Exciting aerial and floor circus acts will combine with orchestral music classics in Central Otago Regional Orchestra's upcoming concert series to be held on May 3rd and 4th in Cromwell and Arrowtown.

Bringing circus and music together has been a long-held dream of our conductor Ashley Hopkins. We have teamed up with Circus Space, run by Abigail Rose. Abigail has recently performed at the Glastonbury Performing Arts Festival in the UK, along with other festivals in Barcelona, Ireland, and France. Her specialist disciplines are aerial silks, silks, and double trapeze. In this performance she will be joined by four of her teenage students who have been performing aerials for about three years.

Well-loved classics like Entry of the Gladiators (Fucik), Send in the Clowns (Sondheim arr. Hopkins), The Teddy Bears' Picnic (Bratton),  Dance of the Tumblers (Rimsky-Korsakoff arr. Dackow), and The Pink Panther (Mancini) will set the scene, with a medley from The Greatest Showman (Pasek and Paul) rounding out the circus theme. These will be complimented by Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite and Padilla's El Relicario.

Central Otago Regional Orchestra (CORO) is a community-based ensemble that brings together talented musicians from across Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes areas. Founded with a passion for classical and orchestral music, CORO aims to provide high-quality performances while nurturing local musical talent. The orchestra performs a diverse repertoire, ranging from classical masterpieces to contemporary works and collaborations with local, national, and international artists. Ashley brings a wealth of musical experience to the conductor's podium, and has been CORO's successful music director since 2016.