IN demand conductor Ben Crick will be showcasing the string players of Skipton Building Society Camerata on Friday, June 17 at Skipton Town Hall with a performance of Vaughan William’s ever-popular ‘Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis’.

On July 22, he will be conducting the newly revived Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra at the Great Dales Proms in Aireville Park, and he is also one of the creative team helping the Bradford-based music ensemble Cloth Ears explore new ways to deliver classical music in the lead up to 2025 when Bradford becomes the next UK City of Culture.

But it’s Skipton Camerata, the professional orchestra he founded 18 years ago, which is Ben’s first love. From its early days performing in churches and pubs, the orchestra now performs regularly across Yorkshire including four concerts a year in Skipton Town Hall where it is orchestra-in-residence.

He said: “I love playing in the town hall. It’s a fabulous space now that it’s been refurbished. The players love it, too, and there’s such a relaxed, family feel to Camerata which I think comes across in the music.”

The concert will be a chance both to display the talents of the orchestra’s string section - its violins, violas, cellos and double basses.

It will also be an opportunity for the orchestra to pay tribute to Ellis Thompson, a much loved member who died last month.

Ben said: “Ellis was profoundly respected. He played violin and viola in the orchestra for many years and I think the concert will be quite a moving experience for the players.”

As well as the ‘Tallis Fantasia’, Skipton Camerata’s ‘Midsummer Strings’ concert will feature music by Schubert, Elgar and Strauss, and they will be joined by clarinettist Marianne Rawles for Finzi’s Five Bagatelles.

Skipton Camerata’s ‘Midsummer Strings’ concert is in Skipton Town Hall on Friday, June 17 at 7.30 pm.

Tickets: https://skiptontownhall.co.uk/