97 not out, but are we getting nervous as we contemplate our century? Not a bit of it! Our flamboyant 98th season promises the richest of musical rewards both for you, our wonderfully loyal audience, as well as for our players. We’ve a superb roster of soloists, with an MSO debut for the acclaimed pianist Llyr Williams, and welcome returns for master hornist Michael Thompson, ever-popular cellist Guy Johnston, award-winning pianist Tom Poster and that doyen of German violinists, Ulf Hoelscher.

As ever our programming is wide-ranging, from Mozart’s Magic Flute to Bernstein’s West Side Story via Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and Sibelius’s En Saga. There are only two symphonies this season, Tchaikovsky’s 5th and Brahms’s 2nd, but what a magnificent pair, and there are some spectacular orchestral showpieces with Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Ravel’s Daphnis & Chloe. 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Vaughan Williams, and in October we commemorate one of our greatest composers with a performance of Job, his so-called Masque for Dancing. I had the privilege of studying this wonderful work with Sir Adrian Boult in the late 60s. Sir Adrian loved Job, calling it “the absolute best of VW”. I’m constantly thrilled by working with MSO’s ever-increasing body of voluntary players and amazed by their sheer quality. Of course, “time is money” in the professional music world, with rehearsal time at a premium, and with MSO we have 23 hours of rehearsal for each of our concerts. It’s probably the way it ought to be everywhere, for by the time MSO gets to a concert, everyone is aware of how the performance should “go”. So it might sound strange, but for me as a professional conductor,true musical luxury begins and ends in Maidstone. Enjoy our season!