One last masterpiece

Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (RSPO) offers one year of training on site at Konserthuset Stockholm. The RSPO Orchestra Academy aims to give participating musicians heightened knowledge and understanding of the profession. The young musicians receive individual tuition on their instrument by tutors that are predominantly leaders and principals of the orchestra.

In addition, extensive chamber music playing is a vital part of the course. This concert opens with a solo piece for viola by the American composer Jessie Montgomery (born 1981), followed by two major works each featuring wind and strings respectively.

The French composer Paul Taffanel (1844–1908) was himself a pioneering flautist, also active as a conductor. His Wind Quintet in G minor won a composition competition in the 1870s and it's elegant, melodic, and immediate music. The concert concludes with Schubert's extensive and delightful String Quintet in C major – one of the finest chamber music pieces ever written, and one of Schubert's last completed work.