Dancing Through Time: Discovering Something a Little Different

Soloists for our upcoming concert, Kathryn Hathaway and Charlotte Kenyon, discuss how they came to know - and love - Nancy Galbraith's concerto "Dancing Through Time"

When we first decided that we would like to audition to perform a concerto with Hallam Sinfonia, we knew that we wanted to do something a little different. As a flute and viola duo, the obvious problem was that there isn’t exactly an enormous catalogue of concertos waiting for us!

So began a period of musical detective work.

We listened to anything we could find for flute and viola with orchestra, looking for a piece that would work for us both as individual players and as a duo. Then we stumbled across Nancy Galbraith’s Dancing Through Time.

We were hooked almost immediately.

What first caught our attention was the incredible rhythmic energy of the piece. It has drive, excitement and a wonderful sense of movement running through it. As the title suggests, dance is never very far away, but this isn’t simply music that keeps to one predictable rhythmic pattern. The relationship between the two solo parts is constantly changing. At times flute and viola move closely together, while elsewhere they play with and against one another through cross-rhythms and contrasting ideas.

It makes rehearsing together great fun, although we have certainly had a few moments when counting very carefully has been required!

Another thing we love about Dancing Through Time is its sound world. The orchestration includes acoustic and electric guitar, piano and plenty of percussion, creating colours that you might not necessarily expect when you think of a concerto featuring flute and viola. The soloists are also amplified, adding another dimension to the performance and allowing the distinctive colours of the two instruments to emerge from the orchestral texture.

There are moments when the music is exuberant and exciting, others when it becomes darker and moodier, and some brilliant passages where the soloists are left completely exposed without the orchestra. For us, those contrasts are part of what makes the piece so compelling. One moment we are working closely together; the next we are negotiating independent rhythms or passing musical ideas between us.

So, what are we most looking forward to?

Quite simply, hearing it all come together.

Practising the solo parts is one thing, but Dancing Through Time is a piece whose character comes from the interaction between the soloists and the orchestra. We are particularly excited to hear the guitars, piano and percussion added to the texture and to experience what the amplification brings when we finally perform it in All Saints, Ecclesall.

Most of all, we want to capture the sheer energy of the music. We hope the orchestra has as much fun playing it as we have had learning it and that we can communicate some of the excitement we felt when we first discovered the piece.

And perhaps that is what we are looking forward to most. Many people in the audience may never have heard Dancing Through Time before. There is something rather special about introducing people to a piece you have discovered, fallen in love with and then spent months learning.

On 17 October, we finally get to share it.

We found Dancing Through Time almost by accident. We can’t wait for you to discover it with us. Come and join Hallam Sinfonia, and let’s Dance Through Time together.

Nancy Galbraith's "Dancing Through Time" will be performed alongside Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol", and Charles Ives' second symphony, in the first Hallam Sinfonia concert of the 2026/27 season on Saturday 17 October. The concert is at 7.30pm at All Saints Church, Ecclesall. Further information and tickets available here.