Savitri Grier will play with Hatfield orchestra de Havilland Philharmonic

THE opening concert of the de Havilland Philharmonic’s 2012-13 season takes place in Hatfield this weekend.

UHArts’ resident orchestra returns to The Weston Auditorium on Sunday at 7.30pm.

The season begins with a series of delightful favourites, the whirling opening with Smetana’s Overture The Bartered Bride followed by Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, one of the most important and much loved violin works in the repertoire, performed by prize-winning young violinist Savitri Grier.

Savitri made her Royal Albert Hall debut in May with a performance of the Mendelssohn concerto, conducted by Jonathan Willcocks.

Prior to this, Savitri won the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists’ competition and the Oxford Philomusica Concerto competition. She has performed at the Barbican Hall, Turner Sims Concert Hall and the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

Dvorak’s Symphony No.7 completes the evening.

Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society in 1884, this glorious Czech work is often regarded as Dvorak’s finest symphony.

A pre-concert talk will take place at 6.45pm, where visitors will have the opportunity to find out more about the music included in the evening’s repertoire.

Tickets are priced at £6, £15 and £20 and are available to book through the UHArts’ box office on 01707 281127, or online at www.herts.ac.uk/artsandgalleries