Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra embark on 75th anniversary season

Taking the American theme, the music promises a diverse and exhilarating programme and a fitting introduction to a celebratory year, says spokeswoman Lynda Bartram.

They will play Bernstein Candide Overture; Copland Appalachian Spring; Gershwin Porgy and Bess Suite; plus music by Barber, Florence Price and Sousa.

“Bernstein’s Overture is crafted using some of the most memorable themes from the operetta itself and has become one of the most-performed works by an American composer in symphony concerts. It takes its place along with much of West Side Story as representative of one of America’s most talented and influential musicians and is a perfect curtain opener that is thoroughly American.

“Copland’s warm and generous ballet score Appalachian Spring combines foot-tapping folk dances with moving musical evocations of America’s vast landscapes.

“Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess is his most enduring and respected Broadway work and was premiered in 1935. Well known and loved favourites such as Summertime, It Ain’t Necessarily So and Bess, You is My Woman Now have become revered in the musical world as they evoke something uniquely American.

“This promises to be an exhilarating and memorable afternoon: Barber, Sousa and Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have her music performed by a professional orchestra. Truly great 20th-century music from the American continent.”

Established in 1948, the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra began as a unique example of an amateur musical ensemble supported entirely by funding from the borough council.

The first concert of the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra, known until 1976 as the Worthing Citizens’ Orchestra, took place on Friday, March 11 1949 at the Assembly Hall, Worthing.