Kensington Symphony Orchestra

Kensington Symphony Orchestra returns to Cadogan Hall to perform Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony (1922), likened by the composer to “the division of dark and light, the battle between evil and good”.Alternately explosive and calm, the work features a famous battle between the orchestra and a snare drummer, who is instructed to improvise “as though determined at all costs to stop the progress of the orchestra”.KSO is joined by former BBC Young Musician keyboard finalist Firoze Madon for Grieg’s much-loved Piano Concerto (1868), written when the composer was just 24.

A lyrical Andante is bookended by a dramatic Allegro and an energetic Finale, both featuring motifs influenced by Norwegian folk music.The concert opens with Boris Blacher’s virtuosic Orchestral Variations on a Theme by N.

Paganini (1947), which brought the composer international renown after his work was deemed “degenerate” during the Second World War.