The Worcester-based English Symphony Orchestra's Strings will perform ‘Spring Song and Strings’, at the Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester on Friday 5 May.

Soprano, Nadine Benjamin, joins the Orchestra hot-foot from her most recent appearance with English National Opera, alongside conductor Michael Karcher-Young.

In the programme, the Strings of the English Symphony Orchestra will play the beautiful Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No.5 and Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, arranged from his Quartet No.8. Béla Bartók collected dance tunes in Transylvania which became the source for his Romanian Folk Dances, and the programme ends with another Folk-inspired work, this time from English shores; Gustav Holst’s toe-tapping St. Paul’s Suite.

Works by African-American composers also feature, with soprano Nadine Benjamin singing works by Florence Price and Undine Smith-Moore, and the programme includes the contemplative Lyric for Strings by George Walker, dedicated to Walker's grandmother who was formerly enslaved.

British lyric soprano Nadine Benjamin MBE is a charismatic and versatile artist who is in increasing demand on both the operatic stage and the concert platform. She is also developing renown as a recitalist, particularly associated with Verdi and Strauss as well as contemporary American song, and has appeared at the BBC Proms.

Firmly established as ‘The International Orchestra of Elgar country’, the English Symphony Orchestra, under their Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Kenneth Woods, has become synonymous with artistic excellence, innovative and visionary programming, distinctive commissioning, ground-breaking recording, a welcoming and immersive concert experience, transformative youth programmes and service to the community.

Each year, the ESO headlines an ambitious series of concerts in Worcester, Malvern, Hereford, and across the Midlands’ region and as far as Oxford, Bristol and London. Full details of the orchestra’s current schedule, including their upcoming 'Spring Song and Strings' concert, can be found at eso.co.uk.