Wrexham orchestra to begin 50th anniversary celebrations with ‘Proms in the Park’ this weekend

The Wrexham Symphony Orchestra (WSO) will begin its 50th anniversary celebrations in style this weekend with a spectacular ‘Proms in the Park’ concert.

From the humble beginnings of a small string ensemble in 1969 out of Cartrefle College in Wrexham, the orchestra has grown into a 60 plus strong member community and is recognised as one of the most progressive orchestras in the North Wales and North West England areas.

Entering its 21st year as the Orchestra in Residence at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, the opening concert of its milestone season will be a ‘Picnic Proms in the Park’ at the home of one of its commercial supporters – The British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry.

Set in over 100 acres of landscaped parkland, Proms 2018 will take place on on Saturday 15th September.

Speaking about the event Clive Knowles, chairman and founder of the British Ironwork Centre, said: “The Wrexham Symphony Orchestra is an outstanding community ensemble who perform brilliantly and do such magnificent work for charities in the local area.

“During the evening we will be paying a special tribute to the RAF at 100 and to the Dambusters@75, which will include an audio recording of Captain Guy Gibson as he takes his Lancaster aircraft in to drop Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb to destroy the dams, weakening much of Hitler’s industrial war heartland and helping to bring the war to a much faster end.

“We are pleased to be featuring the work of Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham, one of the charities we support at the British Ironwork Centre’.

The Proms programme includes music from a number of genres including very popular classics, opera gems and blockbuster films. A centre piece of the Proms concert will be the 1812 Overture which was voted No 1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2018 and the evening will draw to a close with the traditional flag waving Proms songs and music, complete with dazzling fireworks.

The 50th anniversary season is one during which will see the Orchestra break fresh ground with several of new and exciting collaborations and partnerships including with the Royal British Legion, Welsh National Opera, Llangollen Eisteddfod and Techniquest Wrexham.

The orchestra will also be building on its growing partnership with Wrexham Glyndŵr University and supporting the newly established Wrexham Music Cooperative.

WSO Chairman Matthew Ellis, said: “We have put together a truly magnificent concert programme to mark a significant milestone on our history; it is perhaps one of the most exciting and demanding programme yet for us.

“The new collaborations and partnerships strengthen our relationships, not only locally but also throughout the whole of Wales and will enable us to continue to develop our programme repertoire in the future.

“The Proms in the Park concert offers us a wonderful platform to demonstrate the quality of our performance to a much broader audience and, in Rachael Marsh and Andrew Powis, we have two outstanding soloists who will perform arias from 3 very popular Operas and they will lead the audience in the singing of the traditional proms songs.

“I wish to express our great appreciation to Clive Knowles and the team at the British Ironwork Centre for their commitment to us and providing another opportunity of contributing to a fabulous evening of top class family entertainment in the Borderlands’.

The Proms concert will be performed in a brand new, spectacular 15 metre concert Dome which is being supplied by Wrexham based Event-in-a-Tent. The sound and lighting for the Proms is being provided by Sound Design of Chirk.

Tickets for the Picnic Proms in the Park can be purchased on line at www.britishironworkcentre.co.uk/events or from www.wrexhamorch.co.uk/tickets.

They are also available from the sales counter and shop at the British Ironwork Centre (SY11 4JH), the Wrexham Tourist Information Centre off Queens Square in Wrexham (01978 292015) and the Llangollen Tourist Information Centre in Castle Street (01978 860828).