Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Little Russian’ Symphony

We welcome back soloist Sasha Canter to play Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto.    We open with Smetana’s ‘Vltava’ and ‘Šárka’ from Má Vlast, and Honeggar’s Pastorale d’été.  The second half is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor (‘Little Russian’).   We are conducted by Caroline Hobbs-Smith.

Named a Classic FM 2025 Rising Star, Sasha won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Brass final 2022, playing Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.  Since then, he has performed the standard works of the trumpet repertoire with orchestras across the UK, including Oxford, Taunton, Rochester and Folkestone.  In 2025 he gave his debut recital at St Martin in the Fields with Rustam Khanmurzin.  Sasha recorded the complete solo trumpet works of Andrew Downes which will be released later this year as part of a collection of Downes’s sonatas for wind and brass instruments.

South African-born Caroline Hobbs-Smith is an accomplished conductor and educator, with a passion for inspiring musicians through orchestral playing.  Her commitment to musical excellence and collaborative spirit has led to a broad experience across genres, covering chamber, symphonic repertoire, baroque, contemporary and film music repertoire.   She conducted the Oxfordshire Schools’ Symphony Orchestra for 14 years, performing regularly in Oxford as well as touring extensively across Europe.  She currently works regularly with the National Children’s Orchestras of GB.

Tickets available from mid May