Peer Gynt, Op. 23, is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt, written by Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo.) The play was a flop; but over a decade after composing 90 minutes of incidental music for Peer Gynt, including songs and choral numbers, Grieg extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites. We will play the first suite, which is now among his best-known works.

Bridges was commissioned in 2023 by the Sage Gateshead for premiere with Young Sinfonia and conductor Helen Harrison. It was written in collaboration with the orchestra, incorporating their musical preferences and strengths.

The concluding work will be Nielsen's 3rd symphony, "Sinfonia Espansiva" - unique in his symphonic output for having vocal parts, specifically wordless solos for soprano and baritone in the second movement.  The singers in our performance will be Faye Bowness (soprano) and Russell Irwin (baritone.)