The Aurora Orchestra: A dinner table, toothbrushes and hangs

By Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 14 November 2014

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“it was a little like Monty Python had taken over St George’s”

Reviewed at St George's Bristol, Bristol on 13 November 2014

Takemitsu, Rocking Mirror Daybreak for two violins

Adès, Court Studies from The Tempest

Martinů, La Revue de Cuisine

Delago, Durch Mark und Bein

Delago, Secret Corridor

Mendelssohn, String Octet in E flat major, Op.20

Delago, Music for Two Acoustic Toothbrushes

Delago, Music for Hang, Electronics and String Quartet

Manu Delago, Percussion

Aurora Orchestra

Echoes of Youth from the Aurora principals at Kings Place

Mark Valencia, 19th March

Billed under the heading ‘Echoes of Youth’, this Kings Place programme is an attractive ragbag of unlikely bedfellows.

****1

Brett Dean and Lotte Betts-Dean unlock musical memories at Kings Place

Eleanor Knight, 17th January

Father and daughter team of Brett Dean and Lotte Betts-Dean join forces for the opening concert of Kings Place’s ‘Memory Unwrapped’ season.

****1

Aurora dazzle in Edinburgh International Festival debut

Simon Thompson, 18th August

Aurora Orchestra turn Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony inside out to exhilarating effect in a dazzling performance in their Scottish debut. Abel Selaocoe’s Four Spirits, on the other hand, has surface shine but not much substance.

****1

Aurora Orchestra pulls off another dramatic performance from memory

Nick Boston, 17th August

Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra, together with Frantic Assembly, present an illuminating analysis of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, followed by a blistering account of the work from memory.

****1

“Earth Unwrapped” reveals mixed bag: Aurora Orchestra and BBC Singers

Eleanor Knight, 31st January

The exquisite ensemble of Aurora and BBC Singers in the intimate setting of Kings Place are reason enough to linger longer on earth.

***11

Overtaken by the night: Aurora and Donald Grant get lost on the road

Christopher Woodley, 28th September

At Kings Place Aurora Orchestra and Donald Grant fail to impress with a straggling programme of traditional arrangements, composed pieces and a world premiere.

**111

More reviews...

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres is a Bristol-based film composer and classical electronic artist. Alexandra's passion in scoring and as a performer lie in the duality between the classical and electronica worlds, moving picture and her love for the piano. Her music has been described by The White Room Magazine as “majestic, at times monumental…the force and vastness of nature”.