Scott of The Antarctic Centenary Concert

This landmark City of London Sinfonia concert promises to retrace the steps of Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in classical music, images and words at Cheltenham Town Hall.

One of the UK’s leading professional chamber orchestras, the City of London Sinfonia, will be bringing an unforgettable experience to Cheltenham on Wednesday 8 February 2012 – performing Conquering the Antarctic, as part of The Scott Centenary Concert Tour.

A century ago Captain Scott and his team set out on an epic adventure, aiming to be the first explorers to reach the South Pole, and this Cheltenham Town Hall event will retell the story of the ill-fated expedition through Scott’s own inspirational words, moving film music and original photography.

Audiences will be able to hear music from the film Scott of the Antarctic by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, interwoven with readings by renowned Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville taken from Scott’s own diary.

The reputed orchestra will also perform the ethereal ‘Sinfonia Antarctica’, a tribute by Vaughan Williams to Scott and his brave men, performed alongside stunning projections of original tour photographs by Herbert Ponting.

What’s more, composer Cecilia McDowall will premiere a short new piece of music entitled ‘Seventy Degrees Below Zero’, using Scott’s final letters to his family as her inspiration.