Haffner Orchestra sets the mood for St Valentine's (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Haffner Orchestra sets the mood for St Valentine's

9:20am Saturday 6th February 2010

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JULIAN Cann has become a familiar figure in the region’s music circles.

Extremely well thought of as a chamber musician and on the orchestral scene, he leads both Stonebridge and Castalia string quartets as well as Morecambe's Promenade Concert Orchestra, and performs with Lonsdale Baroque Ensemble and the Pennine Piano Trio.

The Sedbergh-based violinist also plays regularly in Camphill communities, where people with special needs live and work. He also has a penchant for Scottish folk music, which has seen him sharing the stage with the Pictish Players in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Vienna and Venice.

Nearer to home, Julian has been associated with the Haffner for nigh on 20 years, originally as an amateur under the musical direction of his highly-respected father Roger Cann and the leadership of Tony Drummond; both had considerable influence on his approach to orchestral playing.

Julian has led the Haffner for several years and has been instrumental in the Lancaster-based ensemble’s transformation from chamber outfit into a symphony orchestra as it moved to the larger venue of Lancaster's Ashton Hall.

“I’m gratefully aware that many professional violinists never get the opportunities that the leader's job has brought me,” he explained.

The next Haffner concert is on Saturday (February 13, 7.30pm), and classical music doesn’t get much more romantic than its centrepiece - Rachmaninov’s second symphony.

With its sweeping melodies that most people will recognise, wonderful tunes for strings, wind instruments and brass, it will provide a classy night of mood-setting sounds on the eve of St Valentine’s Day.

Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance No 1 and the Sibelius Karelia Suite also feature in the programme.

Natalia Luis Bassa, the charismatic Venezuelan conductor now in her sixth year with the Haffner, conducts and will give a pre-concert talk at 6.30pm.

Tickets are available online at www.haffnerorchestra.org, from Lancaster or Morecambe visitor information centres, at the door or on 01524-65531.

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