Greek Theatre – Summer Season 2026 Hertfordshire Youth Wind Sinfonia & Brass Ensembles (United Kingdom)

Tribute to William and Susana Walton with a programme celebrating the dialogue between folk traditions and musical heritage
The 2026 Youth Orchestra Festival, promoted by the William Walton Foundation, will conclude on Thursday, 30 July at 9.00 p.m. at the Greek Theatre of the La Mortella Gardens in Ischia. The closing concert will mark a return to the wind band sonorities so beloved by Sir William Walton, featuring the Hertfordshire Youth Wind Sinfonia & Brass Ensembles, one of the United Kingdom's most distinguished youth wind orchestras, conducted by David Gordon-Shute.
The ensemble brings together the finest young woodwind, brass and percussion players from the county of Hertfordshire, just north of London. It forms part of the Hertfordshire County Youth Music Groups, a programme offering outstanding musicians aged 13 to 21 advanced artistic training through intensive courses, concerts and international tours. Guided by conductors and tutors drawn from the UK's leading orchestras, these young performers regularly appear at prestigious venues including the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal Albert Hall, the Watford Colosseum and St Albans Cathedral.
The evening's programme explores the dialogue between folk traditions and contemporary composition, demonstrating how musical folklore represents a universal language capable of fostering encounter, dialogue and shared cultural understanding.
The centrepiece of the concert will be Sir William Walton's Johannesburg Festival Overture, composed in 1956 to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the South African city. Described by the composer himself as a "non-stop gallop", the overture is a brilliant and exhilarating work that incorporates authentic African themes, enhanced by an exceptionally rich percussion section. Its performance this year carries special significance, as 2026 marks both the centenary of the birth of Lady Susana Walton and the 140th anniversary of the founding of Johannesburg.
The programme will also include works by Malcolm Arnold, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong, Nigel Hess, Haydn Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams, together with arrangements of well-known British and Irish traditional melodies, including Irish Tune from County Derry in Percy Grainger's celebrated setting and Scarborough Fair.
The concert will be conducted by David Gordon-Shute, an accomplished musician, conductor and educator. He has also taken part in the recording of several celebrated film soundtracks, including The Lord of the Rings. Since 2001 he has taught at Eton College, where he heads the Brass Department, while maintaining an active international career working with youth orchestras and giving masterclasses, including at the Juilliard School in New York.
This concert brings to a close another successful edition of the La Mortella Youth Orchestra Festival, which once again welcomed hundreds of young musicians from across Europe to Ischia, reaffirming Lady Susana Walton's vision of music as a means of education, friendship and dialogue among peoples.
The Greek Theatre's concert season will continue, however, with a special event on 21 August, when an extraordinary evening devoted to Tango and Milonga will celebrate Lady Walton's birthday and pay tribute to her Argentine roots.

Information and bookings: lamortella.org

Folk for Wind Instruments… and Beyond!
Conductor – David Gordon-Shute

Program:

William Walton – Roaring Fanfare, Johannesburg Overture
Thomas Tallis – Hymn Tune
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Folk Song Suite

and other pieces from the classical and contemporary wind orchestra repertoire.

RESERVATION IS REQUIRED
The ticket price is €20.00 (single rate).
The concert takes place outdoors at the Teatro Greco at La Mortella Gardens and lasts approximately 80 minutes.
Tickets must be reserved at the ticket office of Giardini La Mortella,
from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday,
or by phone at +39 081 986220.
The management reserves the right to modify the program in case of technical or artistic necessity.
Artistic Director: Caroline Howard.