David Curtis recently had a difficult decision to make. For many years he had been violist with the Warwick University-based Coull Quartet, and more recently he had been carving out a busy career as a conductor. But balancing the two was becoming increasingly difficult. Now, his decision made Curtis is no longer with the Coull. Instead he is busy conducting, particularly in his capacity as music director, of his beloved Orchestra of the Swan, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The orchestra seems to have been such an important feature of the Midlands' musical scene for many years, but in fact is barely ten years old. "OOTS was first formed in 1995, as the result of a request from the original Stratford Music Festival," Curtis explains. "They were interested in encouraging the formation of Stratford's own professional chamber orchestra and, for some reason that still baffles me, thought I'd be the right person for the job. Now ten years on, it seems to have become a real success story, not only for Stratford but the West Midlands region and now nationally."
Ironically, for an orchestra with such an evocative name, Orchestra of the Swan has only once performed in that charming galleried theatre at the other end of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, "though it would seem a natural venue for us to perform on occasion, particularly some of the repertoire inspired by the Bard," Curtis continues. "Perhaps someone should suggest that the 'Complete Works' Festival would only really be complete if it included a concert. There is such a wealth of Shakespeare-inspired music to consider, not only Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky but some of our own commissions have taken him as their inspiration, most recently Julian Philips' extraordinary Masque for Caliban, premiered at this year's Three Choirs Festival."
In addition to his musical gifts, David Curtis is a natural communicator. His introductions from the platform are always perfectly judged, and his pre-concert talks, whether solo or in dialogue with composers or performers are models of their kind. And now he has had the brilliant idea of post-concert conversations with the audience, over a glass of some refreshment or other. When I ask him about this, his reply is characteristically modest. "You are being very generous... others would be less kind. But I believe passionately in the importance of conveying the spirit of the music and engaging the listener, helping the members of the audience become part of what should be a fantastically exciting collective experience that we call concerts.”
"The idea of post-concert conversations seemed to be a natural extension of what we're already doing: pre-concert talks, introductions from the podium from conductor or composer, why not a post concert chat? We all like to relax after a concert, and a glass of wine often helps stimulate conversation so I thought we should explore the idea further. It'll be especially interesting to hear people's reaction to some of the less familiar repertoire, and of course our new commissions.”

"In Stratford we'll hold them either in the hall or possibly in one of the new bar areas It needs to be large enough to accommodate people, but we need to create an informal feeling, stimulating an exchange of ideas, views etc. We needn't even restrict the conversational flow to the music; after all art reflects on and reacts to the outside world, so I see no reason to exclude that possibility… as you have said before, we don't live in an ivory tower. "Hopefully the idea will appeal to other promoters with whom we work on a regular basis, Bedworth, Redditch, Birmingham."

With this audience-friendly approach, David Curtis and Orchestra of the Swan have found it easy to introduce their listeners to contemporary music, embedded within an otherwise familiar programme. How does Curtis go about selecting such pieces?
"We try to select composers and repertoire that will be challenging to both the orchestra and audience but I want to work with composers who provide 'points of reference' in their music or style. It's then a question of careful programming. If we perform Tansy Davies' Residuum which is in reality a 21st century 'concerto grosso' based on a theme of Dowland, it makes sense to programme it alongside other known reference points, helping the listener on their journey. It can be much more of a challenge to make Mozart 40 sound shocking to an audience that listens with 21st century ears, but it should stun the listener when performed properly. So, with Tansy we begin with a Corelli concerto grosso and follow her work with the Tippett Corelli Fantasia. I think as programmers we have much to learn from a well curated art gallery, where the curator's skill leads the viewer naturally from one painting to the next giving new insights to more familiar work as well as introducing the new."
Next Wednesday's Orchestra of the Swan concert in Stratford's Civic Hall includes music by Boccherini, Respighi and Tchaikovsky, as well as the premiere of Dian, a 12-minute piece for string orchestra by the young Chinese composer Shu Wang.
Born in north-east China, Shu Wan began composing at the age of 12, and later spent eight years studying at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She was commissioned to write the music for a 26-episode TV drama, broadcast across China and in the same year gained commercial experience as a music editor for CCTV, a children's channel in Beijing.

In 2003 she came to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study for a Masters Degree in composition with Malcolm Singer, and her output since her arrival includes a prize-winning string quartet, a brass quintet (performed at Birmingham as a competition test-piece), a work for three double basses and electronics, and music for contemporary dance for three cellos, drum kit and DJ, which was performed at the London Contemporary Dance School.

Last year Shu Wang wrote the accompanying music for the Chinese State Circus tour of the UK, which culminated in 14 consecutive performances at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. She now works as a music assistant at the Yehudi Menuhin School, from where she explains to me how this commission from OOTS came about.
"I wrote a piece for violin solo and string orchestra when I was a fellow at the Guildhall and Julian Philips (the head of composition) thought maybe the Swan Orchestra would like to play it, then when the conductor David Curtis heard my music, he asked me to write a piece for them," she explains.

She acknowledges a stylistic shift in her composition since her move to London. "Since I came to London, the more and very important things I have learned with my teacher Malcolm Singer (whom I still study with now) is to understand better about the connection between classical and contemporary 'classical' music, shape and spacing."

And David Curtis sums up the effect of her new piece. "The previous scores I've heard by Shu have an intimate, chamber music quality about them, even when she composes for larger forces, and Dian has this characteristic. It's scored for 12 strings, though can be performed with a larger group. Although her music is rhythmically complex, there is an underlying simplicity and I think our challenge as performers will be to allow the listener to see and hear the simplicity and beauty that lies 'behind the notes'.

"Perhaps that's always true. A great pianist once said he liked to leave room for the listener in his performances. I think that's sound advice to all of us."