A REVIEW OF THE OPENING OF SEASON CONCERT OF THE JOIS ORCHESTRA. (A post by Clara Ordóñez)

I will not lie: I have gone to many classical concerts during my life, and it was because of that
that I could not miss the opportunity of seeing a young orchestra performing for free, under
the baton of the amazing conductor Michael Thomas. It took place on October 13th at 7:00
p.m on the conservatory ‘Cristóbal de Morales’, which is within easy walking distance from
La Alameda de Hércules.
The concert began with the seventh Symphony of Beethoven. Boring, to say the least.
Although the performance was outstanding, Beethoven would not have been my personal
choice for beginning. In spite of the fact that they only played two of the four movements the
Symphony has, it lasted thirty minutes—in my opinion, thirty long minutes. However, this is
my only slight niggle about what I heard.
Despite the weary beginning, the concert soon got better. Their performance of «Finland»
from Sibelius kept everyone on the edge of their seats. The young musicians’ next piece was
the seventeenth Polovtsian dance, composed by Aleksandr Borodín, a quite quick and fun
opus that lived up to my expectations. Last but not least, there was the sixth movement of
«Carmina Burana», which was the icing on the cake.
In consideration of the above, I think it is fair to say that this young orchestra is not to be
missed by people who like classical music. It is within everyone’s reach to go and listen to
these talented musicians, which I believe are going to be very successful. The way I see it, it
was worth it, even though Beethoven is not my personal favourite; which, as a matter of fact,
depends on each person’s taste. For everyone who is interested in listening to this orchestra,
follow them on instagram (@jois_sevilla) to keep informed!