sound effects, is inspired by a different bridge across the river Tyne in her home city.

After this concert Blackpool Symphony won’t be letting the grass grow under their feet. They will immediately be starting rehearsals for their next concert which will be a joint concert of operatic highlights with Preston Opera company in Preston on November 30.

The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are available from the Grand Theatre box office.