Beginnings and Endings

The Ulster Orchestra are playing at Foyle Foundation Hall on Wednesday 28 October, as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival. The concert is called Beginnings and Endings, and the title does a fair bit of the heavy lifting: the programme pairs the first orchestral work of Ethel Smyth with the last of Benjamin Britten, a celebration of British music that looks at both ends of two very different careers.

On the one side is Britten's Suite on English Folk Tunes: A time there was... Op. 90, a poignant and nostalgic reflection on traditional melodies. On the other is Smyth's Serenade in D major, which is known for its lush warmth, humour, raucous intensity and quiet passion. The two sit together as a study in contrasts, and they're being led by Karen Ní Bhroin, one of Ireland's foremost young conductors.

The orchestra itself is the region's only professional symphony, founded in 1966 with its full-time musicians forming the ensemble. Its Chief Conductor is Anna Handler, and its line of principal conductors has run through Bryden Thomson, Vernon Handley, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Dimitry Sitkovetsky, Thierry Fischer, Kenneth Montgomery, JoAnn Faletta, Rafael Payare and Daniele Rustioni. Beyond the concert hall, they run the Crescendo programme, which brings music education to over 1,000 children in primary schools across North and West Belfast.

It's a free concert, and the whole thing lasts about an hour. Doors open at 1.30pm, with the music starting at 2.00pm at the Foyle Foundation Hall, Ulster Orchestra at Townsend, 32 Townsend Street. Age guidance is 10+, with 16s and under to be accompanied by a guardian.