SETTLE Orchestra, under its charismatic Colombian conductor Maria Camilla Barbosa, will be concluding its current season with another varied and magical programme at concerts in Skipton and in Settle.

The programme starts with Mozart’s sparkling overture to his opera “the Impresario”, describing the trials and tribulations of a producer attempting to put on an opera - at his own financial risk - while managing the egos of his lead singers. Today’s football managers know the score all too well.

Richard Strauss’ first horn concerto, an early work with all the composer’s characteristic elan and tunefulness, follows, and the concert ends with Beethoven’s seventh symphony, the work which his contemporary Weber said showed that Beethoven was “ripe for the madhouse”. Audiences then and since have adored this wonderful piece with its pounding rhythms in the fast movements, contrasting with the haunting melodies of the slow movement.

The soloist in the Strauss will be Will Padfield, a recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music and Royal Academy of Music who is now working as a freelance musician in London. Alongside his orchestral work he is in demand as an actor and as a music presenter.

The concerts, back at the normal time of 7.30 pm, will take place in the Settle Parish Church on Saturday, June 22 and Christ Church, Skipton on Saturday, June 29.

Further details and tickets from the orchestra’s website at http://www.settleorchestra.org.uk/ Tickets will also be available from Forage and Feast, Duke Street, Settle and on the door.