The concert now arriving … Hear Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra’s free performance at Reading Station

Rail passengers visiting Reading Station this Saturday afternoon will want their trains cancelled – so they can continue listening to a special performance by the Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Reading-based group of talented non-professional musicians are to perform ¡Fiesta on the Footbridge! from 3pm on 18 July.

For those who can’t make the unique concert, the programme will be repeated at 4.30pm in Wokingham. This show, called ¡Arriba at All Saints!, takes place in All Saints Church in Wiltshire Road.

The programme features four pieces with links to Spain – although they are not by Spanish composers. They are the infectious, high-energy rhapsody España by Chabrier, a sequence of pieces from Bizet’s Carmen, two works by ​Saint-Saëns, and ​Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. This is described as a dazzling orchestral tour de force.

For the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso that comprise the Saint-Saëns pieces, the APO, as it is known, will be joined by virtuoso soloist Shree Rao from the Reading Youth Orchestra.

The group are unusual in that they take part in intensive rehearsals over the two weekends before the concert, rather than meeting weekly. This condensed schedule keeps the musicians focused and ensures that those who cannot commit to a regular schedule can take part.

Andrew Taylor is the group’s musical director and conductor for these concerts. He is very much looking forward to Saturday’s concert, not least as the concourse turns out to be a great place to host such an enterprise.

“It has surprisingly good acoustics for orchestral performances, with the right amount of resonance and reverb,” he says. “Obviously there is a challenge with the station environment as you get noises including trains, squeaky escalators and announcements.”

For the latter, he promises that the team at Reading Station will dial down the volume of these announcements in the area where the orchestra will be performing. This came out of trial and error, as Andrew explains:

“I remember the first time we played at the station several years ago. We commissioned two pieces and gave the world premiere of one. In a particularly beautiful, quiet moment there was a platform alteration. But that’s part of the charm of it: it’s a bit like a relaxed performance where the noise of the audience and the surrounds weave themselves into the fabric of the performance and make it really special.”

The station might seem like an unusual venue for any concert, let alone one with a full-size orchestra. Great Western Railway and Network Rail have been “tremendously accommodating”, Andrew says, adding: “They get really excited and join in the spirit of it brilliantly. We’re really grateful to them for allowing us into that lovely space.”

He continues: “I love the way the crowd gathers. I love seeing passers-by with a bit of time before their train arrives who see a full-sized symphony orchestra in front of them.

“Classical music has a really bad rep for being stuffy and elitist, and some perceive a formal concert to be a bit intimidating. When they attend an APO concert, they find that this is not the case.

“Taking music out of the concert hall and into the public arena is a really powerful way  to enlighten people of the joys of listening to an orchestra play.”

Andrew adds: “I’ve been lucky enough to be standing in the percussion section when someone else has been conducting, and you see people recoil with a joyful shock at the sound an orchestra makes. It’s great.”

He will get a chance to watch again on Saturday, as he shares the baton with people brave enough to volunteer for a conducting relay. People can sign up on the day, pick up the baton and get conducting, and all ages can have a go. Previous participants have included railway staff and Andrew’s mum, who he describes as a fine musician who had never had the opportunity to try conducting: “There she was, waving her arms around, and having a whale of a time,” he recalls.

Of some of the strangers who turn up and have a go in the relay – literally passing the baton from one conductor to the next – Andrew says: “Suddenly you see them come to life in a way which was completely the opposite to the way you saw them a few minutes ago – looking shy and retiring. That’s what music does.

“I think one of my favourite moments was at one of the early events at the station where a Great Western Railway customer service representative called Chris, who works in one of those little information booths, summoned up the courage to stand in front of the orchestra, in his full uniform, and conduct them. That was terrific.”

If there is one thing the APO is proud of, it is sharing their love for orchestral performances. They have a range of initiatives, including commissioning new works and offering free entry to people who have never attended classical music concerts. They also have a youth ‘fan club’ and they want audiences to enjoy the performances just as much as they do.

“People can see us outside the concert hall and see that we’re just normal people with a passion for a particular type of music,” Andrew says. “None of us come from a particularly privileged background; we’re all just privileged to be able to play our instruments and enjoy this wonderful music together.

“There is something very powerful about seeing 60 to 70 people working in perfect harmony. It’s soul-nourishing to see that cooperation and not a single bit of electronic equipment in sight.”

While much of the focus will be on the Reading Station performance, the following day’s performance will be in the refurbished All Saints Church, just at the edge of Wokingham town centre. Andrew feels it’s a great venue for a concert.

“It’s a really lovely venue. It’s a different environment, and there is a really good sound in there. It stays nice and cool in the hot weather as well, which is always a bonus when it’s been this warm recently.

“I can’t wait: two events in one weekend is fantastic.”

What is the APO’s programme?

Andrew says the programme for the concerts – ¡Fiesta on the Footbridge! and ¡Arriba at All Saints! – is one of orchestral showpieces … and is called Spanish-themed as the pieces are not from the pen of Spanish composers.

“It’s a highly virtuosic programme and makes huge technical demands of the players. It’s probably the biggest percussion section we’ve taken to the station, and probably the biggest percussion section we’ve taken to All Saints,” he says.

​Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol is based on Spanish folk tunes: “It’s so full of energy and a real tour de force for the orchestra”.

Chabrier’s España is, Andrew explains, very close to the hearts of some of the orchestra’s members, having rehearsed it with the Berkshire Youth Orchestra and performed on a tour of Italy. This means “it has happy memories for them”.

Virtuoso soloist Shree Rao from Reading Youth Orchestra will join the APO for the performance of ​Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. Andrew says they are very talented. “It’s very tricky for us to accompany her because she has all sorts of difficult figuration we have to fit in with,” he adds.

The fourth piece is “probably the most well-known” as it features famous tunes from the opera Carmen. “We’ll present them in slightly different ways at the station and All Saints, with conducting relays at the station featuring simple marches and stuff that is relatively easy to conduct and still have fun with.

“For All Saints, I’ve chosen an order of the two suites that causes a lot of page turning and faffing around with music for the players, but presents the music in little sequences that make sense, not necessarily in plot order, but to help the listeners understand what the music’s about, where it comes from in the opera, what the themes are, and gives them a sense of cohesion.

“Each one will be preceded by a spoken introduction from me from the podium, just to set the scene and help everybody get the most out of the music. It’s almost like a nice bottle of wine; it can taste really nice, but if you’ve got the tasting notes you get that much more out of it.”