Catherine Lawlor, viola soloist in the next concert by the Portsmouth Philharmonic, has taken time out of her schedule to give us an exclusive interview on PPO I TV (below), detailing her career, Max Bruch’s concerto she will play in and has a word too for departing orchestra leader Colin Wilkins.
Lawlor will duet with clarinettist Rob Blanken to accompany the orchestra in performing Bruch’s concerto for clarinet and viola on Sunday March 22 (3pm) at the Church of the Resurrection in Drayton. It will be in aid of the Spark community space on Goldsmith Avenue.
As well as the Bruch concerto, the orchestra will also be performing Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival overture and Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No 93. In addition, the orchestra will play Ethel Smyth’s ‘The Wreckers’.
Lawlor said of the Bruch piece: “Viola and clarinet are natural friends in terms of music they’ve got a similar mellow tone we associate with both instruments so they suit each other as duet partners. I think Bruch recognised that and he liked the viola quite a lot. It is a natural pairing,” she said.
And the concert is also the farewell of leader Wilkins, for whom Lawlor has a lot of affection: “I first met Colin at Chichester Symphony Orchestra, but it’s been lovely knowing him through all the local groups because he plays for everyone it feels like, as he should because he’s such a brilliant player.”
Wilkins is retiring having been with the orchestra since its foundation in 2009.
Tickets, priced £10 for adults, are on sale now here. Tickets will also be available on the doors, which open at 2.30pm.
The Portsmouth Philharmonic has raised more than £25,000 for local good causes since it was founded in 2009. It is supported by Bishops’ Printers.