The English Symphony Orchestra (ESO), based in Worcester and known for its innovative programming and artistic excellence, return to Malvern Theatres on Wednesday 12 November at 7.30pm with ‘The Joker’s Wild – Mischief in Music’; a programme celebrating the playful energy of the Roaring 20s.
The evening will feature works by composers who captured the era’s lively spirit, including Erwin Schulhoff’s Suite for Chamber Orchestra, Darius Milhaud’s ‘The Ox on the Roof’ and Kurt Weill’s raucous Cabaret songs. The programme also looks back to the music of Joseph Haydn with a performance of his Symphony No. 60, ‘The Absent-Minded Gentleman’, full of the composer’s celebrated wit and humour.
Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the ESO since 2013, says: “Erwin Schulhoff’s suave Suite for Chamber Orchestra takes listeners on a guided tour of 20s dance crazes, from the shimmy to the tango. Milhaud’s zany ballet score ‘The Ox on the Roof’ was inspired by the comedy of Charlie Chaplin and the dance music of Brazil, while Kurt Weill’s songs reflect life in and around the cabaret scene in all its humour and sensuality. The programme opens with Haydn’s Symphony No.60, ‘The Absent-Minded Gentleman’, quite possibly the funniest and most surreal symphony ever composed.”
The concert will be conducted by Kenneth Woods, described by ‘Gramophone’ Magazine as ‘a symphonic conductor of stature’, and who has built up an impressive and acclaimed body of work with the English Symphony Orchestra, and features American-born soprano April Fredrick, the ESO’s first affiliate artist.
April Fredrick, who performed Samuel Barber’s ‘Knoxville 1915’ with the ESO in Malvern last year, has been praised by Bachtrack as ‘astonishing and luminous’. Raised in rural Wisconsin, she originally trained as a violinist before studying voice at the University of Northwestern – St Paul in Minnesota and later at London’s Royal Academy of Music.
The Worcestershire-based English Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1980, is recognised as the International Orchestra of Elgar Country and supported by Arts Council England. The ESO returns to Malvern Theatres on 19 February 2026 with a programme of classical favourites by Beethoven and Mozart.
Concert tickets are priced between £26 and £36, including booking fee, with under-18s gaining admittance for just £5. More information and booking details are to be found on the ESO or Malvern Theatres website: www.eso.co.uk
Photograph © Michael Whitefoot
