‘Venables plays Bartók’ for BBC Proms
4 May 2018 - news
The BBC Proms announced their 2018 Festival a few weeks ago, including a new violin concerto that I’m writing for Pekka Kuusisto and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The piece will be performed in the Proms on 17th August 2018, conducted by Sakari Oramo. It is kind of ‘radio music theatre’ with the violin as the main character, and the piece explores my own journey through learning the violin, to a moment when I met my teacher’s teacher, the hungarian violinist, teacher and refugee, Rudolf Botta. It is all framed round nine short Hungarian folk dances or miniatures, collected or composed by Bartók, hence the double credit of the piece: Venables/Bartók – Venables plays Bartók.
Tickets for the proms are available here.