Latest News

Well if it isn't our very own conductor @bencrickmusic in The Guardian!

He's written an opera about the parallels between the Luddite uprising of the early 1800s and today's concerns around the increasing use of A.I. "Crick believes we could all benefit from knowing more about the luddites, the “Industrial Revolution machine-wreckers”, and we need to draw lessons from them to address what is, for some, the biggest existential question of our time."

You can read the full article here 
https://www.theguardian.com/.../learn-history-opera...

The opera is a part of Bradford Opera Festival and will be touring in November. 

'Ben Crick does not pretend to be Puccini; there are no hummable tunes in the piece, but the music, the videography and the excellent vocal performances combine to tell the cautionary tale with a rawness and honesty that a jolly sing-along could not.' Trinder, Chimeo

The Joystick and The Reins interrogates who decides who and what is a ‘threat’ within society, and how these ideas are reinforced through systems of oppression and authoritarianism.

Reproducing intense, hyper-emotional states, Stainton’s references include historical reenactments, police and riot arrest imagery, and 1980s ‘Crime Watch’ episodes.

Complicating ideas of power and dominance, perpetrator and victim, threat and interpretation, the show asks what it means to reconstruct a theatrical scene that draws on truth, and what societal constructs keep people at risk.

'EVERY seat in the house sold out in advance. There was a returns waiting list of those still hoping to attend this eagerly anticipated concert.' Read the full review in the Ilkley Gazette here.

'Shakespeare’s immortal love story shows that life is a storm of contradictions - grief and joy, violence, peace and eventual healing. A philosophy embodied in Anna Clyne’s “Dance” composed in 2019. This is a concerto in all but name, for solo cello and large orchestra.' Our own Adam Cathcart was truly amazing playing with such emotion and grace. Everyone was buzzing about this new piece.

'Leonard Bernstein famously transports Romeo and Juliet to New York ..... in the 1950s. The Symphonic Dances from West Side Story condense the story into just 25 minutes of breathtakingly brilliant orchestration. Ben Crick and the ASO wondrously captured the kaleidoscopic colours and above all, the infectious crackling energy in Bernstein’s Latin jazz infused music.'

We all loved the Mambo! Some of us had even taken dance lessons to really get into the spirit!

'After ecstatic applause from a capacity house, what better way to end a stunning evening than with the vibrant, storming Conga del Fuego by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez.' Played by our own amazing trumpeter Shannon.