Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
On 10th and 11th of May 2025, the music charity Cameratina is hosting a weekend of vocal music “Tomorrow shall be my dancing day” – A Celebration of Gustav and Imogen Holst. 2024 marks one hundred and fifty years since the birth of Gustav Holst. It also seems an appropriate time to shine a light on the life and works of his daughter, Imogen, who died only forty years ago.
Sāvitri and The Wandering Scholar
A double bill of Gustav Holst's two short operas. With Ellipsis Ensemble
Sat 10th May, 3pm
£40
Open Rehearsal - With Dame Felicity
Dame Felicity leads a rehearsal in preparation for the evening Recital.
Sun 11th May, 12pm
£20
Little Thinkest Thou, Poore Flower
A recital of arias and songs - music from Imogen Holst and her contemporaries
Sun 11th May, 5pm
£40
A little more information about our weekend of music
The programme has been designed by our Artistic Director Susanna Stranders working with renowned mezzo-soprano Dame Felicity Palmer.
Susanna writes: “I am excited to curate a weekend of performances and discussions for Cameratina exploring and celebrating the music of both father and daughter.
I can think of no better colleague to join me for this project than Dame Felicity Palmer, who has not only sung and recorded works by Gustav Holst but has also worked with and alongside Imogen Holst. We will all have the chance to hear about her many Holst experiences over the course of the weekend!
As Leah Broad puts it so pertinently in Classical Music, ‘few musicians have had such a wide-ranging impact on music in the UK as Imogen Holst, having turned her hand to everything from composition to conducting, teaching, public speaking, musicology, concert organising and musical administration. The full legacy of her work has yet to fully be understood – but as a composer, at least, new recordings and publications are paving the way for her to emerge from the combined shadows of Britten and Gustav Holst, and to receive the acclaim that her own modesty never allowed her to pursue.’
My hope is that during our weekend together next May we will have the opportunity not only to relish some of the operatic flavours of Gustav Holst, but also to understand a little better the impact and importance of Imogen Holst on the British classical music scene.
Imogen Holst
Our performers
Susanna Stranders is on the music staff of the Royal Opera House as an assistant conductor and repetiteur. She also coaches at leading conservatoires in the UK and abroad and is in demand as a judge in a number of prestigious competitions. Her website is at www.susannastranders.com .
As Susanna says, our guest performer is one of the UK’s most popular opera stars and, more recently, a highly respected vocal coach, Dame Felicity Palmer. Dame Felicity’s successes span the repertoire from Bach to Sondheim and from Gilbert and Sullivan to Richard Strauss. She has performed with ENO for over forty years, as well as acting as a vocal coach for Glyndebourne and The Metropolitan Opera in New York. Dame Felicity is a professor at the Royal College of Music.
Susanna and Dame Felicity will be joined by four of the finest emerging talents of the current British opera world. The young performers will be selected by Susanna from recent alumni of the Britten Pears Young Artists Programme. We are very grateful to the organisers of the Britten Pears programme who have been most supportive during the process of putting our event together.
The four young stars selected will be the cast of our double-bill operas and support Dame Felicity in the recital.
The musical line up is completed by Melanie Ragge and Robert Manasse. Melanie is an internationally acclaimed recitalist and chamber musician as well as Professor of Oboe at the Royal Academy of Music. Robert is an award-winning flautist with many recordings to his name. He has played with many of the best known orchestras in the UK as well as being a member of the London Mozart Players. He teaches at The Guildhall school of music. Robert, together with Melanie and Susanna, make up the Ellipsis Ensemble.
It is planned that for the Holst weekend, Ellipsis will be expanded to include one or more of the young instrumentalists that have taken part in the Britten Pears Young Artists Programme.
Gustav Holst
Sat 10th May, 3pm
Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
A double-bill of two of Gustav Holst’s short operas, Sāvitri, a one act opera based on ancient Indian myth, and The Wandering Scholar, a comic morality tale set in 13th-century France. The singers will be joined by the Ellipsis Ensemble with Susanna conducting from the piano.
The performance will be at The Jubilee Hall at 3pm on Saturday 10th May 2025 and is expected to last around 90 minutes including an interval. Tickets are £40 per person.
Sun 11th May, 5pm
Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
Little Thinkest Thou, Poore Flower: A recital of arias and songs focusing on the music of Imogen Holst and her contemporary women composers. It is planned that this includes Imogen’s Oboe Concerto as well as a selection of music from a previously unperformed vocal work.
The performance will be at The Jubilee Hall at 5pm on Sunday 11th May 2025 and is expected to last around 120 minutes including an interval. Tickets are £40 per person.
Sun 11th May, 12pm
Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
Dame Felicity will also lead an Open Rehearsal of the Recital giving both the performers and the audience her insights into the delightful subtleties of Imogen’s music.
This workshop, open to the public, will be held at The Jubilee Hall at 12 Noon on Sunday 11th May 2025 and is expected to last around 60 minutes. Tickets are £20 per person.
Becoming a Cameratina Donor
Cameratina organises the finances of each of its events on a stand-alone basis. Thus it is perfectly possible to be a donor for a single event with no commitment to give further donations. While donations of any amount are gratefully received, events are designed to be mutual endeavours between the donors, with most contributing the same amount to a venture. This gives each event an inclusive feel that is valued by donors.
For more information on becoming a donor, please see our 2025 Prospectus.