Recently two original manuscripts by the English composer, Gustav Holst, were found in the Symphonia’s music archive.

In our concert, Lost and Found, these lost works - missing for more than 100 years - came to life! Symphonia orchestra joined with the Scholars Pro Musica (now Scholars Baroque Aotearoa) in a programme centred on the exciting discovery, including music by other influential English composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Holst’s two rediscovered orchestral pieces are Folk Songs from Somerset and Two Songs Without Words. Other works included Delius’s On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, and Summer Night on the River. Parry’s grand Blest Pair of Sirens and Elgar’s romantic Spanish Serenade featured the Scholars Pro Musica alongside the Symphonia orchestra. The choir also presented a selection of unaccompanied songs by Vaughan Williams and other composers of the period.

Conducted by Justus Rozemond with guest conductor Chalium Poppy.

Dr Bronya Dean presented a free pre-concert talk, explaining more about the discovery of the Holst manuscripts and their importance to music lovers and musicologists, as well as the Bay of Plenty Symphonia's plans for their future care.

Plus! the actual manuscripts were on show, alongside a display of background information. They have now been returned to the Holst Birthplace Place museum in Cheltenham.