Classical music fans in Bangkok have a low-key but appealing afternoon option coming up. On October 10 at 4pm, the Royal Bangkok Symphony Music School presents "Virtuosi In Concert" at 140 Wireless on Witthayu Road, part of the venue's Sounds Of Wireless series.
The programme pairs the school's young soloists with the Immortal Orchestra, an ensemble rooted in Klong Toey, one of Bangkok's oldest and largest low-income communities. Conductor Krit Narinrat leads the combined forces. Rather than treating the students as a supporting act, the concert is built around exchange and collaboration, with each performer getting room to emerge through the listening rather than a simple solo showcase.
The repertoire is a canny mix of crowd-pleasers and player spotlights. Mendelssohn's "In Summer" from The Four Seasons (arranged by Vivaldi's famous companion piece's composer-verse in reverse — think heat, restless winds and storms building to one of Baroque music's most dramatic passages, complete with racing violin lines and thunderous tutti bursts). Then the strings take centre stage: the Concerto For Four Violins in G Minor by Antonio Vivaldi has four soloists tossing musical ideas back and forth, while the Concerto For Two Cellos in G Minor offers the rarer treat of two cellos chatting as equals — each answering, twisting and intertwining with the other.
After the interval, things turn keyboard-forward. Handel's Piano Concerto in D Major brings elegance and a lively dialogue between pianist and orchestra, and Grieg's Holberg Suite offers something more folk-tinged and intimate. The afternoon closes on a lighter note with Leroy Anderson's "Plink, Plank, Plunk!", a playful string-piece where players put their bows down and pluck their way to the finish.
Why go? It's a genuinely unusual line-up — students from an established music school sharing a stage with young players from Klong Toey, a neighbourhood better known for its port and communities than concert halls. The setting at 140 Wireless, a leafy venue on Witthayu Road, suits an early evening slot, and the programme is accessible enough for casual listeners while still giving string players plenty to admire. If you're in Bangkok that week and want culture that's a bit off the usual hotel-lounge circuit, this fits neatly into a weekend of riverside walks and street food — and it supports music education across very different parts of the city.
