Good evening and welcome to our international concert this evening New director Michael Sanderling brings one of the oldest and most highly respected orchestras to the hall for tonight's concert. He has been chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonie for only a season but already his work with the orchestra has been receiving a lot of attention and acclaim. Joining them is a young Violinist whose talent knows no bounds and we are delighted to have Sarah Chang here to perform Barber's Violin Concerto. The concert begins with a Beethoven favourite 'Egmont' and ends with Dvofäk’s Symphony No.9 'From the New World'. Towards the end of the 19th Century the Czech composer was invited to work in New York and he soon set to compose, create and capture an impression of his new scenery and landscape. America certainly proved to be the land of opportunity for him and the symphony remains one of the most populär in the whole repertoire. It has recently been suggested that we are ‘ushering in a new concert landscape' at the Usher Hall and we are certainly eager to continue to present worthwhile Programmes that you will want to hear. We hope you can make it to some of the following evenings: The amazing Academy of Ancient Music are here for their second concert this year with a super seasonal Programme Vivaldi at Christmas, the wonderful soprano Elizabeth Watts and conductor Richard Egarr will be in their element with Cloria. Our international classical series continues into next year with the Bergen Philharmonie, and the much lauded Andrew Litton (31 January), and needing no introduction master conductor Jin' Behtohlävek brings his Czech Philharmonie for some more Dvorak in spring (13 April). For now, be content with a beautiful evening’s music of the highest quality led by one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation. Karl Chapman General Manager Usher Hall
