Chamber orchestra at Dornoch

THE Highland Chamber Orchestra, with its Principal Conductor Susie Dingle, will take audiences on a European Grand Tour in two concerts later this month.

In the MacPhail Centre in Ullapool and then Dornoch Cathedral, the first musical stop will be first century Rome in the company of Mozart and the overture to his last opera La Clemenza di Tito.

A move to Stockholm in the shape of Dag Wiren’s delightful Serenade for Strings follows before flying to Bucharest for a performance of Inverness composer Gordon Tocher’s Romanian Fantasy for Taragot and Strings by principal clarinettist James Ross.

The Taragot is a traditional east European instrument described as a “wooden saxophone” by James who commissioned the piece from Gordon Tocher – this is definitely not be missed!

Finally we move to the more sedate surroundings of eighteenth century Bohemia where Vaclav Vorisek’s Symphony in D will no doubt restore order. A contemporary of Beethoven this often-overlooked composer is receiving a much deserved revival – go along and find out why.

The concerts will take place in Ullapool on 21 May at 7.30 in the MacPhail Centre (tickets) and in Dornoch Cathedral on 22 May at 3pm – entrance by donation.