Pocket Sinfonia, 15th March 2019

Using both modern and period instruments, Pocket Sinfonia was formed to recreate some of the atmosphere of wonderful 19^th-century living room parties, where the intimacy of a chamber music performance could be applied to orchestral-scale pieces usually only heard in a much larger setting. This was made possible via various transcriptions by composers of the 19^thcentury, including Hummel. Pocket Sinfonia have since also made their own arrangements, applying spontaneity and vigour to creations that are not merely a smaller version of a great piece, but something new and artistic in its own right. It also allows the poor pianist to finally get to play some symphonies!

Pocket Sinfonia have taken Hummel’s and their own transcriptions of Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Greig and Prokofiev to Brighton Early Music, Petworth, Sherborne Abbey and East Devon Music Festivals and to venues in Norway. Their performances have been received with great enthusiasm including from the Telegraph’s Ivan Hewett who wrote that Pocket Sinfonia “managed to make Mozart’s brilliant Haffner Symphony burst with the energy of an orchestra; what’s more, the little pauses from pianist Emil Duncumbinfused it with a real chamber-style rhythmic pliability.”Pocket Sinfonia were also finalists in the London International Festival of Early Music’s Young Ensemble Competition in 2018.