WREXHAM Symphony Orchestra’s 50th anniversary concert season continues on Saturday 23rd February at the William Aston Hall.

Wrexham Symphony Orchestra, which was established in 1969, is a full complement, 65 strong member community orchestra and is recognised as one of the most progressive orchestras in the North Wales and North West England area.

They will be collaborating with Welsh National Opera when one of their leading soprano’s, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, will make a welcome return to the stage in the Hall to perform Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures in a concert programme which also features Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Prokofiev’s 5th symphony.

The concert is nominated as the Presidents Annual concert, Professor Maria Hinfelaar, Vice Chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Since her debut Mrs Afonwy-Jones has performed with the Orchestra in 2010 in Beethoven’s 9th symphony as well as in 2012 when the programme featured Mahler’s Symphony No 3 as part of the ground-breaking Mahler Charitable concert series.

In May 2015, she joined the Orchestra for their debut concert at the Bridgewater Hall when they performed Mahler’s 2nd symphony – Resurrection- to wide critical acclaim.

Also joining the orchestra is conductor Leon Bosch, who was born and raised in South Africa and is an internationally renowned classical double bass virtuoso.

Mr Bosch has said how excited he is to be conducting the orchestra in its 50th anniversary season, stating:

“The unique structure of Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony which has a strong connection to the South African psychology in its hidden melancholy, is part of my soul; it offers something new and enriches our experiences of life.

“I am particularly looking forward to working with Rebecca in a performance of Elgar’s Sea Pictures, which is a uniquely British composition from the era of first work war.”

The supported charity during the President’s Annual Concert is Wrexham based ‘Your Space’ which supports children and young people with the autistic spectrum disorder and offers families a wide range of practical help and support.

A spokesperson from Wrexham Symphony Orchestra has said:

“Much of our focus is on supporting local charities and needy causes and our Mahler Charitable Concert Series, established in 2010 with the generous support of our sponsor Cobalz Limited, has been supporting the work of Wrexham Memory Clinic and more recently, Pendine Park Care Home.

“We also support several local charities though our concerts.”