Music / Avon Concordia
Review: Avon Concordia, Victoria Methodist Church – ‘A soaring triumph’
The Bristol-based orchestra Avon Concordia returned to open its second season with a programme of thematically charged works.
After a critically acclaimed maiden season, Avon Concordia took a journey from the tragedy of Brahms to the heroism of Glazunov, intersected by the second live performance of Bristol-based jazz saxophonist and composer Sophie Stockham Brown’s Selene’s Awakening.
The evening opened with a polished performance of Brahms’ Tragic Overture. The orchestra rose to the challenge of tackling the work of a titan of German Romanticism with remarkable ease and the kind of spontaneity that comes only from relentless rehearsals. The lush depth of the cellos and double basses was beautifully offset by the brightness of the brass and the sweetness of the oboe line, much akin to the second movement of the composer’s violin concerto.
The proceedings neatly segued to the showstopper of the evening – Sophie Stockham Brown’s Selene’s Awakening.
Caleb Kernaghan founded Avon Concordia back in 2024 whose members rehearse fortnightly – photo: Avon Concordia
Stockham Brown is a musician extraordinaire. The Bristol-based jazz saxophonist has been a leading light in the city’s music scene for nearly a decade. Renowned for her work with Orfic, Sefrial, Starlings, Cut Capers and the Americana artist Lady Nade, she has captivated audiences across a variety of venues — from the intimate settings of the Canteen and the Tobacco Factory to the grand stage of the Bristol Beacon.
A bona fide jazz innovator, her résumé also boasts appearances at the Royal Albert Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Yet Sophie Stockham Brown is more than a first-rate soloist: she is a gifted arranger, composer and teacher whose music often dissolves boundaries between jazz, classical and contemporary genres.
At Victoria Methodist Church, she revisited her orchestral suite Selene’s Awakening with Avon Concordia, under the baton of Caleb Kernaghan. Nearly two years after its premiere, the five-movement work again revealed Stockham Brown’s blend of virtuosity and emotional intelligence, all executed with finesse and control. The piece explored the shifting emotional terrain of PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder), a condition she has personally experienced. PMDD is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome that causes intense emotional and physical symptoms affecting daily life.
Jazz saxophonist and composer Sophie Stockham Brown shone during the second live performance of her composition “Selene’s Awakening” – photo: Milan Perera
From its bird-song opening to its surging finale, Selene’s Awakening unfolds as a vivid psychological journey — serenity giving way to irritation, rage, resignation and, finally, serenity once more. The orchestra provided a rich sonic canvas for Sophie Stockham Brown’s poised, expressive playing: her sax lines moved fluidly between lyricism and urgency, each phrase shaped with delicacy, control and emotional clarity. She directed the ebb and flow of the opus with both authority and tenderness – seamlessly woven into the orchestral fabric.
There were many highlights throughout the performance — the luminous dialogue between harp and saxophone in the second movement; the taut counter-harmonies with the string section, grounded by brooding double bass and cello; and the fourth movement’s fierce, discordant climax, erupting like an emotional volcano before subsiding into the tender, reposeful playing that restores the piece’s hard-won pastoral serenity in its closing moments.
The performance was a compelling showcase of Stockham Brown’s range — a composer-performer who unites intellect, heart, vulnerability, and technical brilliance to tell stories that resonate far beyond the performance spaces.
The Bristol-based Avon Concordia got off to a flying start with their second season with a programme featuring Brahms, Stockham Brown and Glazunov – photo: Milan Perera
The second half of the concert featured Alexander Glazunov’s Symphony No. 5 “Heroic” — a work rarely performed today yet deserving far greater attention. Though it sits outside a symphonic canon heavily dominated by Austro-German staples, Avon Concordia made a compelling case for renewed listening to this overlooked gem. The symphony evokes the spirit of Brahms and Mahler without ever sounding derivative; richly orchestrated and emotionally expansive, it showcases Glazunov’s gift for melody and texture. The orchestra rose superbly to the challenge, delivering a performance of warmth, precision and conviction.
The orchestra executed the delicate passages of the third movement with finesse, highlighting dialogues between the woodwinds and gentle strings before soaring into rich, layered textures. In contrast, the final movement was played with vigour and verve, living up to its moniker – heroic. The ensemble’s performance was taut and precise, each phrase delivered with metronomic accuracy. The closing flurry, featuring insistent brass, triangle and cymbals, was expertly executed, bringing the evening to a thrilling and fitting climax.
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Avon Concordia promises to return in 2026 with another treasure trove of orchestral delights.
Main photo: Milan Perera
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