String Day 2026 - an absolutely fantastic day

This year marked our 10th year of holding a Come and Play String Day and it was a wonderful day of music making.

Conducted by our guest conductor, Felicity Cliffe, we started the day with a run through of the three pieces.

As has become tradition we warmed up with Libertango and then played through Adrienne Spilsbury’s Suite No 1 Movement 3. We were so lucky to have her playing with us and sharing how she intended it to sound. We then played through Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis which is such an epic, moving work with two orchestras and the first orchestra section leaders also having solos.

The two coaching sessions were led by Alexandra Stemp and Esther Harriot giving us a chance to look at tricky corners and really think about the details of the music.

We then had two sessions back together with Felicity at the helm.

and coffee breaks gave people a chance to catch up and at the end of the day we did an informal play through of all 3 pieces for some friends and family.

Thank you to everyone for making it such a great day of music making. Until next year …