Get the lowdown on Buckingham Summer Festival at Winter Warmer concert

The Buckingham Summer Festival is making an early start, with a ‘Winter Warmer’ concert on Saturday, March 4.

The Orchestra of Stowe Opera, led by Alun Thomas and conducted by Robert Secret, will play Sibelius Andante Festivo, Massenet Méditation from Thaïs and the Dvořák’s melodic Serenade for Strings.

Craig Greene, described by the Russian music critic Olga Ivannikova as a “great young English talent”, will join the orchestra for a performance of the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in A minor – written when Mendelssohn was only 13 but already the work of a mature composer.

Craig, a former Stowe School pupil, was appointed Stowe’s Director of Music in 2018. He has performed as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors.

Leader of the orchestra, Alun Thomas, is a well-known violinist who has given chamber music concerts and recitals for BBC Radio 3 and many music clubs and societies.

The Winter Warmer Concert, which takes place at 7.30pm at The Radcliffe Centre, in Church Street, is also a chance for audience members to find out details of this year’s Buckingham Summer Festival, which will take place from July 8 to 15.

The annual classical music festival was founded by Buckingham musician Robert Secret and Prof Alan Brook in 1989 and its Gala Concert last year saw the orchestra play the Beethoven Emperor Piano Concerto and Bruckner’s 7th Symphony to a packed house.

Tickets for The Winter Warmer Concert, price £15, can be obtained from the Tourist Information Centre at the Old Gaol, Buckingham or via the festival website.