Following two performances with Sinfonia Cymru, a performance at the Cheltenham Festival and a highly acclaimed London Premi'e8re for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, David revisited Alun Hoddinott'92s Euphonium Concerto, '91The Sunne Rising '96 The King Will Ride'92 for a fifth time when he recently performed the concerto for a BBC Radio 3 live broadcast with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in St David'92s Hall Cardiff. The Times named the concert in its top five 'must see' classical events of the week and erged its readers to go and hear "the man with the baby tuba!" Reviewer Chris Caspell wrote,

'93Altogether a superb piece, the concerto shows all the skill and experience of the composer now in his 76th year. As is often the case with Hoddinott, the traditional '91movements'92 are avoided; for the Euphonium Concerto a series of six sections are fused together interspersing slow and plaintive ideas with acrobatic dexterity.

Hoddinott was impressed by David Childs'92s musicianship during the finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year contest in 2000 and wrote the concerto to push Childs'92s technical virtuosity. Childs rose to the challenge. His technique is irreproachable, as is the musicianship that attracted Hoddinott to him some years ago. Childs cradles the euphonium, making it a part of him and through the instrument the music pours naturally making the most complex patterns appear simple.'94

Following the performance David Childs commented, '93It was a real pleasure to perform with the BBC NOW again '96 they are a tremendous orchestra and a supportive group of musicians. The concerto is a real tour-de-force for euphonium - at the moment there is little to challenge the work in terms of difficulty, duration and stature. The solo line spans almost five octaves, contains extended musical lines, and with little rest together with a taxing solo cadenza prior to the final section, I consider it to be one of the most difficult works in the repertory at present. I am very grateful to Alun for composing a euphonium concerto and hope to be able to encourage other composer'92s of similar stature to do the same at some point.'94

The concert took place on February 22nd and was directed by the French conductor, Pierre-Andre Valade. In addition to Hoddinott'92s Concerto for Euphonium the concert also featured Dukas'92 The Sorcerer'92s Apprentice, Messiaen'92s Le Tombeau Resplendissant and Roussel'92s Symphony No 3.

David will be appearing once again in St David'92s Hall when he performs as the guest soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Last Night of the Welsh Prom in July. Further details will be posted in due course.