Haffner Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
's regular orchestra for professionals or well-qualified amateur musicians. The orchestra currently has around 50 members and is a regular contributor to the musical life of the city, giving three concerts each year at Lancaster's Ashton Hall at the Town Hall in Dalton Square. They normally take place in November, February and June and pre-concert talks are usually given. Workshops and other activities are occasionally organised, and the orchestra sometimes performs concerts elsewhere. The orchestra has built a reputation for playing a wide repertoire to a high standard.
The current Musical Director, Natalia Luis-Bassa
Natalia Luis-Bassa
Natalia Luis-Bassa is a conductor who currently lives and works in England where she is Musical Director of the Haffner Orchestra in Lancaster and the Hallam Sinfonia in Sheffield.-Background:...
, has been with the orchestra since 2004. Originally from Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Natalia's passion for music is stimulating and exciting for both players and audience. Artists and visiting conductors who have performed with the Haffner Orchestra over the years include: Sir Charles Groves, Arthur Butterworth, Wyn Davies
Wyn Davies (conductor)
Wyn Davies is a Welsh conductor.After graduating from Christ Church, Oxford, Davies joined the Welsh National Opera as a Staff Conductor in 1974...
, Janet Hilton, Anna Markland, Andrew West
Andrew West (pianist)
Andrew West is an English pianist.Andrew West read English at Clare College, Cambridge University before going on to study piano and composition with Christopher Elton and John Streets at the Royal Academy of Music. He won second prize for piano at the Geneva International Music Competition in 1990...
, Linda Kitchen, Craig Ogden, Yonty Solomon and Leland Chen, among many others.
History
In the early 1970s, there was no regular local orchestra in Lancaster. Individual instrumental players were invited to accompany choral concerts, but had to look to KendalKendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
for involvement in orchestral music. It was Kenneth Oates who saw the potential for drawing these players together to form an orchestra. With the support of other local musicians, a chamber orchestra emerged, conducted by Gerard Doyle and led by Wendy Cann, and taking the name "Haffner" from one of Mozart's patrons in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
.
The Haffner Orchestra gave its first concert in March 1976. Since then the orchestra has earned the respect and attracted the support of many well-known professional musicians, including Sir Charles Groves
Charles Groves
Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors....
, who was the orchestra's first President and conducted the Haffner Orchestra at its 10th anniversary concert. After his death, the Presidency was taken up by Raphael Wallfisch
Raphael Wallfisch
Raphael Wallfisch is a British cellist.Wallfisch was born into a family of distinguished musicians, his father the pianist Peter Wallfisch and his mother the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who is one of the last known surviving members of the Girl orchestra of Auschwitz...
, a world-renowned cellist who has also performed as soloist with the orchestra, notably at its 25th anniversary concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
. The position of Musical Director has been held by Gerard Doyle, Tim Carter
Tim Carter
Tim Carter may refer to:* Tim Carter , former head basketball coach for the University of Texas at San Antonio* Tim Carter , American football wide receiver* Tim Carter co-producer of Sesame Street...
, Denis McCaldin, Roger Cann, and, since 2004, Natalia Luis-Bassa
Natalia Luis-Bassa
Natalia Luis-Bassa is a conductor who currently lives and works in England where she is Musical Director of the Haffner Orchestra in Lancaster and the Hallam Sinfonia in Sheffield.-Background:...
.
Until 2002 the orchestra gave its concerts in the Princess Margaretha Hall at St Martin's College
St Martin's College
St Martin's College was a British Higher Education College with campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside and Carlisle, as well as sites in Whitehaven, Barrow and London. It provided undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the arts, humanities, business studies, teacher training, health and social care...
in Lancaster. Audiences grew so large that the orchestra needed a bigger venue, and concerts now take place in the Ashton Hall, which is part of the Victorian town hall in Dalton Square in the centre of Lancaster.
The 2006-2007 season was the Haffner's 30th anniversary, and special events were held to celebrate this landmark. A special work, Coruscations, was commissioned from Arthur Butterworth
Arthur Butterworth
Arthur Butterworth MBE is an English composer, conductor and teacher.Butterworth attended the Royal Manchester College of Music , where he studied composition with Richard Hall and also learned the trumpet and conducting...
, a great friend of the orchestra, and in June 2007 Raphael and Elizabeth Wallfisch
Elizabeth Wallfisch
Elizabeth Wallfisch is an Australian Baroque violinist.Wallfisch debuted as a concert soloist at the age of 12 and took part in such competitions as the ABC Concerto Competition. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Grinke and was awarded, among other prizes, the President's...
were the soloists for Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
' Double Concerto.