The Purcell School Symphony Orchestra gave a concert at the Watford Colosseum on Sunday under the baton of Jacques Cohen.  The orchestra performed a programme of American music: Bernstein Candide Overture, Gershwin An American in Paris, Barber Violin Concerto and Dvořák New World Symphony.  This concert was the culmination of weekly rehearsals since the start of the Autumn Term and an intensive three-day orchestral course with Jacques Cohen. 

Violin soloist, Juhee Yang is currently a student of the Royal College of Music. She finished her studies at The Purcell School, where she was taught by Itzhak Rashkovsky, in Summer 2015.  She was the recipient of the School’s Arthur Felsenstein Leavers’ Award.

Conductor, Jacques Cohen has worked with the BBC Concert Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Bucharest Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica and countless other groups in the UK and abroad. He is Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Isis Ensemble who perform regularly at London’s Southbank Centre and around the UK.

This local venue is known for its acoustics.  The Watford Colosseum has been used to record the soundtracks of Lord of the Rings, The Sound of Music and Star Wars.  In 1995, Pavarotti came to Watford Colosseum to record Verdi’s Inno delle Nazioni with the Philharmonia Chorus. More recently, recordings from

BBC Concert Orchestra have taken place in the auditorium.