City News

As Birmingham plays host to the International Trombone Festival, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will be presenting Slides Rule! - a concert featuring some of the most impressive British brass writing in the classical repertoire on Friday 21st July, 7.30pm, at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. The evening will feature pieces such as Elgar’s Cockaigne and highlights from The Planets. The CBSO’s First Trombonist Philip Harrison is also preparing to perform a celebratory revival of Gordon Jacob’s Trombone Concerto, originally commissioned for the CBSO 50 years ago.

Slides Rule! opens with Walton’s Crown Imperial, first performed in 1937 before the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1953 and recorded by the CBSO exactly thirty years ago, under the baton of Louis Frémaux. Following on from Arnold’s Cornish Dances, Philip Harrison will then take centre stage in Jacob’s Trombone Concerto. Conductor Rudolf Schwarz specially commissioned this work in the 1950s for the CBSO’s First Trombonist of the time Denis Wick who Schwarz felt deserved ‘a little limelight’. Wick is now President of the International Trombone Association in 2006 and regards this to be a fitting piece for the occasion, which requires an impressive level of endurance and skill to perform. Performances of Elgar’s Cockaigne, Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry and excerpts from Holst’s stirring The Planets will bring the concert to its fiery finale.

The International Trombone Festival (ITF) is returning to the United Kingdom for its 35th anniversary. The festival promises to attract many extremely well-known trombonists, such as Ian Bousfield and Wycliffe Gordon. Organisers are also attempting to break a world record on the day before Slides Rule! when 500-600 people, including about 350 children from around the UK, will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest number of trombones appearing in one place.

Philip Harrison, CBSO First Trombone and soloist says: “My usual job is to play in the Orchestra. On the night I’m going to be out of my comfort zone because I’m going to be out in front playing to an audience consisting of some of the world’s best trombone players. It’s going to be great fun and I hope it will be an evening to remember.”

Tickets cost from £8 to £38 and are available from Symphony Hall Box Office on 0121 780 3333 or on line at www.cbso.co.uk.