Rising star makes UK concerto debut for Brigantes Orchestra new season

The Brigantes Orchestra, conducted by music director Quentin Clare and sponsored by Sheffield company Neuronatal, is the city’s own professional orchestra and has been performing to critical acclaim at venues across the region since 2019.

The orchestra returns to Sheffield Cathedral, its city centre home, on Saturday, December 2, with One Thousand and One, a trip to the Orient that includes Rimsky-Korsakov's iconic Scheherazade, based on the immortal Tales of One Thousand and One Nights.

And acclaimed young pianist Aidan Mikdad, making his UK concerto debut, plays Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto in a performance that celebrates the composer’s 150th birthday.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Aidan was this year nominated in the National Newcomer category of the Edison Klassiek Awards for his recording of pieces by Scriabin and Ravel.

He has participated from a young age in international piano competitions and has won numerous prizes, starting at the age of just 11 when he was awarded the first prize in the prestigious Koninklijk Concertgebouw Competition and since then he has won a host of major international awards.

“We’re excited to be the orchestra with which Aidan makes his UK concerto debut and know that our audience will be wowed by his performance,” said Quentin.

“We played Gershwin together in the Netherlands and it was absolutely spectacular!

“The Rachmaninov second concerto is the composer’s most popular piece – written in his twenties, it was the launch of his career and so it’s fitting to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth with a performance that might just help to launch another career.”

The rest of the Brigantes season, which runs through to June 2024, includes much loved pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Saint-Saens and Dvorak in a programme of timeless favourites that celebrate the magic of dance, including three full ballet scores.

“Don’t forget either that we have a special season ticket offer available until the date of our first concert, meaning that you can attend our family-friendly performance for free and get a reduction on the main concerts of the season too,” Quentin added

To find out more about Brigantes Orchestra and its 2023/24 concert season visit thebrigantes.uk