John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest are delighted to announce a very special concert at Huddersfield Town Hall on Saturday, 23rd September with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra. In the early 1970s Barclay James Harvest was one of the first bands to record and tour with an orchestra, successfully fusing the worlds of rock and classical music. This concert will see JLBJH perform orchestrated renditions of classic Barclay James Harvest repertoire of the early 1970s such as Mocking Bird, The Poet, After the Day and the epic Dark Now My Sky (not performed live since 1973) along with more recent material newly arranged for an orchestra.
The Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1891 in the beautiful Colne Valley near Huddersfield. The 80 strong orchestra has a reputation for innovative programming, choosing to showcase modern and more challenging works alongside the standard classical repertoire and they have performed a number of world premiers, undertaken tours of China, several tours of Northern France and have recorded for the BBC. The SPO’s inspirational musical director Benjamin Ellin has adapted the original Barclay James Harvest orchestral arrangements especially for this project. The SPO’s collaboration with JLBJH is another step on the orchestra’s musical journey.
The Huddersfield concert will be the first time that any incarnation of Barclay James Harvest has performed with an orchestra in the UK for fifty years and promises be a unique and very special event.