European Orchestra Tour

The Linwood College Orchestra Phoenix Tour started brilliantly.

The standing ovation in Perugia was wonderful and the insistence on an encore had the students playing to the limits of their charismatic best.

The concert in Florence the following night was received with wild enthusiasm by a very full house (church). The barbershop boys played their audience to the hilt and the jazz band had people streaming in from the street. After the orchestra’s first (of nine) pieces, there was standing room only at the back. The official thanks and presentations after both performances were extremely gratifying.

The next two concerts were even more successful than the first two. The acoustics are stunning, but the best of all was in Venice. The outdoor performance in Salzburg (with perfect weather and large crowds) seemed like hard work as we set up all our instruments and equipment and tested the sound, but as soon as we started our concert, the audience response was as enthusiastic as ever.

Every concert had its own special atmosphere and some musical repertoire special to the place we were in. The Jazz Band and Barbershop boys always began. There were always calls for more and the standing ovations after our encores were quite overwhelming.

The London days were extraordinary and the Westminster Abbey experience was overwhelming.

We rose extremely early for the ANZAC Dawn service. Our three student prayer-readers did us proud and the wreath-laying for the victims of the 22 February earthquake with Joe Davies and our Prime Minister John Key walking side-by-side up to the NZ memorial was a very emotional moment indeed.

At Westminster Abbey, we launched into our own majestic and rousing performances. The orchestra played at their considerable best and filled the historic space with pride and opulence.

Elgar’s Nimrod grew from its quiet opening to a truly glorious and moving climax; I have never felt so proud of our musicians’ achievements. The service that followed included mention of Christchurch and the Linwood Orchestra, and there was a very tangible focus on the group.

Amy Reddecliffe read one of the prayers with distinction and Jackson Day assisted the Prime Minister in the laying of a wreath of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. Many, many people and VIPs came up to the orchestra to compliment them on their performance and I met two former students who had gone out of their way to make sure they were there for the event.

At the end of the service, we were invited to the NZ High Commission (New Zealand House) in the Haymarket. The views were certainly spectacular and gave us a very good sense of the size, layout and grandeur of London.

These last two concerts – at the Priory (Christchurch’s wonderful cathedral) and at the Regent Centre theatre – both received standing ovations and calls for encores. This occurred at every one of our concerts on the tour and the audience responses were very genuine and extremely appreciative. One night, we had to give two encores and had people in tears at both Christchurch concerts.

We have achieved something very significant and worthwhile.

Tony Ryan
Orchestra Leader