Göteborgs Konserthus Music for a summer evening

André Caplet (1878-1925) Inscriptions champêtres A piece for a cappella choir. André Caplet was a versatile figure in Parisian musical life and he was an early adopter. In 1901 he won the attractive Prix de Rome, which the French Academy announced annually and which gave the winner a year's paid living in the Italian capital. Caplet was a very close friend of Debussy and has orchestrated several of his piano works, but also helped with the instrumentation of Debussy's own orchestral works. Between 1910 and 1914, Caplet was conductor at the Boston Opera House.

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) Quartet f minor Allegro - Adagio. Con intimissimo sentimento, poco scherzando - Allegro giocoso - Allegretto Stenhammar's string quartets reflect the greater part of his artistic career. They cover the years 1894 to 1916. All but the last were written for the Aulin Quartet. Seven quartets were completed, but the composer withdrew the quartet in F minor after its premiere in 1897.

Pierre Guis (b 1974) Incantations à la nuit "Beneath the starry sky, around the mighty glowing fire, the early men will cast their spells towards the night…"

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) From Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans (choir) 1. Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder! 2. Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain

Jean Françaix (1912-1997) Quintet for flute, harp and string trio Andante tranquillo - Scherzo. Presto - Andante - Rondo Jean Françaix was born in Le Mans where his father was director of the conservatory. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and became something so unusual in the serious music of our time as a humorous musician. In him, much of the French esprit from the 1920s has lived on. His music is melodic, rhythmic and light-hearted - but certainly not frivolous.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) From Chansons françaises 1. Margoton va t'a l'iau 2. La belle se sied au pied de la tour 3. Pilons l'orge 4. Ah! mon beau laboureur 5. Les tisserands

Arranged by Iain Farrington, text Armand Silvestre

Katie Thomas is a choral conductor from Wales and since 2023 the choirmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. She is also the conductor and artistic director of the Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble. Previous engagements include nine years as a voice coach for the BBC Chorus, assignments as a guest choirmaster and conductor with the BBC Singers, MDR Rundfunkchor, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the Junior Royal College of Music, as well as a guest lecturer in choral conducting and director of the chamber choir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Gothenburg. She has been a teacher of choral conducting techniques at the Association of British Choral Directors and a judge at choral festivals worldwide within the organization Interkultur. As a professional soprano, Katie Thomas has been engaged with the UK's leading choirs, such as the Monteverdi Choir under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Polyphony and the Academy of Ancient Music. She has appeared in major concert venues in Europe and the USA, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York. Together with London Voices, she has recorded several soundtracks for films and video games, often at the renowned Abbey Road Studios, as well as concerts for both television and radio. Katie Thomas is a graduate of Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2020, she was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in the United Kingdom for outstanding contributions to professional music and significant achievements in conducting and choral music.

The Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble (GSVE) was formed in 2016 and consists of 12 professional singers. The ensemble works both as part of the Gothenburg Symphony Choir in major symphonic works performed together with the Gothenburg Symphony, and as an independent ensemble under the direction of Katie Thomas. GSVE is a group of experienced and versatile singers, who perform varied programs and explore a wide repertoire, from medieval music to newly commissioned works. The ensemble has previously collaborated with, among others, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Barockakademin Göteborgs Symfoniker and performs regular vocal programs both in Gothenburg's Concert Hall and around the Västra Götaland region.

Justyna Jara began playing the violin when she was seven years old. After winning a prize at a competition for young violinists in Gdansk, Poland, she continued her studies in Warsaw with Miroslaw Lawrynowicz. During her studies, she won prizes in several violin competitions. She also recorded Wieniawski's Etudes Caprices Op 10 and 18 for the Acte Préalable record label as a tribute to her teacher. She studied for a year at the Chopin University in Warsaw and then at Juilliard in New York, working with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, often as assistant concertmaster. In 2014, she was appointed second concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.