Here's a chance to hear two, rarely performed, 18th century works featuring the oboe.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) was a a noted viola da gamba player who founded the Bach-Abel subscription concerts in London with Johann Christian Bach. He was also friends with the artist Thomas Gainsborough who painted this portrait in 1765.

His three movement Sinfonia Concertante for violin, oboe and clarinet features idomatic writing for the solo instruments with some unusual cadenza passages that explore different dance styles.

Very little is know about Madam Laschanzky but the manuscript parts of her Oboe Concerto in Bb were discovered in a library in Schwerin, Germany, and subsequently restored, edited and arranged by various oboists including Katherine Needleman. I will be playing the middle movement, a beautiful 'Siciliana', in Needleman's edition in this concert.

Saturday 18 April 2026 @19.30

St Hildeburgh's Church, Stanley Road, Hoylake, CH47 1HL

Wirral String Orchestra

Conductor: Neill Jackson

Violin: Janet Hitchen

Oboe: Helen Thomas

Clarinet: David Stockill

The concert is in aid of Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. Tickets £10 on the door.