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The Rite of Spring, Saffron Walden

Thu 31 August 2023
7:00 pm, Saffron Hall

Join Aurora Orchestra and Principal Conductor Nicholas Collon for their biggest challenge to date – Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, performed by heart.

Get under the skin of perhaps the greatest 20th-Century orchestral work, The Rite of Spring. In the first half of the performance, Aurora present a signature dramatic and musical introduction to Stravinsky’s score, featuring actors Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts, You, Call the Midwife) and Karl Queensborough (Hamilton West End) voicing the words of the composer and his collaborators. Illuminating the background to and creation of Stravinsky’s masterpiece, as well as its riotous premiere, this living programme note sets the scene for a dazzling second-half performance of the work entirely from memory.

Aurora Orchestra is grateful to the following individuals and organisations for their generous support of this project: Nicholas and Margo Snowman, Richard and Rosamund Bernays, Liz Forgan, Louise Kaye, Michael and Rita Laven, Jonathan Deakin and James Marsh, Richard and Helen Sheldon, Suzanne Szczetnikowicz, Eduardo Tamraz, Garrick Charitable Trust and The Leche Trust. Aurora’s performance is dedicated to the memory of Nicholas Snowman OBE, who died earlier this year.