Inside Croydon is delighted to offer two pairs of tickets for a much-anticipated orchestral concert at the Fairfield Halls as prizes in our latest, exclusive competition for our paid-up subscribers

Enchanted violin: Tamsin Waley-Cohen. Photo: Patrick Allen

The China Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, one of Asia’s most respected orchestras, will have more than 100 musicians on stage at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls on Friday, March 22, as part of its first British tour.

The concert will include the first live orchestral performances of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Oscar-winning film music by Tan Dun since its release two decades ago.

The programme for March 22 also features Mahler’s “Titan” First Symphony and Chausson’s Poème, a fantastical story about a woman seduced by a former lover with an enchanted violin, which will be performed by the internationally acclaimed violin soloist Tamsin Waley-Cohen.

Daye Lin, SZSO music director and principal conductor, says: “It has been a dream of mine for a long time to bring the China Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra to the UK. We hope to welcome orchestral audiences new and old – we’ve created a programme that includes moments of exciting drama, serene beauty, and virtuosic brilliance, which we know British audiences will enjoy.”

The Fairfield Halls is celebrated for its world-class acoustics. This concert forms part of a year-long orchestral series at the venue featuring orchestras from around the world.

Living the dream: Daye Lin will be conducting the Shenzen Symphony Orchestra in Croydon later this month

As with previous concerts in the international series, the Fairfield Halls is offering free tickets to under-18s if accompanied by an adult. There is also a “season ticket” multibuy discount for anyone booking tickets for the China Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra on March 22 as well as the Czech National Symphony Orchestra on May 16.

Tickets and full booking details are available at fairfield.co.uk.

Two lucky subscribers to Inside Croydon, each accompanied by a guest, will be attending this latest concert completely free.

To win one of our great prizes of a pair of tickets to see this acclaimed play, all you have to do is answer one easy question.

Inside Croydon’s usual Ts&Cs for competitions such as this apply, including that there is no cash alternative to the prize and anyone entering the competition should be available to attend the play for the performance specified.

The competition is open only fully paid-up patrons of Inside Croydon. Click here to sign up now as an Inside Croydon patron.

To win, all you have to do is email the correct answer to inside.croydon@btinternet.com with “Shenzhen” in the subject header by midday on March 14, 2024.

As well as your answer, please include a daytime contact phone number and your postal address.

The first two correct answers pulled out of the Editor’s big hat will be declared the winners, and will receive their prizes – worth nearly £90 each!

So… Drum roll… Here’s the question:

Name the horse ridden by Tamsin Waley-Cohen’s cousin which won the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree in 2022

Usual iC Ts&Cs apply – you have to be a current subscriber, you have to be available to attend the concert on March 22, and no cash alternatives are available to the prizes.

All you have to do now is:

1. Make sure you are paid up as an Inside Croydon subscriber – just £5 per month!
2. Email the correct answer to inside.croydon@btinternet.com with “Shenzhen” in the subject header
3. Make sure you have done it before midday on March 14.

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