Fantasia Orchestra

Fantasia Orchestra with Lucy Crowe: Birdsong

Sun 23 Nov 7.00pm

Smith Square Hall

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Conductor: Tom Fetherstonhaugh
Soprano: Lucy Crowe
Duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes including interval
Price: £15-£30

Renowned for its genre-defying programming, Fantasia Orchestra makes its debut at Smith Square Hall performing a programme inspired by the beauty of birdsong, with soprano Lucy Crowe OBE

Joined by the phenomenal soprano Lucy Crowe, we journey across centuries and styles. From Handel and Haydn’s bright elegance to the vivid, kaleidoscopic textures of Messiaen, and from Berg’s exquisite The Nightingale to Gershwin’s jazz-tinged lyricism, come for an inspiring and beautiful range of music. Soar through centuries of music with one of the country’s most exciting orchestras and finest of singers.

This concert promises to be a celebration of voice, nature and musical storytelling, and a chance to hear one of the UK’s finest singers in a concert that takes flight in every sense.

Full Programme

Antonio Vivaldi

Spring from Four Seasons: Allegro
George Frideric Handel

As When the Dove Laments Her Love
Florence Price

Little Pastorale
Trad.

She’s Like the Swallow
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Dove Sono from The Marriage of Figaro
Blasio Kavuma

I am the sea (London Premiere)
Olivier Messiaen

The Lovebird of the Star from Harawi
Richard Strauss

Spring from Four Last Songs
Joseph Haydn

Symphony No. 83 'The Hen'
Alban Berg

The Nightingale from Seven Early Songs
Manning Sherwin

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
George Gershwin

Little Jazz Bird
Kosma

Autumn Leaves
Arrangements by Harry Baker, James Ledger, and Paul Schäffer

Fantasia Orchestra has a reputation for pioneering cross-genre programming and collaborations with musical stars. Founded by conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh, the orchestra is home to some of the best of young British classical music talent today.

In the 2025-26 season, Fantasia performs a wide range of music from Alma Mahler and Shostakovich to Joni Mitchell and Benny Goodman, and is joined by Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jess Gillam (saxophone), Jasdeep Singh Degun (sitar), Steven Osborne (piano), Aaron Akugbo (trumpet), and Niamh O’Sullivan (mezzo-soprano).

The orchestra made its BBC Proms debut in 2024, performing two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall with broadcasts on BBC television and radio. Repertoire ranged from Bartók, Brahms and Dvořák to Laura Mvula, Piazzolla and Chic, and long-time friends and collaborators Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Braimah Kanneh-Mason (violin) and Plínio Fernandes (guitar) shared the stage as soloists.

Other recent projects have featured Dame Evelyn Glennie (percussion), Ben Goldscheider (horn), Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano), Jennifer Pike (violin), and Toby Spence (tenor), at festivals including Ryedale Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, Deal Music and Arts Festival, and Proms at St Jude’s.

Broadening the reach and accessibility of music is central to Fantasia’s mission, and the orchestra enjoys a partnership with the music education charity DaCapo Music Foundation. As DaCapo’s orchestra-in-residence, Fantasia works closely with students from across London and beyond on a range of initiatives, including a new resource for the primary classroom, DaCapo Online.

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