Corpo Filarmonico Giovanni Rinaldi di Reggiolo visits UK

23 May 2009

The Corpo Filarmonico Giovanni Rinaldi di Reggiolo from the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy was in Nottingham in the UK at the end of April on the first leg of its "Finding Robin Hood" tour, The group is led by conductor and professional bass clarinettist Paolo De Gaspari. After the rehearsal and a night’s stay in Nottingham, the 30 musicians sampled the delights of Sherwood Forest visitor centre before travelling to play with bands in Manchester, Beaumaris, Bangor and Liverpool.

The Nottingham Concert Band's conductor, Robert Parker, told The Concert Band Portal, "We were delighted to welcome Paolo and his players to Nottingham. Both bands have Holst"s 2^nd Suite in F in their libraries, so we were able to rehearse it together, and the collective sound – and sight - of about 100 woodwind, brass and percussion players was hugely impressive." Parker also led the assembled musicians through Allan Street’s Nott’num Town Suite, whilst Paolo De Gaspari took them through Green Hills Fantasy by Thomas Doss and an arrangement of folk ballad Shenandoah by Frank Ticheli.

"Once we started playing, our linguistic differences disappeared and the international language of music took over," said Robert Parker. "The evening proved both great fun and musically rewarding – so much so that we’re now pondering on the feasibility of making a return trip to Italy!".