Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra

This is followed by the premiere of Tahlequah,a new piece for piano and orchestra by local composer Geoff Page, inspired by the story of an orca that carried her dead calf for seventeen days. Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra welcome brilliant young pianist Markus Sadler in his Saffron Hall debut. They conclude with Sinfonia Antartica which Vaughan Williams developed from his 1948 score to the film Scott of the Antarctic. Snow, ice and penguins all feature in this epic piece.

Listening to Whales: Music, Culture and Conservation - 2pm pre-concert talk
A pre-concert talk will be given by Joanna Page, Ocean Conservationist with ORCA. Introducing the three works in today’s programme, the talk will explore how music has imagined and represented whale song and the fascinating lives of whales and dolphins. It will connect new discoveries about how and why whales communicate with the urgent question of how we can protect the ocean soundscapes on which they depend. What becomes audible when we listen to whales as social animals, shaped by culture, community and a changing ocean?

Founded in 2001, ORCA is a marine conservation charity dedicated to the long-term study and protection of whales, dolphins and porpoises and their habitats in oceans worldwide.