The Borders Sinfonia / Sinfonia y Ffin is an orchestra with local roots. Many of the musicians grew up in North Wales or the North West of England. Most are professionals recently graduated from Bangor University, the Royal Northern College of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Other colleagues may not have graduated quite so recently, but are expert musicians currently actively involved in music at a professional level, living and working in the Welsh and English borders. Many of the instrumentalists have played with full time orchestras such as the Halle, the RLPO, the orchestra of Opera North and the Northern Sinfonia.
Although the name is new, the orchestra has performed in four major concerts in Mold and St Asaph: Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Chandos Anthems, Brahms’ German Requiem, and works by Gounod and Fauré are amongst the masterpieces it has expertly accompanied for the Mold & District Choral Society, or performed alone under the batons of Shan Griffiths, David Poulter and Tim Stuart, with leader Edward Davies.
For the mosr recent concert on May 10 2008 in St Asaph's wonderful cathedral, the orchestra was fortunate to have the celebrated Welsh violinist Cerys Jones as guest leader, with James Pattinson as co-leader. The challenging programme consisted entirely of music composed within the last one hundred years. Carmina Burana was the formidable vehicle which displayed the instrumentalists' virtuoso talents. The audience, which was a 'full house', gave the perfromers a standing ovation.
Earlier in the evening the orchestra's more sensitive side had been to the fore in Samuel Barber's beautiful song 'Sure on this Shining Night' and the popular 'Eliza Aria' (well known as the music for the Lloyds TSB television advertising campaign).
Additionally the audience heard Debussy's most famous instrumental solo 'Syrinx' and Takemitsu's dramatic 'Voice' performed by the orchestra's principal flautist, Miriam Hughes, and Luke Das Gupta performed the solo trumpet part in the well known choral work 'Yr Utgorn' (The Trumpet) by the North Walian composer Matthews-Williams.
Future plans include a full orchestral concert in North-East Wales with an internationally famous soloist, which may be toured to England or elsewhere in Wales.
Please send any requests for further information to: sinfoniayffin@gmail.com