Worthing Symphony Orchestra – I Got Rhythm

Sussex pianist Maria Marchant is fast becoming a favourite with Worthing audiences. Since her debut with WSO in 2019 when she played Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto, to her vivacious performance of Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto last season, she has shown her remarkable skill and versatility. So there will be great excitement at the prospect of Maria performing two electrifying Gershwin classics – Rhapsody in Blue and I Got Rhythm – in this Friday evening concert at the Assembly Hall. Both combine elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and are very evocative of the decades in which they were written – the 1920s/30s, also known as the ‘Jazz Age’ in the USA. Feet-tapping will be the order of the day in another Gershwin hit – An American in Paris – as well as Borodin’s ever-popular Polotsvian Dances, immortalised for many in the hit musical Kismet. Malcolm Arnold was an avid fan of Bernstein’s West Side Story, and his Fourth Symphony combines elements of Bernstein’s score with Afro-Caribbean rhythms that reflect his profound sympathy for the Windrush community of Notting Hill, London.