pictures

Rachel Siu cello
Euan Shields conductor

17 April 2027 7.30 pm

Bernstein Candide
Dvořák Cello Concerto
Mussorgsky  Pictures at an Exhibition

As a young conductor in the early stages of his career, Euan Shields is a good fit for our soloist in this concert, Rachel Siu. Both Rachel and Euan are graduates of the Julliard School in New York.

Euan was raised in Japan and the USA and in 2023, captured global attention by winning the prestigious Siemens Hallé International Conducting Competition. He has been the assistant conductor at the Hallé for two seasons.

Rachel was the winner of our 2023 Stockport International Young Musicians Competition, and has recently been appointed co-principal cello at Gothenburg Opera.

The programme for this concert contains a nod to Euan's USA background with Leonard Bernstein's effervescent overture to Candide and with the Dvořák we return to the concerto with which Rachel won our competition four years ago.

The music for the second half needs scant introduction. Originally written for piano, it has probably become better known in the orchestral form we play tonight.