Couple who are in perfect harmony (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Couple who are in perfect harmony

5:00am Friday 22nd June 2012 in Sound Check By Hannah Marsh

THE best of British will be celebrated in a concert by Southend Philharmonic Orchestra, where husband and wife piano duo Joanna Smith and Roderick Elms will be special guests.

With a bill featuring familiar British light classics, many of which the audience will recognise from adverts as well as film, radio and TV theme tunes, the event at Westcliff High School for Boys should make for a patriotic evening.

Joanna, who was born in Leigh, is a regular at the Royal College of Music, and is more usually touring the globe with concerts in Hong Kong, all over Europe, Chicago and Vancouver.

She also works as an accompanist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra.

She made her Proms debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra last summer which was broadcast live on BBC2.

Roderick, who is also a composer, appears in concerts and recordings with most of Britain’s major orchestras as both a principal keyboard player and as a soloist.

He broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 2 and 3 and has made many solo recordings with the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and BBC Concert orchestras as well as recording extensively as an organist, including on the epic Lord of the Rings film trilogy soundtrack.

Pieces of music on the night will include the Dambusters March and By the Sleepy Lagoon – familiar to many as the Desert Island Discs theme tune. Roderick will be playing the Warsaw Concerto, written for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight, by British composer Richard Addinsell. The couple will also play Paper Dances, an orchestral piano duet Roderick composed for their first wedding anniversary.THE best of British will be celebrated in a concert by Southend Philharmonic Orchestra, where husband and wife piano duo Joanna Smith and Roderick Elms will be special guests.

With a bill featuring familiar British light classics, many of which the audience will recognise from adverts as well as film, radio and TV theme tunes, the event at Westcliff High School for Boys should make for a patriotic evening.

Joanna, who was born in Leigh, is a regular at the Royal College of Music, and is more usually touring the globe with concerts in Hong Kong, all over Europe, Chicago and Vancouver.

She also works as an accompanist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra.

She made her Proms debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra last summer which was broadcast live on BBC2.

Roderick, who is also a composer, appears in concerts and recordings with most of Britain’s major orchestras as both a principal keyboard player and as a soloist.

He broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 2 and 3 and has made many solo recordings with the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and BBC Concert orchestras as well as recording extensively as an organist, including on the epic Lord of the Rings film trilogy soundtrack.

Pieces of music on the night will include the Dambusters March and By the Sleepy Lagoon – familiar to many as the Desert Island Discs theme tune. Roderick will be playing the Warsaw Concerto, written for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight, by British composer Richard Addinsell. The couple will also play Paper Dances, an orchestral piano duet Roderick composed for their first wedding anniversary.

Southend Philharmonic Orchestra Concert Westcliff High School for Boys, Kenilworth Gardens, Westcliff.

Saturday June 23, 7.30pm. £10 (£8 concessions) 07802 813497