LOCAL MAESTRO BOWS OUT WITH FINAL CONCERT

Thomas Loten – a major figure in Hertfordshire’s music community over the past half century – will lead his orchestra for a final concert to remember this October.

This will be the final concert for the Dacorum Symphony Orchestra, which Thomas founded as the Hemel Hempstead Orchestra in 1972. With free refreshments you can raise a glass to toast Tom and the orchestra’s history.

As a teacher and conductor, Thomas has dedicated his time to music in Hertfordshire. He has given local players - young and old - the opportunity to perform with the Dacorum Symphony Orchestra, the Dacorum Youth Orchestra and, prior to retirement, in his work for Hertfordshire County Council. Thomas studied at Bretton Hall College and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where his conducting teachers included Aylmer Buesst and Norman del Mar.

Tom’s orchestra, the Dacorum Symphony Orchestra, will play a celebrated concerto by French composer Francis Poulenc alongside talented local organ soloist Alex Flood, at their final concert in St John’s Church Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, on Saturday 13th October 2018.

Children go free, providing an opportunity for budding young musicians to hear an orchestra in full flow.

The Autumn concert is a rare opportunity to hear Poulenc’s organ concerto, which will be played as part of a programme including the popular Beethoven Symphony No 1 and Faure’s moving, hypnotic ‘Pavane’ in what promises to be a memorable celebratory concert.
 
Editors Notes

Thomas Loten
Thomas Loten studied at Bretton Hall College and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where his conducting teachers included Aylmer Buesst and Norman del Mar. He was a founder member of the Canford Summer School of Music Conducting Course under George Hurst. After many years of teaching in primary and secondary schools, he arrived in Hemel Hempstead in 1970 to take up the post of Music Advisory Assistant for Hertfordshire County Council, the post which included the conductorship of the Dacorum Youth Orchestra.

He founded the Hemel Hempstead Orchestra in 1972 and its chamber orchestra, the Dacorum Sinfonietta, in 1974, thus giving local players the opportunity to perform a wide repertoire in the many large and small halls and churches in the area.

The Orchestra
The Dacorum Symphony Orchestra (DSO) gave its first concert in 1972 and has performed an annual series of symphony concerts ever since. It has accompanied a long list of famous soloists, and over the years there have been many overseas visits and exchanges. The orchestra gives at least four concerts a year. The DSO is registered charity and a member of the Berkhamsted Arts Trust. The orchestra also performs at local schools in the area as part of its community work. This gives the children the opportunity to be up close to the orchestra and ask any questions they like about what they have heard and seen. Rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings in Berkhamsted.

The Soloist:
Composer, conductor and organist Alexander Flood read Music at Oxford, with John Caldwell and Guy Newbury, and attended the composition classes of Robert Sherlaw-Johnson and Robert Saxton. He held successively the organ scholarships of Jesus College, Oxford, and St Albans Cathedral, having studied with John Wellingham and at the Norddeutsche Orgelakademie. Postgraduate studies culminated in a Ph.D. in Composition from King’s College, London, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. His supervisors were the Argentine composer Silvina Milstein, and George Benjamin, pupil of Messiaen and Goehr. Alex now divides his time between performing, teaching, and composing. In addition to being Assistant Director of Music at St Peter’s Church, St Albans, he conducts Radlett Choral Society and Sandringham Community Choir. Website: www.alexanderflood.com

Programme
Poulenc. Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani Soloist: Alex Flood
Beethoven Symphony No 1
Faure Pavane

Location and prices
Adults: £12
Concessions: £10
Under 18s: FREE

The concert is being held on Saturday 13th October 2018 at 7.30pm at St John’s Church, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead HP1 1JY Doors open at 7pm.

Tickets for this concert are available on our website: www.dacorumso.org; at the door; and from the Orchestra ticket secretary on 01494 727240. Alternatively, local stockists include: Luminous & Vogue, 24 Lower Kings Road, Berkamsted; Aitchisons, 63 Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead; and Montagues Gallery, 40 High Street, Kings Langley.

If you have any queries, please contact by email or on the contact numbers: Jonny Bugg - 07766 441923/ Emma Bugg - 07899 847707

For more information visit http://www.dacorumso.org/