Paremski stars in orchestral triumph

The exciting 24-year-old pianist Natasha Paremski stole the show at a packed Butterworth Hall concert.

Taking centre stage for the orchestra’s rendition of Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings, she enthralled the audience with her playing.

Born in Moscow, Paremski emigrated to the United States with her family and became a US citizen. After cutting her teeth with American orchestras she is now delighting audiences around the world.

For the arts centre concert she teamed up with talented trumpeter Mike Allen, who started his musical career playing in brass bands (he joined the famous Black Dyke Mills Band aged 16).

Paremski and Allen proved to be an entertaining double act. As the audience applauded enthusiastically after their performance, a massive bouquet and bottle of bubbly were presented to them. Paremski received the bouquet but then quickly snatched the bottle, leaving Allen holding the flowers.

The young Scottish conductor Rory Macdonald also endeared himself to the concert-goers with his energetic, bouncy performance. He guided the orchestra through a varied programme, which began with Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, once described as ‘a queer mad work by an odd fellow from Chelsea’ before it was recognised as a masterpiece.

After the interval the orchestra combined beautifully in their performance of The Walk to the Paradise Garden by Delius. And the concert came to a thrilling climax with Sibelius’s Symphony No 5, prompting long and loud applause from the capacity audience.

Another orchestral triumph in the acoustically superb Butterworth Hall.

Peter Gawthorpe