The Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra will be playing music by two famed Gloucestershire composers at Gloucester Cathedral later this month.

The acclaimed orchestra will be playing Gustav Holst’s legendary ‘The Planets Suite’ as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams’ joyous ‘The Lark Ascending’ on the evening of 22nd September. The concert will also feature Elgar’s ‘Cockaigne Overture’ on what will be a landmark event for the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra. “Every single member of the orchestra is relishing the opportunity to play at Gloucester Cathedral,” said David Banks, Chairman of the orchestra.

He continued: “The concert is to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the first performance of Holst’s ‘The Planets Suite’. It’s a piece of music that so many people are fond of and we’re all excited to play. Every single member of the orchestra is approaching the concert with a great degree of enthusiasm.

“We’ve had the pleasure of performing ‘The Planets Suite’ on a number of occasions before. It’s a legendary piece of music, maybe one of the most famous compositions from a UK composer. We started rehearsals at the end of August and will continue to prepare in the weeks leading up to performance night.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be working alongside Adrian Partington who will be conducting the concert. Adrian is the Director of Music at the cathedral, he’s a joy to work with and we all feel very fortunate to get the opportunity to play alongside such a supremely talented musician.”

David, who plays the violin, has been a part of the orchestra for 15 years. He continued: “A lot of our members have been involved for a long time, there’s many that have been involved for a lot longer than me. It’s a great joy to be part of such a passionate and talented group of musicians. We’re very fortunate to have some fantastic buildings in Gloucestershire that we often play at, Gloucester Cathedral is certainly one of the very best.”

The concert at Gloucester Cathedral kickstarts an important year for the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra who are celebrating their 50th anniversary during the 2018-2019 season. David continued: “It’s a very exciting time for everyone associated with the orchestra. 50 years is a significant landmark. At our anniversary concert next year we’ll be playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto, the very first piece that the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra played at the first concert five decades ago. We’ve several more concerts before then to look forward to. We started off as a small chamber group, it’s nice to see how far we’ve come since those early days.”