The thrilling Viva Virtuoso Concert took place at St Thomas’s Church Lymington

A large audience experienced a most thrilling concert in St Thomas’s Church Lymington.

The church’s new vicar Lee Thompson started the event with a beautiful welcome and a prayer. This led to Jason Anderson performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Nova Foresta Classical Players under the baton of maestro Phil Daish-Handy.

Jason’s showmanship and virtuosity was balanced by Daish-Handy’s clear direction and sympathetic support from the orchestra. After rapturous applause, Jason entertained the audience with Ravel’s Bolero; we later gathered it was his own arrangement!

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker provided the perfect contrast. Each instrument in the orchestra has a chance to shine in the masterpiece, and Nova did not disappoint. In particular, the final waltz was especially captivating; the orchestra perfectly ‘in tune’ with their conductor.

Rising violin star Rose Gosney was the soloist in Bruch’s Violin Concerto. A favourite violin work among classical concert goers, Rose, aged 17, gave a performance worthy of the Royal Albert Hall.

Appointed as the new leader of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Rose communicated clearly with conductor, orchestra and audience alike, receiving a well-deserved standing ovation.

After the concert, John Graves from Music at Beaulieu, presented Rose with the first ever Pelham Award, in recognition of outstanding musical achievement.

SR