A new orchestra for Suffolk

Choral societies in Suffolk have come to rely on a band of fine local musicians who come together to play for them for concerts all over the county. Professionals in their own right, these musicians seldom get the chance to perform outside the major concert halls so they were delighted when Edmond Fivet gave them the opportunity to do so in May of last year, at a performance given by the Aldeburgh Music Club in Orford Church. The concert included Beethoven’s Symphony No 1 and the Overture to Prometheus. Writing about the concert, Humphrey Burton said:
“Fivet gave us an orchestral first half that positively fizzed with high spirits!”

So high indeed, that several of the audience afterwards said how much they appreciated the opportunity to hear music of such a high standard in a local venue, and that more would be appreciated. The players themselves were on a high, too, and asked if it would be possible to play together more often in future. So the Prometheus Orchestra was born. Concerts at St Michael’s Church Framlingham at 7.30 pm on 28 February and at St Batholomew’s Church Orford at 4.00 pm on 1 March, will be their debuts.

Conductor Edmond Fivet says, “I am particularly grateful to our leader, Pam Munks, and to my wife, Liz Page, who have both given many hours to matters musical and administrative to make these first two concerts possible.” On his retirement to Aldeburgh after 18 years as Principal of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Edmond Fivet very soon became fully immersed in local music-making. This new venture, like everything else he has done in Suffolk, is sure to be a great success.