Saturday 30 June at 7:30 pm, St Mary’s Church, Church Street, Maldon CM9 5HW
Haydn Symphony No. 49 ‘La Passione’
Elgar Serenade for Strings
Boyce Symphony No. 4 in F
Grieg Holberg Suite
Mozart Symphony No. 29 in A
Find out more: Maldon Festival
The Bristol Ensemble performs a concert of classical favourites as part of the tenth annual Maldon Festival, which provides music lovers with a feast of orchestras, choirs, musicians and more.
Tessa Uys
St Lawrence Jewry, London
THE AUGUST MUSIC FESTIVAL 2015
20 concerts of chamber music starting at 1.00pm
3 August 2015 – festival opens
Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman opened the festival with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in the transcription for four hands at one keyboard by Franz Xaver Scharwenka.
Tessa Uys
St Lawrence Jewry, London
THE AUGUST MUSIC FESTIVAL 2015
20 concerts of chamber music starting at 1.00pm
10 August 2015
THE BROOKFIELD MUSIC ROOM PLAYERS
Tessa Uys, piano Hazel Cropper, oboe Helen Pierce, clarinet Stephen Nichols, horn and Andrew Watson, bassoon.
A most welcome return by this group with two great Quintets –
Beethoven in E flat Op16 and Mozart, also in E flat, K452.
Penelope Thwaites
Rhodes House, Oxford
View the invitation.
View the programme.
Penelope is a musician with an exceptionally wide repertoire. Her London debut in 1974 featured the music of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mussorgsky. She has gone on to perform both the well-known classics alongside rarely performed repertoire, such as the Constant Lambert Piano Sonata, and works by notable Australians such as Arthur Benjamin, Peter Sculthorpe and Peggy Glanville-Hicks. Her CD, ‘Travelling Between Worlds’, includes many other favourite composers.
She has played as soloist with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, Albany Symphony, and most of the leading Australian orchestras. She has broadcast frequently on the BBC and has devised series where she both introduced the music and performed it.
Penelope Thwaites
Kings Place Concert Halls, London
25 October 2015
Pianist Penelope Thwaites marks the centenary of her poet father, Michael, with a concert of his poetry, interspersed with evocative works by Chopin, Bach, Schumann, Grainger and more.
Winner of the King’s Medal for Poetry, Michael Thwaites served in the British Navy during the second world war. Some notable poems came out of that experience – including The Jervis Bay, a stirring and moving account of the sea battle which saved one of the vital convoys in the North Atlantic.
Penelope is delighted to be joined by the renowned actor, Timothy West, and, as Guest Artist, the well-known baritone, Stephen Varcoe.
Autumn Concert at St Vigor’s, Fulbourn, Cambridge, Sunday 29th November at 7.30pm
Whiteacre Winds, conductor Sarah Rodgers, perform:
Dvorak – Serenade for Winds,
Janacek – Mladi,
Nielsen – Serenata in Vano and
Haydn – Notturno No.2 in F (arranged by Derek Smith).
Admission free.
Retiring collection for the Friends of St Vigor’s.
The choral piece, “The Apple Tree” is to be performed by the chamber choir Chantage on 12th December 2015 at St James’ Piccadilly, London, at 7.30pm
Chantage has just returned from an international choir festival in Malta where they scored the highest mark in the festival and were awarded the Grand Prix of Malta.
The Forge Arts Venue
3-7 Delancey Street, London NW1 7NL
Wednesday the 13th January 2016 at 7.30pm
To listen to extracts of works by Julian Dawes and to buy scores of his music, visit
tutti.co.uk
PROGRAMME
Love, Life and Lyric for Soprano and Piano
Reflection on Psalm 43 for Piano (first concert performance)
Homage for String Quartet
Wedding Song for Soprano, Violin and Piano (first performance)
Sonata for Piano (first performance)
Bagatelle for a Wedding for String Quartet
Four Songs form the Song of Solomon for Mezzo Soprano, Tenor and Piano (first performance)
String Quartet (Slow Movement)
Sonata for Violin and Piano
PERFORMERS
Holywell String Quartet
Sophie Lockett – Violin
Louisa Stuber – Violin
Vivienne Bellos – Soprano
Cantor Jason Green – Tenor
Camille Maalawy – Mezzo Soprano
Helena Massip – Soprano
Mitra Alice Tham – Piano
Stephen Dickinson – Piano
Alexander Knapp – Piano
Andrew Gellert – Piano
Tickets: £11/9 online; £12/10 on the door
Available from
www.forgevenue.org
The inaugural concert by new London ensemble, The Thalassa Ensemble takes place at St Cuthbert’s Church, Fordwych Rd, London NW2 3TN at 7.30 pm and includes music by Diana Burrell, Philip Cashian, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Patrick Nunn, Natalie Bleicher, Jennifer Fowler and Karen Tanaka.
On February 16th at 1pm, Marielle Way will be the soloist in Christopher Gunning’s Concertino for Flute and Small Orchestra. This forms part of a concert given by the Blaze Ensemble conducted by George Vass, and it also includes Schubert’s 3rd Symphony. The venue is St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8AU. Admission is free, with a retiring collection. The Concerto has been recorded by Catherine Handley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was also recently performed at the Presteigne Festival by Catherine Thomas and the Festival Orchestra.
David M. Patrick
Exeter College Chapel, Oxford
23 February 2016
David M. Patrick who was born in Devonshire, England, in 1947, is one of the most brilliant British organists of this time. He pursued his musical education at the Royal College of Music with distinction winning the Stuart Prize for organ in 1967 and going on to gain the coveted Walford Davies Prize the following year. This award brought him prestigious recitals at both Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral as well as the honour of being presented to HRH Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
“A Celebration of Music by Female Composers” with Soprano Katerina Mina & Pianist Andrea Benecke
A wonderful opportunity to listen to music by six female composers of the 19th, 20th & 21st centuries, including the World Premiere of British composer Rosemary Duxbury’s piece “Kabir says…”. The programme includes also song cycles by German composers Clara Schumann and Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn, Viennese-born socialite Alma Mahler and Italian contemporary composer Carlotta Ferrari. German pianist and composer Andrea Benecke will also perform her very own piano pieces during the concert.
The programme, except R. Duxbury’s World Premiere, has already been performed at SteinwayHaus Hamburg and the next day of this concert, on 26th February, it will be performed at SteinwayHaus Munich, with further plans to present it also in Vienna in Summer/Autumn 2016.
For more information about the musicians Soprano Katerina Mina, pianist Andrea Benecke and composers Rosemary Duxbury & Carlotta Ferrari, please visit their websites at www.katerinamina.com, www.konzertpiano.de, www.rosemaryduxbury.com & www.carlottaferrari.altervista.org respectively!
Amy Harman bassoon, Jonathan Ware piano
Tuesday 1 March / 1.00pm / Wigmore Hall
JS Bach: Gamba Sonata No. 2 in D, BWV. 1028
Olav Berg: Duo for bassoon and clarinet
Schubert: Three Songs from Schwanengesang, D. 957
Saint-Saëns: Sonata, Op. 168
Over the last year Amy Harman has attended Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove working with Elisabeth Leonskaja, toured California with Camerata Pacifica, and collaborated with artists Paul Lewis, Guy Johnston, Nicholas Daniel, Radovan Vlatkovic and the Chilingirian Quartet at festivals throughout Europe. She was appointed principal of the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2011.
Amy is joined by pianist Jonathan Ware, whose recent engagements include a Schubert song recital at Wigmore Hall with Benjamin Appl and appearances at the Kölner Philharmonie and Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Saturday 5 March at 7.30pm
Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol
The strings take centre stage in this programme that ranges from Mozart’s elegant Divertimento in D to Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. Tickets from Opus 13 Music shop on 0117 923 0164
Tea-Time Concert
Sunday 6 March at 3pm
Christ Church, Nailsworth
A performance of Schubert’s lively and lyrical Piano Trio in B flat. Pianist Yoshiko Endo performs Erik Satie’s beautiful and hypnotic work for solo piano, the Gymnopédie No.1. Tickets £10 on the door.
Sunday 3 April at 3pm
Christ Church, Nailsworth
Viv McLean made a huge impression on our audiences last year and he‘s back with us in Nailsworth to perform Gershwin’s iconic work Rhapsody in Blue, and Beethoven’s mighty Fourth Piano Concerto in an arrangement for chamber ensemble. Tickets £10 on the door.
Tickets on sale from Monday 15 Feb
phone: 0117 923 0164, 07860 845316
Thursday 7th April, 8pm
It’s World Health Day, and Catherine Bott is marking this in music tonight. There are more links to the world of classical music than you may imagine, from patrons of medicine to fully trained professionals.
Wolf-Ferrari: Doctor Cupid – Overture
Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 54
Stephen Hough/City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons
Borodin: Petite Suite
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Evgeny Svetlanov
Handel: Oboe Concerto No.3 in G minor
Sarah Francis/London Harpsichord Ensemble
Jarre: Doctor Zhivago – Lara’s Theme
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Kreisler: Liebesleid – Ji Liu
Berlioz: Royal Hunt & Storm
Orchestre de Paris/Daniel Barenboim
Read more
Julian Dawes’ new Pesach (Passover) Cantata will have its premiere at the New London Synagogue, 33 Abbey Road NW8 0AT, on Sunday 10th April 2016 at 7.30pm.
Julian writes:
“As many of you will know Jewish themes are an important part of my work as a composer, and a theme which has been a recurring is the story of The Exodus. My cantata, Shirat Hayam (The Song Of The Sea) was first performed in December 2013. The Death of Moses, first performed in 2003, is a cantata based on a sequence of poems which imaginatively and dramatically describe what the experience of death might have been like for Moses.
“Which brings me to my third major work with an Exodus theme, Pesach Cantata for Soloists, Chorus and Chamber Ensemble. It is dedicated to Cantor Jason Green and to the New London Synagogue. It has an inspired libretto by Rabbi Roderick Young in which a Grandfather relates the story of Passover to his Grandchild, which in turn is illuminated by three other characters, Miriam, Aaron and Rabban Gamliel (a Talmudic sage who is featured in the Haggadah).
“All the familiar themes of the traditional Seder experience make their appearance in the Pesach Cantata. As Rabban Gamliel explains, it is an evening of “listening and telling the endless beautiful cycle.” The Grandfather describes the different aromatic dishes that diverse Jewish communities around the world use at their Seder Table: “These are the scents of Jewish homes on the eve of Pesach. Each scent curls around a point on the map, the map of our wanderings.” The 10 plagues, the 4 Questions, and the 4 Children all make their appearance in Roddy Young’s evocative libretto.
“The role of the Grandfather will be sung by Cantor Jason Green, the Grandchild by Zev Green, Miriam by Martha Jones, Aaron by Mark Nathan and Rabban Gamliel by Julien Van Mellaerts. The chorus will be our very own New London Singers, supplemented by eight professional singers, and the instrumental parts will be played by The New London Chamber Ensemble, led by Sophie Lockett and conducted by Vivienne Bellos.
“Please come and help make this performance a memorable precursor to Pesach.”
Tickets obtainable at TICKETS
Alexander Ullman’s programme includes Liszt’s great Sonata in B minor, and music by Haydn and Ravel. Born in 1991 he studied at the Purcell School, Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Royal College of Music. In 2011 he won 1st Prize at the Liszt Competition in Budapest.
Alexander has already performed widely in Europe, China and the USA, including recitals in Copenhagen, Leipzig Gewandhaus, La Jolla Arts Festival in California and a European tour with the Dover Quartet. Future engagements include his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Saturday 23 April at 7.30pm
Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol
More musical fireworks from pianist Viv McLean in Henleaze with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Porgy & Bess (arr. William Zinn), and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major Op. 58. Tickets from Opus 13 Music shop on 0117 923 0164.
Penelope Thwaites
Schott Music, London
6 May 2016
Penelope is a musician with an exceptionally wide repertoire. Her London debut in 1974 featured the music of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mussorgsky. She has gone on to perform both the well-known classics alongside rarely performed repertoire, such as the Constant Lambert Piano Sonata, and works by notable Australians such as Arthur Benjamin, Peter Sculthorpe and Peggy Glanville-Hicks. Her CD, ‘Travelling Between Worlds’, includes many other favourite composers.
After graduating with highest honours at the top of her year in a B Mus degree from Melbourne University, she found herself initially working in and composing for the theatre. Hundreds of songs, four musicals and four revues later, she worked with West End artists on her musical (with Alan Thornhill) Ride!Ride!, a show that has continued in production with both amateurs and professionals ever since. Gramophone Magazine described the CD as “a compelling aural drama.”
13th May, 27th June and 7th September 2016
Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman (piano duo)
Beethoven : Symphony no 9 (‘Choral’) arr for piano duet by Franz Scharwenka
13th May 2016
Fridays, 1.00pm – 1.45pm
VISIT Music at St Barnabas
27th June 2016
Mondays, 1.00pm – 1.45pm
VISIT St Lawrence Jewry
7th September 2016
Wednesdays, 1.15pm
VISIT Melford Music
SOPRANO ALISON PEARCE presents ‘ANOTHER AUDIENCE WITH THE DIVA’
An evening of song and spoken ‘intimacies’ from a life in music
Sunday 15th May 2016 at 8pm at the Jermyn Street Theatre, SW1
A must-see event for lovers of music and those who want a glimpse into the fascinating world of ‘divadom’. Internationally acclaimed soprano, Alison Pearce, rides into town with a glittering – but ‘intimate’ evening of song and ‘confidential’ anecdotes from her distinguished career in music. The evening promises an extravaganza of Operatic Arias, favourites from the Musicals and Art songs interspersed with spoken intimacies. Renowned for her ‘down to earth approach’ the audience will delight in Alison’s candid observations as well as her magnificent voice. Ms Pearce is accompanied by Maestro pianist Benjamin Costello and keeping a tight rein on proceedings is Master of Ceremonies Martin Dibben.
The performance starts at 8pm and runs for approximately 100 minutes plus an interval of 15 minutes.
Alison Pearce is delighted to organise this event to benefit NEW HORIZON YOUTH CENTRE.
Tickets: £25. Box Office: 020 7287 2875: www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6ST
HAMBLEDEN CONCERTS
THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN RG9 6RT
near Henley on Thames
SATURDAY MAY 28th at 7.30 pm
Mozart quartet in G K387
Salzedo quartet no. 5 Op.32/1
Schubert quintet in C Op.163 with Nick Roberts- cello
Tickets £15.00 under 18’s free. From: Mrs C Allen, 2 Wargrave Hall, High St,
Wargrave, Berks RG10 8DA enclosing SAE.
tel. 01189 403555. email benandcarol@btinternet.com
One Day – Eight Concerts
Saturday – 4th June, 2016
2.00 – 9.00 pm
VENUE:
St John’s Notting Hill
Lansdowne Crescent
London W11 2NN
Concert 1 at 2.00pm
Kyle Horch, saxophone, gives the first performance of Timothy Salter’s Chameleon in its duo version with pianist Yshani Perinpanayagam.
Saturday, 11 June 2016 from 19:30 to 22:00
‘Tasmin Little – one of the world’s leading violinists.’ Classic FM – is joined by renowned pianist John Lenehan in a programme of Schubert, Franck, Beethoven and a world première from composer and HFoM Co-Artistic Director James Francis Brown.
There will also be an opportunity hear Tasmin speak about music and her career before the concert (18.30-19.00), an event free to all ticket holders.
We really hope that you can join us for this special concert in such a lovely part of the country, and for the first event in what we hope will become a valued addition to the UK’s musical calendar.
Tessa Uys continues her lunchtime recital series at St Lawrence Jewry with a programme of Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Schumann.
Tessa Uys continues her lunchtime recital series at St Lawrence Jewry with a programme of Bach/Marcello, Haydn, Brahms and Beethoven.
A poignant concert in memory of Peter Maxwell Davies, the founder of the St Magnus International Festival, and a great friend of Hebrides Ensemble.
Tessa Uys teams up with Ben Schoeman for the final recital in the St Lawrence Jewry Monday Lunchtime June series.
Together they perform Beethoven : Symphony no 9 (‘Choral’) arr for piano duet by Scharwenka
20 days of lunchtime recitals throughout the month of August
To open the festival in which we celebrate Franz Joseph Haydn, we have two of the master’s concertos for piano, the C major Hob. XV111:1 and D major Hob. XV111:11, sandwiching the sonata for piano in B minor. Hob XVl:32
20 days of lunchtime recitals throughout the month of August
Anna Le Hair, piano Arwen Newband, violin Sarah Boxall, cello
Our first piano trio this year perform Haydn’s Trio in C minor, Hob XV: 13, together with the Piano Trio in D minor Op 32 by Anton Arensky, a lovely comination.
20 days of lunchtime recitals throughout the month of August
A Norwegian singer and an American pianist combine to perform the great song cycle Songs and Dances of Death by Mussorgsky. Their programme will include one of Haydn’s best known solos for keyboard, the Andante with variations, also known as Un piccolo divertimento, Hob, XV11: 6.
20 days of lunchtime recitals throughout the month of August
A rare opportunity to hear Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat major, Hob 7e/1 as part of this programme. Almost certainly the most popular concerto of all of ‘Papa’s’ output, composed in 1796.
20 days of lunchtime recitals throughout the month of August
In her return visit to the festival, Rosamund brings with her two friends to play a programme which will include Haydn’s London Trio I in C major, and a new work written especially for the group by Ray Leung, a world premiere
Edward King
“The ROSL’s 60-year old record for supporting young artists bears enormous fruit…, it attracts the cream of the young musical crop”
THE SCOTSMAN
From Monday 8th August to Friday 2 August, ROSL Arts will be running their Music and More programme on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
100 Princes Street is the venue for Breakfast (9.30am) – After Lunch (2.00pm) – TeaTime (4.00pm) and – Late (10.30pm) mini-concerts.
The best selling ROSL ARTS classical music programme is augmented by new events in the lunchtime slot of each week – talks on the history of colour, literary panel discussions on fantasy, heroines, detectives and Scottish poetry, and anecdotes about famous composers.
TICKET PRICES MUSIC AND BOOK EVENTS ARE PRICED AT £12, £10 CONCESSIONS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
Performances last approximately 1 hour.
Complimentary refreshments are served after events (unless otherwise indicated)
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR OR IN ADVANCE FROM:
FRINGE BOX OFFICE
180 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1QS
0131 226 0000
(9am – 9am)
www.edfringe.com
ROSL ARTS VENUE 19
Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House
100 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 3AB
0131 225 1501
(10am – 10pm)
www.rosl.org.uk
Ferio Saxophone Quartet
“The ROSL’s 60-year old record for supporting young artists bears enormous fruit…, it attracts the cream of the young musical crop”
THE SCOTSMAN
From Monday 8th August to Friday 2 August, ROSL Arts will be running their Music and More programme on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
100 Princes Street is the venue for Breakfast (9.30am) – After Lunch (2.00pm) – TeaTime (4.00pm) and – Late (10.30pm) mini-concerts.
The best selling ROSL ARTS classical music programme is augmented by new events in the lunchtime slot of each week – talks on the history of colour, literary panel discussions on fantasy, heroines, detectives and Scottish poetry, and anecdotes about famous composers.
TICKET PRICES MUSIC AND BOOK EVENTS ARE PRICED AT £12, £10 CONCESSIONS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
Performances last approximately 1 hour.
Complimentary refreshments are served after events (unless otherwise indicated)
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR OR IN ADVANCE FROM:
FRINGE BOX OFFICE
180 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1QS
0131 226 0000
(9am – 9am)
www.edfringe.com
ROSL ARTS VENUE 19
Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House
100 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 3AB
0131 225 1501
(10am – 10pm)
www.rosl.org.uk
Charlotte Ashton
“The ROSL’s 60-year old record for supporting young artists bears enormous fruit…, it attracts the cream of the young musical crop”
THE SCOTSMAN
From Monday 8th August to Friday 2 August, ROSL Arts will be running their Music and More programme on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
100 Princes Street is the venue for Breakfast (9.30am) – After Lunch (2.00pm) – TeaTime (4.00pm) and – Late (10.30pm) mini-concerts.
The best selling ROSL ARTS classical music programme is augmented by new events in the lunchtime slot of each week – talks on the history of colour, literary panel discussions on fantasy, heroines, detectives and Scottish poetry, and anecdotes about famous composers.
TICKET PRICES MUSIC AND BOOK EVENTS ARE PRICED AT £12, £10 CONCESSIONS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
Performances last approximately 1 hour.
Complimentary refreshments are served after events (unless otherwise indicated)
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR OR IN ADVANCE FROM:
FRINGE BOX OFFICE
180 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1QS
0131 226 0000
(9am – 9am)
www.edfringe.com
ROSL ARTS VENUE 19
Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House
100 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 3AB
0131 225 1501
(10am – 10pm)
www.rosl.org.uk
Gillian Keith – soprano
“The ROSL’s 60-year old record for supporting young artists bears enormous fruit…, it attracts the cream of the young musical crop”
THE SCOTSMAN
From Monday 8th August to Friday 2 August, ROSL Arts will be running their Music and More programme on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
100 Princes Street is the venue for Breakfast (9.30am) – After Lunch (2.00pm) – TeaTime (4.00pm) and – Late (10.30pm) mini-concerts.
The best selling ROSL ARTS classical music programme is augmented by new events in the lunchtime slot of each week – talks on the history of colour, literary panel discussions on fantasy, heroines, detectives and Scottish poetry, and anecdotes about famous composers.
TICKET PRICES MUSIC AND BOOK EVENTS ARE PRICED AT £12, £10 CONCESSIONS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
Performances last approximately 1 hour.
Complimentary refreshments are served after events (unless otherwise indicated)
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR OR IN ADVANCE FROM:
FRINGE BOX OFFICE
180 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1QS
0131 226 0000
(9am – 9am)
www.edfringe.com
ROSL ARTS VENUE 19
Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House
100 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 3AB
0131 225 1501
(10am – 10pm)
www.rosl.org.uk
Tessa Uys teams up with Ben Schoeman for a performance of Beethoven : Symphony no 9 (‘Choral’) arr for piano duet by Scharwenka
English Chamber Orchestra
In a series of three concerts the Windsor Festival marks the Centenary of the birth of Yehudi Menuhin, the founding Artistic Director of the Festival, with three of the world’s greatest violinists. Performing in the Waterloo Chamber of Windsor Castle, the English Chamber Orchestra has played at the Festival throughout its history and tonight is joined by Tasmin Little and Howard Shelley. Tasmin studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School.
Mendelssohn Intermezzo, Nocturne and Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218
Fauré Pavane, Op. 50
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90: Italian
Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little (violin)
Howard Shelley (conductor)
English Chamber Orchestra
Performing at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the English Chamber Orchestra is the most recorded chamber orchestra in the world, its discography containing 860 recordings of over 1,500 works by more than 400 composers.
The ECO has also performed in more countries than any other orchestra, and played with many of the world’s greatest musicians. The American radio network CPRN has selected ECO as one of the world’s greatest ‘living’ orchestras. The illustrious history of the orchestra features many major musical figures. Benjamin Britten was the orchestra’s first Patron and a significant musical influence.
Haydn Symphony No. 92 in G major (‘Oxford’)
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Beethoven Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50
Beethoven Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
Jennifer Pike
Jennifer Pike (violin)
José Serebrier (conductor)
Tonight’s concert brings together a wonderful group of pianist friends and colleagues to explore the riches, complexities and joys of music for two pianos.
The works chosen are almost exclusively from the 20th Century and include two French orchestral masterpieces in their initial, pianistically-revealing versions. A number of rarities are present including the extraordinary Fantasia Contrappuntistica by Busoni, a true homage to the works of JS Bach and a piece greatly admired and recorded by Alfred Brendel at the beginning of his career.
Rachmaninoff’s early Suite No. 1 is, by turns, hauntingly Russian, quasi Wagnerian and strikingly minimalist in its evocation of ecstatic passion, obsessional grief and the clangorous sounds of Orthodox Easter festivities.
The third part of the concert is designed to add a fun, extended encore-like atmosphere to the proceedings with Nico Muhly’s Fast Patterns, receiving its World Premiere. This will be followed by the Roaring Twenties excitement of Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le Toit, a selection of sultry Piazzola Tangos and will finish with the evergreen melodies of Gershwin’s opera Porgy & Bess recreated for two pianos by the Australian virtuoso Percy Grainger.
Stephen Kovacevich
Katya Apekisheva
Ronan O’Hora
Charles Owen
Martin Roscoe
Kathryn Stott
Ashley Wass
Busoni Fantasia contrappuntistica (O’Hora & Roscoe)
Debussy Lindaraja; Prélude à l’apres-midi d’un faune (Kovacevich & Owen)
Rachmaninoff Suite No. 1 (Owen & Apekisheva)
Ravel La Valse (O’Hora & Wass)
Nico Muhly Fast Patterns* (Owen & Apekisheva)
Milhaud Le Boeuf sur le Toit (Apekisheva & Wass)
Piazzolla Tangos (Stott & Wass)
Grainger Fantasy on Gershwin’s ‘Porgy & Bess’ (Stott & Roscoe)
*World Premiere
Hailed as one of the finest pianists to emerge from this side of the Atlantic, Julian Joseph has performed extensively for over two decades, firmly establishing himself as a towering figure in the contemporary jazz world. Equally admired for his electrifying piano playing and extensive compositions, he is also a respected bandleader, inspirational collaborator and an engaging broadcaster; in essence a true champion of music.
Drawing inspiration from the classical as well as the rock and pop worlds, Julian Joseph considers all influences essential to his music making, His own challenging and innovative works are deeply rooted in the jazz tradition and reveal his unique voice combined with those of his predecessors.
For the London Piano Festival’s closing concert, Julian will create a unique mixture of pieces to include a selection of his own compositions linked with many well-loved jazz standards by Gershwin, Ellington and Porter. All of these will be announced from the stage.
‘The London pianist Julian Joseph’s music unfolds as a dramatic narrative with each twist and subplot marked by a stab, riff or unexpected change of key. The foundations are solid; clear melodies and strong harmonic structures’ Financial Times, February 2015
English Chamber Orchestra
Peerless violist and the English Chamber Orchestra Charitable Trust’s new Artistic Director Lawrence Power opens the season with Biber’s La Battalia, an extraordinary depiction of war, redefining and inventing instrumental techniques that were truly groundbreaking. Lawrence is the soloist in Hartmann’s Concerto funèbre for violin and strings, composed during the outbreak of World War II, a heart-wrenching lament for a lost world. Written after the First World War, Kodály’s Serenade for two violins and viola is one of his most personal works, infused with the Hungarian folk music he’d collected with Bartók. After war, a hard-won peace, with Mozart’s seminal dialogue between equals, the Sinfonia concertante, with violinist Anthony Marwood.
Biber La Battalia 1673
Hartmann Concerto funebre 1939
Kodály Serenade for two violins and viola, Op. 12
Mozart Sinfonia concertante in E flat for violin, viola & orchestra, K364
Lawrence Power
Lawrence Power (viola/violin, director)
Anthony Marwood (violin)
Catherine Plugyers – Director London New Wind Festival
BIRTHDAY COMPOSERS AND COLLEAGUES
flute
oboe
clarinet
horn
trombone
bassoon
piano
Elizabeth Lutyens Footfalls for Flute and Piano
Catherine Pluygers Posthorn for Solo Horn
Jenny Fowler New Work for Bassoon Solo (first performance)
Janet Beat Two Images for Woodwind Quartet (first performance)
Anne Boyd (TBC) Market Garden for Solo Piano
And includes music by Bernard Stevens (TBC), David Blake, Cornelius Cardew, Lawrence Casserly and brand new pieces as a result of our annual call.
TICKETS
Email: catherinepluygers@hotmail.com
Telephone: 020 8699 1101
English Chamber Orchestra
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was one of the most influential pioneers in British music for more than half a century, creating ground-breaking works in all forms and areas of musical life, writing for all types of musician from famous virtuosi to children’s choirs and folk ensembles.
The English Chamber Orchestra is proud of its outreach programme, Close Encounters, which is run by the musicians in the orchestra and takes music into many settings within communities and schools around the UK and abroad.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Presenter Tom Service is joined by a host of artists and composers close to Max for this special evening in which we present his music alongside new works written in his memory.
Sir James MacMillan (conductor)
Alison Balsom (trumpet)
Daniel Hope (violin)
Lawrence Power (viola)
Simon Crawford-Philips (piano, director)
Richard Watkins (horn)
Tom Service (presenter)
Over the past quarter of a century, Hebrides has premiered no fewer than 140 new pieces of music, more than half of which we have commissioned ourselves. From cutting edge digital programmes to classics of the modern repertoire, Hebrides has always championed the very best in chamber music and our 25th birthday events honour this extraordinary legacy.
And what better way to mark the occasion than by joining forces with Psappha, England’s foremost contemporary music ensemble who also celebrate their 25th birthday this year. Together, we mark the start of a new chapter with a powerful new co-commission from David Fennessy that sets string sextet against cimbalom in a stark and compelling modern soundworld. With its austere angles and driving sense of pulse, it forms a thrilling contrast to Transfigured Night, Schoenberg’s beautiful masterpiece for string sextet, which follows two lovers as they share their secrets in the glow of the moonlight.
8 November 2016 @ 7.30PM St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow
9 November 2016 @ 7.30PM The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
10 November 2016 Peel Hall, University of Salford, The Red Brick Sessions
11 November 2016 @ 7.15PM Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
12 November 2016 @ 7.30PM Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre, Bangor University.
Turner Sims Concert Hall, University of Southampton, 8th November at 8.00pm
Highfield Road Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ United Kingdom
Adrian Chandler, director, violin, violino in tromba marina
Peter Whelan, bassoon
PROGRAMME
Caldara, Sinfonia in C
Corelli, Sinfonia to S. Beatrice d’Este in D minor
Albinoni, Sinfonia to La Statira in C
Vivaldi, Concerto for bassoon in C, RV 467
Vivaldi, Concerto Alla Rustica in G, RV 151
Tartini, Concerto for violin in D, D 51
Albinoni, Concerto in F Op.9 No.3
Torelli, Sinfonia, G 33
BOX OFFICE: 02380 595 151
WEBSITE www.turnersims.co.uk
THE UNDERGROUND THEATRE, EASTBOURNE
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13TH at 2.45pm
Ann Hooley and Elizabeth Turnbull, founder members of the Archaeus Quartet, formed “String Talk” in 1989 presenting programmes of duos and solos for violin and viola from a repertoire extending from Baroque to the present day. Leonard Salzedo wrote his Sonata Op.132 especially for Elizabeth and Ann.
Their programme today will include the complete two-part Inventions by J.S Bach (1685-1750), Sonata for violin and viola Op.132 by Salzedo (1921-2000) and a work by Allessandro Rolla (1757-1841)
Tickets @ £10.00 (UGT members £9; students £5) can be obtained from:
TICKETS
or from Eastbourne Tourist Information
or, if available, on the door
TEL: 0843 289 1980
Turner Sims Concert Hall, University of Southampton, 22nd November at 8.00pm
Highfield Road Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ United Kingdom
Norwegian composer and saxophonist Marius Neset leads an orchestral performance of music from his forthcoming new album.
Wunderkind saxophonist Marius Neset exploded on to the UK stage in 2010 when he performed at Ronnie Scott’s as part of his mentor Django Bates’ 50th birthday celebrations. Using a palette of visceral instrumental sounds, his music mixes the lyricism of his Scandinavian roots with the high-octane fury of Bates and Zappa.
Following the world premiere of his new album Snowmelt at the EFG London Jazz Festival, here now is a second live performance at Turner Sims Southampton. This music stretches the boundaries of contemporary jazz, demanding infectious energy and lightning virtuosity from nineteen London Sinfonietta players and a jazz quartet, with Neset at their helm.
Neset’s music has an infectious energy and a harmonic dynamism which is very different, and hugely refreshing. The Telegraph
BOX OFFICE: 02380 595 151
WEBSITE www.turnersims.co.uk
Severnside Composers Alliance presents
A St. Cecilia’s Day concert featuring
Madeleine Mitchell – violin and Geoffrey Poole – piano
Tuesday 22 November, 2016 7.30pm
St. George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol BS1 5RR
www.severnsidecomposersalliance.co.uk
or from St. George’s box office: 0845 40 24 001
Eclectic virtuoso of the violin, Madeleine Mitchell, has inspired living composers to a
staggering degree BBC Radio 3.
…One of Britain’s liveliest musical forces, the indefatigably adventurous violinist,
Madeleine Mitchell. Richard Morrison, the Times
A violinist in a million,…staggering virtuosity and unparalleled musicianship. Michael
Tumelty, Glasgow Herald
Programme:
Olivier Messiaen Theme & Variations (1932)
Steven Kings Prelude, Cumulation, Trio
Sulyen Caradon Dorian Dirge
Jolyon Laycock The Persistence of Memory (world premiere)
Michael Nyman Taking it as Read (2007)
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata no.10 in G op 96 (1812)
Psappha at St. Michael’s, 36-38 George Leigh Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 5DG
Saturday 03 December 2016, 19:30
Benjamin Powell (piano), Tim Williams (cimbalom), Benedict Holland (violin) and Jennifer Langridge (cello)
Join us in our St Michael’s home for this special collaboration with Curated Place.
Steve Reich
Cello Counterpoint
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sonatina for violin & cimbalom
Jonathan Harvey
Tombeau de Messiaen for piano and electronics
Tom Harrold
Speechless Skies for solo cello
Nuria Bonet
Pota for cimbalom and electronics
Charlotte Bray
Oneiroi for solo piano
Helmut Lachenmann
Toccatina for solo violin
Stylianos Dimou
Metallicas (world première)
The centrepiece of this performance is the world premiere of Stylianos Dimou’s Metallicas where acoustic sounds undergo electronic transformation resulting in the assembly of sonic twins.
Featuring emerging composers alongside established 20th century greats the programme has been curated to showcase Psappha’s virtuoso musicians in an eclectic mix of music that – along with tape and electronics – explores the sonorities of each individual instrument.
Concert at St Vigor’s, Fulbourn, Cambridge, Sunday 4th December at 7.30pm
Whiteacre Winds, conductor Sarah Rodgers, perform:
Handel – Sinfonia from Solomon (Arrival of the Queen of Sheba)
Tomlinson – Concerto for Wind Instruments
Byrd – Variations on the tune, ‘Walsingham’
Poulenc – Suite Francaise
Casadesus – London Sketches
Mozart – Wind Serenade in C minor K.388Dvorak – Serenade for Winds,
Admission free.
Retiring collection for the Friends of St Vigor’s.
A concert as part of the London Sinfonietta’s 2016-2017 Southbank Residency
Michael Cox piccolo
Thierry Fischer conductor
London Sinfonietta
Morgan Hayes Overture: The Kiss (2016) (world premiere of a London Sinfonietta commission)
Simon Holt: Fool is Hurt (2015) (UK premiere of a London Sinfonietta co-commission)
Hans Abrahamsen: Schnee (2008)
Journey into a frozen wilderness
From the delicacy of a single snowflake, whispering as it falls from the sky, to vast, impenetrable snowdrifts – Hans Abrahamsen’s monumental artwork Schnee is an all-encompassing experience. In this hour-long tour de force Abrahamsen uses a series of interlocking canons to create a magnificent and ethereal piece of musical architecture. The loneliness and quietude of this frozen landscape finds resonance in Simon Holt’s piccolo concerto – Fool is Hurt – a work inspired by the isolation of the central character in the Federico Fellini film La Strada.
Simon Holt’s work has been co-commissioned with the NOVA Ensemble and supported by the London Sinfonietta Pioneers
This concert is supported by the RVW Trust
Jools Scott
December 10, 2016, 7:00 pm
Bath Abbey
Bath
Shean Bowers conducts the world premiere of And There Was Light by Jools Scott, performed by the Boys’ and Girls’ choirs and Melody Makers of Bath Abbey and the Bristol Ensemble, with narration from Tim Delap (History Boys, Woman In Black). This 55 minute Christmas extravaganza is a fresh telling of an old story, with familiar carols and melodies, two new carols with words by Sue Curtis, framed by narrated passages from the King James’ Bible Christmas story.
Not to be missed!
Holy Trinity Church, London
January 12th 2017, 7.30pm
Benedictus Liberal Arts Trust are delighted to announce a performance of the great oratorio The Creation by Franz Josef Haydn, performed by the Scherzo Ensemble. Scherzo is an ensemble of leading young singers at conservatoires in London. We will be joined by Scherzo Chorus and Orchestra.
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
January 14th 2017, 7.30pm
Gülsin Onay has given concerts in the major musical centres of the world such as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Washington DC National Gallery of Art and the New York Miller Theater. She has performed as a guest soloist with such leading orchestras as Dresden Staatskapelle, English Chamber Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic, Munich Radio Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic and Vienna Symphony Orchestras. She has performed under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Erich Bergel, Michael Boder, Andrey Boreyko, Jorg Faerber, Emmanuel Krivine, Ingo Metzmacher, Jose Serebrier, Vassily Sinaisky, Stanislaw Wislocki and Lothar Zagrosek.
Cadogan Hall, Sloane Square, London
January 19th 2017, 7.30pm
After delivering an explosive unconducted performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Academy in 2015/16, Music Director and violinist Joshua Bell returns to play and direct the orchestra in another iconic masterpiece, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. Two of Beethoven’s most popular works sit either side: the Egmont Overture powerfully captures the heroic tale of the 16th century Dutch Count Egmont’s resistance against the Inquisition, and Symphony No 6, ‘Pastoral’, paints pictures of nature in all its glory, from bubbling brooks and sun-drenched meadows to raging storms.
A pre-concert talk will take place from 6:30pm in the Caversham Room.
Bolivar Hall, Venezuelan Embassy, London
January 21st 2017, 7.30pm
The brilliant multi-prize winning international Cuban pianist Marcos Madrigal will join opera singer Ann Liebeck in an exciting programme of songs and solo piano music by some of Cuba’s most famous classical composers little heard in the UK. The programme will include two UK premieres by contemporary composers,Grammy winner Yalil Guerra who is based in Los Angeles and Jose Maria Vitier from Havana. Marcos won an important prize for his new cd Cuba piano music of Ernesto Lecuona last year in Paris. Opera singer Ann Liebeck specialises in performances of Latin American music and especially tango.She recently returned from Havana where she led opera workshops at the prestigious Instituto Superior de Arte.
St Pauls Church, Knightsbridge, London
January 28th 2017, 7.30pm
Thames Chamber Orchestra continues its series of Knightsbridge Festival concerts at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge with a programme featuring Chopin’s much loved second piano concerto. In this work, the orchestra is joined by the fabulous young Uzbekistan pianist, Tamila Salimdjanova. The evening begins with a rousing Telemann overture for strings, trumpets and drums and concludes with Mozart’s wonderful Symphony No 39 in E flat. Keith Marshall conducts and it will be an evening not be missed!
Saturday 11th February, St John’s, Smith Square at 7.30pm
Conductor: Michael Bowden
Camden Symphony Orchestra
Venue Information
St John’s Smith Square
London SW1P 3HA
Box Office 020 7222 1061
http://www.sjss.org.uk
Doors open 7pm
Tickets £20/15
Thursday 16th February, Kings Place, Hall 2 at 8.00pm
Concert includes first performance of a new work by Timothy Salter, The blood-dimmed tide, for voice, clarinet, harp and double bass, commissioned by The Hermes Experiment. The text, poetic extracts interspersed with political and philosophical statements, relates to the subject of revolution, and the work will be performed in a concert of music that commemorates the centenary of 1917.
Thursday 16th February, St Michael’s, Manchester at 7.30pm
A programme that explores the music of extremes. From Coult’s skittish piano solos with bluesy jambouree to Duddell’s REM-inspired Nightswimming. We travel through the complex rhythmic structures of Xenakis’ Psappha to a continuous transformation of light on glinting leaves in Saariaho’s Light and Matter. Continuing McPherson’s series for solo and virtual instruments, Williams Machine was a birthday present to Psappha. Hall’s Advert – wedding dress reflects on the society of today through a series of hard-hitting poems by Polish writer Agnieszka Dale in a collaboration with electronic artist Mira Calix.
Tom Coult – Two Games and a Nocturne (Psappha commission, world première)
Joe Duddell – Nightswimming
Emily Hall – Advert – wedding dress (Psappha commission, world première)
Gordon McPherson – Williams Machine (world première)
Kaija Saariaho – Light and Matter
Xenakis – Psappha
Wednesday 1st March, Sage Gateshead at 7.30pm
Bradley Creswick director/violin
Timothy Orpen clarinet
Royal Northern Sinfonia
ELGAR Introduction and Allegro
FINZI Clarinet Concerto
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending
TIPPETT Divertimento on Sellinger’s Round
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Vaughan Williams’ famous bird in flight is often regarded as quintessentially English music. However, as the rest of this programme shows, there are plenty more paths to the unique musical tradition of these isles, ranging back all the way to Tallis.
Sunday 12th March, St Andrew’s Halls, Norwich at 3.00pm
The premiere performance of Patrick’s new Clarinet Concerto written especially for Emma Johnson. Emma will be performing alongside the St Thomas Orchestra of Norwich, conducted by Christopher Adey.
The Clarinet Concerto features on Emma’s new album An English Fantasy, recorded with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Phil Ellis and released on Nimbus Records.
Patrick Hawes’s Clarinet Concerto [is] musically nourishing…a fine work….gorgeous…” GRAMOPHONE (Aug 2016)
Saturday 18th March, Holy Cross Parish Church Haltwhistle, at 7.30pm
Antiphon, a chamber choir based in Tynedale, presents a concert of Medieval and Renaissance music, conducted by John Roper. The main work is the beautiful Missa L’Homme Armé (The Armed Man Mass) by Guillaume Dufay (1397–1474). This will be interspersed with a sequence of chants and motets for the seasons of the religious year, by Binchois, Palestrina, Parsons, Sheppard, Tallis and Taverner.
BUY TICKETS
Saturday 1 April at 7.30pm, Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Ensemble joins the Bristol Bach Choir and The Red Maids’ School Chamber Choir for an evening of passion, power, precision and poignancy in this performance of MacMillan’s St Luke Passion. The programme also includes Barber’s intensely moving Adagio for Strings and Tallis’ Lamentations of Jeremiah.
Wednesday 12th April, Letchworth Music Club, Howgill Friends’ Meeting House at 7.45pm
The Archaeus Quartet: Ann Hooley, Rosemary Lock, Elizabeth Turnbull, Martin Bradshaw
Haydn quartet in Bb Op.76/4 “Sunrise”
Salzedo quartet no.5 Op.32
Beethoven quartet in Eb Op.127
Saturday 22 April at 7.30pm, Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol
We welcome the virtuosic pianist Viv McLean back to the Henleaze Concert Society series to perform a chamber arrangement of Beethoven’s mighty and majestic ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto No. 5. The programme also includes music by Mozart and Strauss. Tickets from Opus 13 Music shop on 0117 923 0164 or online – follow link.
Monday 24th April at 7.30pm, Hoylake Chamber Concert Series, St Hildeburgh’s church, 1 Stanley Rd, Hoylake, Wirral CH47 1HL
Shostakovich Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122
Mozart Quartet in E flat K428
Beethoven Quartet in B flat, Op.130
with Grosse Fuge Finale
Since the mid-1980s the Coull Quartet has made over 30 recordings featuring a wide selection of the repertoire closest to their hearts, from the complete Mendelssohn and Schubert quartets to 20th century and contemporary British chamber music. Their CD of quartets by Maw and Britten on the Somm label has received universal acclaim; in addition to being featured in “Editor’s Choice” in The Gramophone, it was also described as the “Benchmark Recording” by BBC Music Magazine. Their recordings of music by Sibelius and Ian Venables have also received excellent reviews in the major musical publications.
Their impressive and unusual list of commissions includes works by Sally Beamish, Edward Cowie, Joe Cutler, David Matthews, Nicholas Maw, Robert Simpson and Howard Skempton. These include string quartets, quintets with piano or wind player, works with solo voice or choir, and even a piece for quartet and table tennis players!
The rare combination of maturity and freshness which characterises the Quartet’s performances is often singled out by reviewers:
“Here the playing is so brimful with enthusiasm and commitment, and at the same time so infused with the accumulated wisdom of three decades, that the music simply reinvents itself as it should”. (The Strad)
Saturday 6 May at 7.30pm, St Mary’s parish church, Wotton-under-Edge
The Bristol Ensemble is joined by Wotton-under-Edge local young musician Ella York, who will perform the Oboe Concerto in D minor by Alessandro Marcello. The programme also includes Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.5, Suite Antique by Rutter, a Beatles’ medley and Piazzolla’s tangos.
Thursday 11th May at 7.15pm, Helen Martin Studio, University of Warwick Arts Centre, CV4 7AL
Britten Three Divertimenti
Bridge Three Idylls
Haydn Quartet Op 103
Beethoven Quartet in A minor Op 132
COULL QUARTET
Roger Coull violin
Philip Gallaway violin
Jonathan Barritt viola
Nicholas Roberts cello
‘…the magnificent, seasoned ensemble of the Coull’. (The Strad)
Formed in 1974 by students at the Royal Academy of Music under the guidance of renowned quartet leader, Sidney Griller, they rapidly achieved national recognition, and were appointed Quartet-in-Residence by the University of Warwick in 1977, a post which they still hold today. The Quartet, which includes two of its founder members, has performed and broadcast extensively throughout the UK, and has made tours of Western Europe, the Americas, Australia, China, India and the Far East.
Friday 19th May, Norwich Playhouse at 7.30pm
Annelien Van Wauwe clarinet
Amatis Piano Trio
Ravel Piano Trio in A minor
Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time
Some of the most beautiful music has been inspired by the most harrowing of circumstances, none more so than Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. Composed while Messiaen was interned in a prisoner of war camp in 1940, it received one of the most unique premieres in all music history when it was performed to an audience of fellow prisoners and German guards on a cold January night in a hut at the centre of war-torn Nazi Germany. Decades on, its heartfelt, expressive power is as vivid and as relevant as ever. Celebrated for their fiery and intelligent performances, the Amatis Trio with clarinettist Annelien Van Wauve bring their exceptional musicianship to this compelling apocalyptic musical vision of the future.
Friday 26th May, St Andrew’s Hall at 7.30pm
Britten Sinfonia
Thomas Adès conductor
Mark Stone baritone
Gerald Barry Beethoven
Beethoven Symphony No. 1
Beethoven Symphony No. 2
In this concert, which is centred on the work and influence of Beethoven, we hear his witty first symphony paired with the virtuosic second. These are complemented by Gerald Barry’s powerful setting of Beethoven’s famous love letter to his “immortal beloved”. Hearing how one of the most celebrated composer/conductors working today will interpret and illuminate these iconic works, is sure to be a major event in the classical music calendar.
‘Adès makes you hear things with which you thought you were familiar as if they were completely new’ The Guardian – click here to read the full article
Pre-concert talk 6.30pm Baritone Mark Stone discusses Gerald Barry’s Beethoven.
Sunday 11th June at 7.30pm, Fulbourn Parish Church
Church Lane, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, CB21 5EP
Whiteacre Winds, woodwind tentet conducted by Sarah Rodgers, perform music by Hidas, Arrieu, Alpaerts, Donizetti, Jacob and Binge.
Admission free with retiring collection to support the firends of St Vigors Church, Fulbourn.
Tuesday 20th June, St Martin in the Fields, London at 7.30pm
Rameau Dances from Les Boréades
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
Mike Seal, conductor
Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, violin
Tickets: £22, £18, £14 (concessions £3 off)
To reserve tickets
Email: tickets@corinthianorchestra.org.uk
Jean-Philippe Rameau is one of the orchestral world’s neglected masters. Although he is acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of French baroque music, modern symphony orchestras today rarely play his music. So, we are really pleased to play for you this evening some instrumental selections from Les Boréades (The Descendants of Boreas) an opera in five acts by this composer.
Mendelsohn’s violin concerto needs little introduction. The concerto turned out to be Mendelssohn’s last orchestral work and a powerhouse finale to a career burdened by the promise of spectacular early accomplishment.
The concert concludes with Beethoven’s Second Symphony. Written mostly during his stay at Heiligenstadt in 1802, it was a time when his deafness was becoming more apparent and he began to realise that it might be incurable. Paradoxically, “this Symphony is smiling throughout” (as Hector Berlioz remarked).
Saturday 24th June, St Clement’s Church, Old Town, Hastings at 7.30pm
The Archaeus Quartet: Ann Hooley, Rosemary Lock, Elizabeth Turnbull, Martin Bradshaw
Beethoven quartet in G Op.18 No.2
Salzedo quartet No.1 Op.1
Schubert quintet in C Op.163 with Julia Bradshaw
Tickets £10.00 on the door. Accompanied children, free.
Thursday 13th July, Exeter College Chapel, OX1 3DP, 7.30pm
A concert of modern choral classics both secular and sacred. Featuring Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine and the ever-popular Sleep, together with Mäntyjärvi’s striking and effective Shakespeare Songs plus other outstanding modern pieces suitable for a summer evening. Come along and hear something new!
Musical Director – Mark Jordan
Tickets £12 (£10 students) available online and on the door.
Friday 14th July, Cedars Hall, Wells, Wells Cathedral School, Wells BA5 2ST, 7.00pm
Bristol Ensemble
Louise Innes mezzo soprano
A special anniversary performance of Handel’s Water Music and other treats, first played to a royal audience on the River Thames 300 years ago almost to the day, and now the perfect accompaniment to a summer’s evening in sight of Wells Cathedral.
All ticket prices include strawberries and cream.
There will be a long supper interval of 45 minutes for each concert. Drinks and some light catering will be available to purchase on the night or please feel free to bring a picnic to enjoy on Cedars Lawn.
Tickets £14, £18, £23 available online or from the box office by telephone on 01749 834483 or email boxoffice@wells.cathedral.school. The box office is open from Monday to Friday from 9.30am until 12.30pm.
Sunday 23rd July, SS Great Britain, Bristol, 5.30pm
The Bristol Ensemble will take centre stage at this year’s Bristol Harbour Festival which will conclude with a 45-minute performance of Handel’s Water Music in the Floating Harbour at 5.30pm on Sunday 23 July. The Bristol Ensemble will perform on a flotilla of boats, with flares marking the finale beside Brunel’s SS Great Britain.
The dramatic performance will mark the 300th anniversary of the first legendary performance of the famous piece. In July 1717, the premiere was given in front of the King and his court aboard a flotilla of boats on the River Thames, so it is fitting that this recreation will take place on the water beside one of Bristol’s most exciting historic landmarks: Brunel’s SS Great Britain. Brunel was a great fan of Handel’s music, and requested that ‘See the Conqu’ring Hero Comes’ from Judas Maccabaeus was performed at an underwater party held inside his new Thames Tunnel during its construction in the 1820s; Brunel later had the same piece performed at an event marking the completion of the Royal Albert Bridge, Plymouth.
Bristol’s 300th anniversary performance of Handel’s Water Music is possible thanks to public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Earlier on Sunday 23 July, children from local primary schools involved with ‘Preludes’ music project will perform a new composition on the SS Great Britain and BBC Radio Bristol stage in Brunel Square. They will work with ‘Preludes’ teachers and musicians from the Bristol Ensemble, taking inspiration from Handel’s Water Music before premiering their Bristol Harbour Festival performance.
For more information on the performance including details of the flotilla route and timings follow the link
Box office is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am until 12.30pm.
Monday 31st July, St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AA, 1.00pm
20 lunchtime concerts starting at 1.00pm
Tessa Uys returns to the summer festival to open it with one of the finest of J. S. Bach’s compositions for keyboard, the Goldberg Variations BWV 988. A magnificent beginning to this year’s chamber music offering!
More concerts the same week:
Tuesday 1st AUGUST – Helen Bailey, soprano Chad Kelly, piano
Helen and Chad have chosen to include Bach’s Mein Herze Schwimmt in Blut and Monteverdi’s Lamento della Ninfa in their recital. In addition, a Mozart concert aria is scheduled together with a world premier composition from her husband, Jim Clements.
Wednesday 2nd – The Leading Ladies in ‘Sacred and Secular’
Singers Catrin Lewis, Suzi Saperia, and Rosemary Clifford, with their pianist Louisa Lam offer us Bach’s Suscepit Israel from the Magnificat together with music by Mozart, Fauré and a group of British folksongs including My love is like a red, red rose. Gershwin might also put in a brief appearance!
Thursday 3rd – Matthew Huber, cello
The first of three concerts which will present all six of Bach’s Suites for unaccompanied cello, composed when the master served as Kapellmeister in Köthen. Matthew will begin by performing No’s 1 and 6 BWV 1007-1012.
Friday 4th – Emmanuel Bach, violin
Our first opportunity to listen to the unaccompanied violin in this festival. Emmanuel has chosen two works of approximately equal length and unquestionable genius: Bach’s Partita No 3 in E major BWV 1006 and the Sonata No 3 in C major BWV 1005.
Admission free
Wednesday 2nd August, St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AA, 1.00pm
Singers Catrin Lewis, Suzi Saperia, and Rosemary Clifford, with their pianist Louisa Lam offer us Bach’s Suscepit Israel from the Magnificat together with music by Mozart, Fauré and a group of British folksongs including My love is like a red, red rose. Gershwin might also put in a brief appearance!
Monday 7th August, St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AA, 1.00pm
We warmly welcome the return of this talented musician and, making her first appearance with us, her equally accomplished pianist. The Vivaldi/Bach Trumpet Concerto in D major will feature, together with an arrangement of Bach’s Bist du Bei Mir.
Sarah Campbell was born in Wigan, Lancashire where she began learning cornet at the age of 8. In 2009, she received a scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music with Paul Beniston where she graduated with a First Class Honours Degree, before completing a Master of Arts at the Royal Academy of Music. Sarah is in demand as a versatile orchestral player throughout London and the rest of the UK. As Joint Principal T rumpet of the Southbank Sinfonia (2015) Sarah has performed Peter Maxwell Davies’ ‘The Lighthouse’ at the Royal Opera House, recorded with the BBC Concert Orchestra as well as touring to Hong Kong and Italy.
Wednesday 16th August, St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AA, 1.00pm
Bach, apparently a coffee enthusiast, wrote this rare, secular work in 1735 in celebration of the beverage. In addition to this ‘operatic’ offering Chad will perform a keyboard work by Bach’s fifth child, his second son, the famed Carl Phillip Emanuel.
Thursday 17th August, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London, 10.15pm
Bang on a Can represents all that is most gleefully non-conformist and boundary-breaking in new music. Celebrating its 30th birthday this year, this pioneering American artistic collective and its three composer-directors, Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe, bring their signature energy to this Late Night Prom, together with their six-piece amplified ensemble.
The All-Stars perform classic works by Wolfe, Lang and Louis Andriessen alongside an 80th-birthday tribute to Philip Glass and a world premiere by Michael Gordon, performed by the Proms Youth Ensemble. Expect propulsive rhythms and plenty of big grooves.
Monday 21st August, St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AA, 1.00pm
A rare opportunity to listen to music composed for the unusual combination of four violas! The Ensemble’s programme will feature the Bach Chaconne arranged by Ichiro Nodaira, together with York Bowen’s Fantasia for four violas Op 41 No 1.
Thursday 24th August, St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AA, 1.00pm
Toshiko Matsudaira, soprano Yoko Yokoyama, mezzo-soprano Yoshiko Toyonaga, piano
Ensemble Canon (Canon means Flower Sound in Japanese) is a vocal ensemble consisting of 2 singers: Toshiko (Soprano) and Yoko (mezzo-soprano) with Yosinko, their pianist.
The group’s performances showcase the beauty of Japanese song.
From Bach’s Präludium Cis-Dor BWV 848 via Mendelsohn duets to Japanese Art Song and folk songs with such intriguing titles as Gooey, Gooey, Soft and Sticky, Pass Along and Where are you all from!
16 September 2017 at 7.45pm Dirleton Kirk, Dirleton.
Performed by the renowned Scottish chamber ensemble, the Hebrides Ensemble, Schubert’s Octet is one of the best loved of all pieces of chamber music. Cast on a grand scale in six movements it is also a work of the most sublime genius – in turn profound and playful, virtuosic and lyrical. Howells’s Rhapsodic Quintet for clarinet and strings was composed just after the Great War and is one of his finest works, infused, like the music of Schubert, with songful melody.
This concert will be recorded by BBC Radio 3 for broadcast at a later date.
‘The ensemble beautifully articulated each and every phrase in this impeccable performance.’
Scotland on Sunday
‘One of the most innovative and thrilling ensembles in Europe.’ The Guardian
Also in the programme –
Howells: Rhapsodic Quintet
September 24, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth GL6 0DQ
Bristol Ensemble continue their series of Teatime Concerts at various venues in Bristol.
For this concert at Christ Church, Nailsworth, the programme includes
Haydn Piano Trio No.44 in E major
Schubert Piano Trio No.2 in E flat major D.929
Yoshiko Endo piano
Roger Huckle violin
Alison Gillies cello
Tickets £10 on the door.
Sunday October 8th at 7.00pm, Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, London
Singers and players are invited to participate in a performance of Handel’s The Messiah in aid of those affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower.
Players and singers will rehearse at 2.30pm before performing that evening. Further information may be found here
Tickets cost £15 for singers, £10 for audience members, and £5 for students under 21. Amateur players (grade 8+) are asked to make a voluntary donation of £15, but music college and professional players can participate for free.
12 October 2017 at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, Austria
The European Contemporary Composers Orchestra (ECCO)
ECCO is a project of the ECF committee of ECSA. It aims to establish itself as a pan-European “body of sound” dedicated to the performance, circulation and promotion of contemporary art music. In practice, it is a network of active ensembles, orchestras and young professionals, supporting creative dialogue among composers and performers and offering young professionals the opportunity to develop their skills with ensembles experienced in contemporary performing practices on an international level. By its educational dimension, ECCO serves as a pro-active development and networking arena for professional composers and performers, especially young and emerging ones.
The next ECCO concert will take place in Vienna on 12 October 2017 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. The concert will be performed by Wiener Concert-Verein and feature the following string orchestra pieces:
Fenster – Gerald Resch (Austria)
Lacrimae – Krešimir Seletković (Croatia)
Respectus – Rene Eespere (Estonia)
Brittle Fluid – Tyler Futrell (Norway)
Sinfonietta- The Night of Fireworks – Aleksandra Chmielewska (Poland)
Per Archi – Lojze Lebič (Slovenia)
Plainsongs for Strings – Jennifer Fowler (UK)
Previous editions of ECCO have featured the Chamber Orchestra of Soloists (KOS) of the Society of Slovene Composers (Vienna 2011), the Silesian Philharmony (Vienna 2013), the Sturm und Klang ensemble (Brussels 2015, 2016 and 2017), the BBC Singers (London 2015), the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra (Ljubljana 2016) and the Big Band of RTV Slovenia. Among the conductors who have contributed to the ECCO concerts are Thomas Van Haeperen, Jessica Cottis, Sigi Feigl, James Morgan, Jürgen Bruns and Chunghi Min.
20 October 2017 at 7.30pm at St John the Evangelist, Bath
Bath Choral Society presents a semi-staged concert performance developed from the recent opera production by Iford Arts. The soloists are Iford principals: tenor Mark Bonney as Jephtha and countertenor Ben Williamson as Hamor; and Iford Arts New Generation Artists: Jessica Leary as Iphis, Lucy McAuley as Storge, and Peter Brooke as Zebul.
David Gostick will direct the choir, soloists, and the Bristol Ensemble.
Jephtha is Handel’s final oratorio before blindness claimed him. It tells a dramatic story from The Book of Judges.
The performance will be a shortened version lasting approximately two hours.
Sunday 22 October, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth GL6 0DQ
Bristol Ensemble continue their series of Teatime Concerts at various venues in Bristol.
For this concert at Christ Church, Nailsworth, the programme includes
Brahms Hungarian Dances
Mozart Clarinet Quintet
Dave Pagett clarinet
Roger Huckle and Rachel Gough violins
Carl Hill viola
Juliet McCarthy cello
Mozart’s sublimely beautiful Clarinet Quintet, one of the most well-loved chamber works for its exquisitely-crafted melodic lines,
is paired with Brahms’ lively and passionate Hungarian Dances, based on traditional folk tunes.
Tickets £10 on the door.
Thursday 26 October 2017, 19:30
Hallé St Peter’s, 40 Blossom Street, Ancoats Manchester M4 6BF
Molly Joyce – Rave (UK première)
Anna Clyne – Steelworks
Sarah Kirkland Snider – Penelope*
Richard Balcombe – conductor*
Jessica Walker – vocalist*
Psappha Ensemble
Three striking works from brilliant US-based composers.
A woman’s husband appears at her door after an absence of twenty years. A veteran of an unnamed war, he doesn’t know who he is and she doesn’t know who he’s become. While they wait together for his return to himself, she reads him the Odyssey, and in the journey of that book she finds a way into his memory and the terror and trauma of war. Suspended somewhere between art song, indie rock, and chamber folk, the music of Penelope moves from moments of elegiac reflection to dusky post-rock textures in a meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to come home.
Rave gives the impression of impossible virtuosity, transforming the piano into a multi-dimensional piano/organ hybrid. Giving a fascinating glimpse into a disappearing world, the music of Steelworks interacts with film and with recorded interviews of employees at the last steelworks factory in Brooklyn.
Tuesday 14th November 2017 at 7.30pm, The Studios MediaCityUK
David Horne Resonating Instruments
Tom Coult Two Games and a Nocturne
–
Psappha Ensemble
–
Laura Bowler 3811 Nautical Miles
Larry Goves New Work (world première)
Mario Duarte Metztli
Grace-Evangeline Mason Kintsukouroi
–
BBC Philharmonic
Mark Heron conductor
Overview
Resonating Instruments is rhapsodic and volatile, entwining the ensemble around a solo cimbalom. “An absorbing work” – The Times.
Two Games and a Nocturne alternates skittish piano solos with bluesy jamboree in a work that, in Coult’s own words, “does what it says on the tin” with its two playful games followed by a gently swaying night-time reverie.
In this joint concert with the BBC Philharmonic we give well-deserved second performances of two of Psappha 25th anniversary commissions.
Psappha has now allocated all tickets for this event. If you would still like to come to the performance you can apply for tickets through BBC Audiences. Applications for tickets opens on 30 October and close on 5 November. For more information please click HERE.
Friday 17th November 2017, at 7.30pm St Michaels, Manchester, UK
Music inspired by fantasy, surrealism and Led Zeppelin
Mark-Anthony Turnage Grazioso!
Richard Whalley Wonderland
Mark-Anthony Turnage Slide Stride
Brian Elias Geranos
Philip Cashian Leonora Pictures (world première)
Nicholas Kok Conductor
Psappha Ensemble
Leonora Pictures takes inspiration from the fantastical characters and landscapes of Lancashire-born surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. This piece was written to showcase Psappha’s virtuosic musicians. Geranos imagines Theseus’ dance after his escape from the Minotaur with music that mirrors the mazes of the Labyrinth while Wonderland celebrates the miracle of nature.The programme also features works by Mark-Anthony Turnage inspired by Led Zeppelin’s guitarist and the extrovert jazz of Fats Waller.
*Philip Cashian’s new work is supported by the PRS for Music Foundation Composers’ Fund
Tuesday 21st November 2017, at 7.30pm – Wigmore Hall
Laura Snowden performs rarely heard music by Giulio Regondi and Hans Erich Apostel with a brand new work by Olli Mustonen.
Award-winning classical guitarist and composer Laura Snowden was handpicked by Julian Bream to give the Bream Trust concert at Wigmore Hall in 2015, including the world premiere of Julian Anderson’s Catalan Peasant with Guitar. She was featured on the front cover of Classical Guitar Magazine Fall 2016 with an in-depth article describing her as “linking guitar’s past, present and future”. Laura was the first guitarist to graduate from the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School, where guitar tuition was made possible by a donation from the Rolling Stones, and was invited by guitarist John Williams to perform at Shakepeare’s Globe with her folk ensemble Tir Eolas.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cello Suite No.3 in C major BWV1009
Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart Op. 9
Giulio Regondi (1822-1872)
Introduzione e capriccio Op. 23
Olli Mustonen (b.1967)
Sonata No. 2 (world première) [1]
Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944)
Vals Op. 8 No. 3
Vals Op. 8 No. 4
Hans Erich Apostel (1901-1972)
Sechs Musiken Op. 25
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999 )
En los trigales
Zarabanda Lejana
3 piezas españolas
Invocación y danza
Commissioned by The Julian Bream Trust
Saturday 9th December 2017, at 6.00pm and 7.30pm – Wigmore Hall, London
6.00pm:
Lily Boulanger: D’un soir triste, D’un matin de printemps
(piano trio)
Debussy: Violin Sonata
Stravinsky: Suite Italienne for cello & piano
7.30pm:
With: Roderick Williams (baritone)
Debussy: Danse sacrée et Danse profane (harp, string quartet & double bass
Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka (are. for 2 pianos)
Stravinsky: Three movements from The Firebird (piano duo)
Poulenc: Le bal masqué (voice, piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin & cello)
Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (voice & piano)
Ravel: Piano Trio
Friday 15 – Sunday 17 December, 2017 at Snape maltings in Suffolk
A weekend of festive activities and concerts for both children and adults, including The Snowman and Paddington Bear’s First Concert with live orchestra and fun family activities around the site including workshops, storytelling sessions and a trail. Plus start the month with the Co-op Juniors’ Christmas Spectacular in the Land of Oz.
Friday 15th December, 2017 at 7.30pm at Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Whether it has its roots in frost-covered English woods and fields, or the splendour of baroque Venice, all the music in this concert is animated by a shared sense of wonder, mystery and joy. Vaughan Williams’ and Finzi’s seasonal favourites draw deeply on the English folk tradition, and make an enchanting foil for Vivaldi’s great (and rightly popular) shout of celebration. Together they add up to a luminous Christmas concert from Snape Maltings’ own chorus, under its charismatic director Ben Parry.
Programme
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols 11’
Finzi In terra pax (Christmas scene) 15’
Vivaldi Gloria 30’
Performers
Aldeburgh Voices
The Suffolk Ensemble
Ben Parry conductor
22nd December 2017 at 7.30pm, St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol BS1 5RR
A feel-good festive evening of carols and Christmas music – come and sing all your festive favourites with members of City of Bristol Choir, accompanied by The Bristol Ensemble and led in entertaining style by David Ogden. Bring the family for a wonderful evening of singing.
Saturday 6th January 2018 at 7.30pm, Kings Place, London
Ádám Fischer conductor
Charlotte Beament soprano
James Way tenor
Dingle Yandell bass
Make Haydn’s Creation your first concert of 2018 with this intimate New Year performance at Kings Place.
Haydn’s oratorio The Creation is not only one of the composer’s most popular pieces, but is also one of the most vividly descriptive pieces of classical music there is. Each aspect of the story is brilliantly brought to life by Haydn’s expressive music.
Ádám Fischer conducts the Orchestra, with the Choir of the Age of Enlightenment and a trio of soloists from the Rising Stars programme. Kicking off Kings Place’s new Time Unwrapped series, it’s a wonderful way to start the new year.
Sunday 14th January 2018 at 11.30am, Kings Place, London
Bach Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele (Praise the Lord, my soul)
Steven Devine director
Charlotte Beament soprano
Nicholas Pritchard tenor
James Newby bass
Professor Helen F Gleeson guest scientist
Time and Vision
There’s a focus on time as this Sunday morning series helps launch Kings Place’s Time Unwrapped programme.
Joining the OAE is experimental physicist Professor Helen Gleeson, whose work explores how the structures of very tiny things affect things on a larger scale. She’ll be exploring issues of time and perception.
To mark the New Year, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment will be performing Bach’s New Year cantata with its unusual scoring including timpani and three horns.
Thursday 18th January 2018 at 7.30pm, Kings Place, London
Haydn Symphony No. 49 in F minor La Passione
Bach Concerto No. 4 in A, BWV 1055
Mozart Divertimento in F, K138
Bach Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052
The Bristol Ensemble
Virginia Black piano
After a dazzling international career as a virtuoso harpsichordist, Virginia Black has turned full circle and returned to her roots as a pianist. Having played the Bach concertos on the harpsichord, Virginia has now teamed with the Bristol Ensemble, known for its work with outstanding international artists and soloists, to reprise the concertos on the piano. The Bristol Ensemble will perform as a small chamber orchestra for this concert, providing the perfect foil for the piano.
The contrast between the powerful and expressive D minor concerto and the exuberant passion of the A major concerto will provide a fascinating demonstration of the power of Bach’s mastery of the concerto format. Together, they form an exquisite demonstration of Baroque ensemble music–making. The evening will also include the Bristol Ensemble playing works by Haydn, the dark hued Symphony No. 49 and Mozart’s graceful and charming Divertimento in F major.
‘Virginia Black is a communicative artist, extrovert, colourful, spontaneous but with a deep sense of poetry.’ Gramophone
‘Black’s intimate style… yields arresting results… lilting, relaxed and gorgeously inflected.’ Gramophone
Friday 26th January at 7.30pm, Colston Hall, Bristol
Bristol’s stand-out annual comedy celebration returns for a fourteenth edition at Colston Hall – a unique celebration of the best onscreen classic silent comedy, live music and guest appearances by living legends of British comedy.
The host for this year’s gala show is soon to be announced and the film programme is an incredible triple-bill of laugh-out-loud comedy classics all accompanied by world class live musical accompaniment.
Buster Keaton’s best loved and most innovative film Sherlock Jr (1924) joins Charlie Chaplin’s A Dog’s Life (1918) to headline the show with live music.
Sherlock Jr is accompanied by the world premiere of a new, semi-improvised score composed by Guenter A. Buchwald and performed by the renowned European Silent Screen Virtuosi and members of Bristol Ensemble. A Dog’s Life features Chaplin’s own composition for the film and will be performed by a 15-piece Bristol Ensemble conducted by maestro Guenter A. Buchwald.
Plus: Laurel & Hardy’s hilarious comedy short Angora Love (1929) and live performance from innovative, award-winning visual comedy performers The Kagools and with our exciting guest host this looks like being our finest and funniest Gala event to date!
£10.50 to £60.00 incl. booking fee
Gold Premium Ticket Package:
£60.00* (limited to 50)
Access to exclusive post-show VIP after show experience with complimentary drink
Gala merchandise souvenir
Commemorative VIP lanyard (for access to post-show drinks)
One premium ticket located in the stalls
Exclusive limited souvenir event poster (not for sale)
Souvenir mini-programme
*Including all booking fees
Monday 29th January 2018 at 7.30pm, St John’s Smith Square, London
Programme:
Harbison – Remembering Gatsby (Foxtrot for Orchestra)
Bernstein – Symphony No.1: Jeremiah
Copland – Old American Songs First Set
Barber – Symphony No.1 in One Movement
Part of St John’s Smith Square’s Americana ’18 programme.
John Harbison’s orchestral foxtrot begins with an impression of the faraway green light on the East Egg dock, Gatsby’s yearn for the American dream, that would be shattered by corruption and excess. A tune from twenties style party music sketched for his abandoned opera on Fitzgerald’s novel forms the main foxtrot, culminating in fleeting references to the telephone bell and car horns signifying Gatsby’s fate.
Leonard Bernstein, who famously said for great things you need a plan and not quite enough time, completed his first symphony to a tight competition deadline on 31st December 1942. The first movement represents Jeremiah’s pleas to the people of Jerusalem to root out corruption or disaster would befall them, the second the sacking of the city, and the finale settings of Jeremiah lamenting the desolation. Bernstein refused suggestions to add an optimistic ending, and over his career he worked on the theme of corruption and a crisis in faith, to a conclusion that for renewal dogma and orthodoxy must be stripped away in favour of a fundamental belief in common humanity, as expressed in his eclectic Mass of 1971.
Benjamin Britten asked Aaron Copland to arrange some American songs for him and Peter Pears for the 1950 Aldeburgh Festival. These were such a success Copland arranged another set and orchestrated them all in 1957. The original set includes ‘Simple Gifts’, that was used to great effect in Appalachian Spring, and a children’s song ‘I bought me a cat’ complete with sounds of the barnyard and its animals.
Samuel Barber’s Symphony in One Movement is more universally symphonic similar to Sibelius’ approach and less overtly American than Copland’s later style. Lyrical and dramatic, it was in 1937 the first American music to be performed at the Salzburg festival.
Sunday 4th February at 7.00pm, Royal Festival Hall, London
Beethoven Symphony No. 4
Beethoven Violin Concerto
Marin Alsop conductor
Nicola Benedetti violin
A musician always confounding expectations, violinist Nicola Benedetti performs with the OAE for the first time in this concert.
She’s joined by conductor Marin Alsop for a programme of Beethoven performed with pure unvarnished musicality.
Sandwiched between the complex Third Symphony and the iconic Fifth, Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony is a gentler, more intimate affair that harks back to older music and shows the distinct influence of Haydn.
Written in the same year as the Fourth Symphony, Beethoven’s only Violin Concerto was one of the first pieces written for the instrument on a large scale.
Enjoy this exploration of the variety of Beethoven’s music with two artists of international distinction.
Sunday 11 February at 3.00pm, CatStrand, New Galloway
Hebrides Ensemble perform
Bartók: Mikrokosmos (selection of movements)
Janáček: Dumka
Nigel Osborne: The Piano Tuner
Dvořák: Dumky Trio (Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor)
Osborne: Adagio for Vedran Smailovic
Eastern European composers Dvořák, Janáček and Bartók travelled extensively, absorbing folk influences and imbuing their music with traditional forms. Nigel Osborne is one of the most travelled composers alive today whose thirst for foreign cultures has taken him all over the globe. In his piano trio The Piano Tuner, taken from his opera of the same name based on the intriguing Daniel Mason novel about a piano-tuner sent to the Burmese jungle to tune a grand piano, Osborne explores the synthesis between Western and south-east Asian tuning in this powerful piece.
Monday 12 February at 1.00pm, Perth Concert Hall
Hebrides Ensemble perform
Bartók: Mikrokosmos (selection of movements)
Janáček: Dumka
Nigel Osborne: The Piano Tuner
Dvořák: Dumky Trio (Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor)
Eastern European composers Dvořák, Janáček and Bartók travelled extensively, absorbing folk influences and imbuing their music with traditional forms. Nigel Osborne is one of the most travelled composers alive today whose thirst for foreign cultures has taken him all over the globe. In his piano trio The Piano Tuner, taken from his opera of the same name based on the intriguing Daniel Mason novel about a piano-tuner sent to the Burmese jungle to tune a grand piano, Osborne explores the synthesis between Western and south-east Asian tuning in this powerful piece.
Tuesday 13 February at 7.30pm Woodend Barn, Banchory
Hebrides Ensemble perform
Bartók: Mikrokosmos (selection of movements)
Janáček: Dumka
Nigel Osborne: The Piano Tuner
Dvořák: Dumky Trio (Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor)
Osborne: Adagio for Vedran Smailovic
Eastern European composers Dvořák, Janáček and Bartók travelled extensively, absorbing folk influences and imbuing their music with traditional forms. Nigel Osborne is one of the most travelled composers alive today whose thirst for foreign cultures has taken him all over the globe. In his piano trio The Piano Tuner, taken from his opera of the same name based on the intriguing Daniel Mason novel about a piano-tuner sent to the Burmese jungle to tune a grand piano, Osborne explores the synthesis between Western and south-east Asian tuning in this powerful piece.
Thursday 15th February 2018 at 7.30pm, St. Michael’s, Ancoats, Manchester
Programme
Charlotte Bray Caught in the Treetops*
Anna Clyne Paintbox
Robert Reid Allan The Palace of Light
Lucy Armstrong Space Adventure
Michael Cryne In Cloud Light
Will Frampton The Greening Variations
Bethan Morgan-Williams In Kenopsia
James Williamson Fault-Klang
Benedict Holland Violin*
Psappha Ensemble
Overview
The life-changing effects of the atomic bomb are explored in Anna Clyne’s immersive soundscape which combines recorded voice, breathing and other sound loops with a sonorous cello line.
Bound together by a sense of mystery and a relentless energy Charlotte Bray’s work for solo violin and ensemble responds to two contrasting lunar poems. The concert also showcases the next generation of talent with our pick of the best works from Psappha’s emerging composer schemes.
Psappha: Demystifying New Music
Pre-concert talk – 6.40pm – free to ticket holders
Learn more before you see it played. Come early, get a drink and settle into your seats for a special talk that will introduce you to the composers and the inspiration behind the music being performed tonight.
Sunday 18th February at Kings Place, London, 11.30am
Steven Devine director
Ciara Hendrick alto
James Way tenor
James Newby baritone
Professor Kishan Dholakia guest scientist
Seeing Life in a New Light
Marvel at our extraordinary universe and the music of Bach with our new Sunday morning series for inquiring and curious minds, with divine music, lively conversation and stimulating science.
For this morning’s session we’re joined by Professor Kishan Dholakia from the University of St Andrew’s enticingly-named Optical Manipulation Group. A world-expert in the physics of light, he’s fascinated by how the science of photonics can use imaging to help unravel the mysteries of the brain.
Alongside Professor Dholakia’s talk, we’ll be performing one of Bach’s most varied cantatas, BWV 83. Mixing joyful arias with funereal sounds, it’s a rollercoaster journey celebrating the glories of life as well as the sadness of death.
Our very own Sunday service is a place to bond with music lovers and revel in the wonders of science. There is no better way to start a Sunday morning.
In this concert we’ll be playing Bach’s cantata Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde (Joyful time in the new covenant).
In partnership with the Institute of Physics.
Tuesday 27th February at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, 7.00pm
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment perform
Mozart Arias from La clemenza di Tito
Mozart Symphony No. 38
Haydn Scena di Berenice
Haydn Symphony No. 103 Drumroll
Ádám Fischer conductor
Stephanie d’Oustrac mezzo-soprano
What wins – love or duty?
Berenice is Queen of Palestine, set to marry the Roman Emperor Titus. But a change of political weather at home makes it impossible for the Emperor to marry a foreign queen. What wins out – love or duty?
Haydn turned this story into Scena de Berenice, a fabulous concert aria (classical music’s equivalent of the short story) told from the Queen’s perspective. As political wheels keep turning, how does she hold her own in increasingly hostile corridors of power?
A packed programme also explores Mozart’s great operas about power, La Clemenza di Tito.
Mezzo-soprano Stephanie d’Oustrac sings Berenice, while we’re joined once again by Ádám Fischer, one of the leading interpreters of Haydn’s music operating today.
Thursday 15th March, St John’s, Waterloo at 6.00pm
Berlioz Cléopâtre
Schumann Symphony No.3 ‘Rhenish’
Jonathan Berman Conductor
This concert is free with no ticket required.
Schumann once wrote, admiringly, that Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique was ‘written with drops of blood’. Both composers were ardent Romantics, eager to transplant their very souls into music. Both were entranced by all Beethoven had achieved whilst eager to prove themselves and outstep his shadow. You sense this in these works.
One hears young Berlioz’s own longing for recognition in Cleopatra’s appeal to the Gods for exaltation. Meanwhile, Schumann embarks on his own pastoral symphony, all the while seeking to detour from the path first trodden by Beethoven.
Part of Free Rush Hour Concerts
Sunday 18th March at Kings Place, London, 11.30am
Steven Devine director
Ciara Hendrick alto
James Way tenor
James Newby baritone
Professor Kishan Dholakia guest scientist
Seeing Life in a New Light
Marvel at our extraordinary universe and the music of Bach with our new Sunday morning series for inquiring and curious minds, with divine music, lively conversation and stimulating science.
For this morning’s session we’re joined by Professor Kishan Dholakia from the University of St Andrew’s enticingly-named Optical Manipulation Group. A world-expert in the physics of light, he’s fascinated by how the science of photonics can use imaging to help unravel the mysteries of the brain.
Alongside Professor Dholakia’s talk, we’ll be performing one of Bach’s most varied cantatas, BWV 83. Mixing joyful arias with funereal sounds, it’s a rollercoaster journey celebrating the glories of life as well as the sadness of death.
Our very own Sunday service is a place to bond with music lovers and revel in the wonders of science. There is no better way to start a Sunday morning.
In this concert we’ll be playing Bach’s cantata Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde (Joyful time in the new covenant).
In partnership with the Institute of Physics.
Thursday March 22nd 2018, Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester, 7:30pm,
Le Marteau sans maître – A twentieth century classic
Takemitsu Towards the Sea
Tom Harrold New Work (World première)*
Berio Naturale
Boulez Le Marteau sans Maître
–
Jamie Phillips Conductor
Jessica Gillingwater Mezzo soprano
Psappha Ensemble
Meaning The Hammer Without a Master, Boulez’ iconic work is a classic of the twentieth century whose sonority and sense of time and direction were profoundly influenced by music from Asia and Africa. Rising star Tom Harrold’s new work has been commissioned by Psappha to complement the Boulez.
Berio’s Naturale pairs live musicians with recordings of Sicilian street vendors highlighting the contrast between flowing folk melodies and the raw, natural voice of the street singer. Takemitsu’s Towards the Sea recalls the ebb and flow of the ocean and was commissioned by the Greenpeace Foundation for their Save the Whale campaign.
*The Tom Harrold commission is supported by the Fidelio Charitable Trust.
Psappha: Demystifying New Music
Pre-concert film – 6.00pm – free to ticket holders
Barrie Gavin’s 2005 film: Pierre Boulez: Living in the Present. Learn more before you see it played. Come early, get a drink and settle into your seats for a special screening of this intimate portrait of a remarkable artist and his inspiration.
Saturday 24th March, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 7.00pm
Symphony Hall, Symphony Hall, 8 Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2EA
Debussy (orch. Matthews) La cathédrale engloutie, 5′
Bach Organ solo, 10′
Messiaen O Sacrum Convivium, 5′
Messiaen Dieu parmi nous, 10′
Debussy Danse sacrée et danse profane, 9′
Debussy Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, 35′
“What rules do you follow?”
…asked Claude Debussy’s music teacher. “Pleasure,” he replied. But pleasure can unlock whole worlds. 100 years after his death, join Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO as they set out in search of the wonder, the power and the sheer beauty of music’s quietest revolutionary.
We’ll journey through sensual pleasures and sacred ecstasies, children’s games and bold new sounds, culminating in a concert performance of Debussy’s fairytale opera Pelléas et Mélisande. It’s an adventure that’ll involve our entire musical family, plus musical groups from across the whole city.
Friday 13 April 2018 St Giles’ Cripplegate, London at 6.00pm
Programme
Edward Elgar
4 Choral Songs, Op 53
Ave maris stella
Imperial March
The Light of Life, no 2 “Seek Him that maketh the seven stars’
They are at rest
Give unto the Lord, Op 74
Eamonn Dougan
conductor
Stephen Disley
organ
Smaller scale choral Elgar that finds the composer lifting some beautiful British poetry as well as sacred texts into song.
Edward Elgar’s feeling for poetry, and particularly the poetry of his own time, stimulated his composition. And while many of his choral works were written on a grand scale, he left a substantial body of small works, many of them written as test pieces for the then very popular choral competitions. Tonight’s BBC Singers programme gives us a handful of them, including the four choral songs of his Op 53, settings of Tennyson, Byron, Shelley and a poem he wrote himself, The Owl, which brought forth one of his most harmonically advanced pieces. Organist Stephen Disley plays Elgar’s Imperial March written for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897.
Sunday 15 April 2018, Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth at 3.00pm
Clara Schumann Piano Trio in G minor Op.17
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. Op.49
As part of our Notes for Women project celebrating the music of female composers, April’s recital features Clara Schumann’s lyrical and elegant Piano Trio, together with Felix Mendelssohn’s well-loved first piano trio, one of his best-known works. Tickets £10 on the door.
Friday 20 April 2018, Stoller Hall, Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, 7.30pm
Programme
Anna Clyne A Wonderful Day
Fausto Romitelli Amok Koma
Mike Walker Autonomy (World première)*
Steven Mackey Deal
–
Stephen Barlow Conductor
Mike Walker Electric guitar
Iain Dixon Reeds
Mike Smith Drums
Psappha Ensemble
Overview
Psappha explores the connections between jazz, rock and classical. The centerpiece is a new work by the renowned jazz guitarist and composer Mike Walker. Psappha is joined by Mike and reeds player Iain Dixon in a piece that combines classical music with the improvisation and rhythmic drive of jazz. Mike also joins us as the soloist in Steven Mackey’s Deal, which intertwines rock and classical.
Romitelli’s palindromic work draws inspiration from German punk rock while Clyne’s A Wonderful Day features a recording of a Chicago street musician whose natrural, slow voice conveys a sense of both joy and struggle.
*Mike Walker’s new work is supported by Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts programme.
Saturday 21 April 2018, St Thomas of Aquins High School, Edinburgh – all day
Contemporary Music For All
Singers and Instrumentalists: Come and join us for a day of music-making
Be Part of the Future of Music
Do you love new music? Do you enjoy playing an instrument or singing? Then join Hebrides Ensemble for a day of inspiring and surprising music-making in this unique celebration of the UK’s flourishing new music culture. As part of the Contemporary Music for All 2018 Festival, you will have the chance to rehearse and perform alongside Hebrides Ensemble musicians led by conductor and Hebrides Ensemble’s Artistic Director, William Conway and Violinist, James Clark.
Applications to take part are invited from all instrumentalists and singers aged 16 or over and of grade 5 standard or above. The repertoire will include a new commission by Nigel Osborne for orchestra and choir.
You can be part of it!
Dates: Saturday 21st April
Schedule: 9.30 registration
10.00 – 13.00 Rehearsals
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch
14,00 – 16.30 Rehearsals
17.00 – Informal Concert
Venue: St Thomas of Aquins High School, 2 – 20 Chambers St, Edinburgh EH3 9ES
Fee: £25 full price, £15 unemployed, disability and student
Saturday 28 April 2018, Barbican, London at 7.30pm
Programme
Maurice Ravel
Le tombeau de Couperin
John Adams
The Wound-Dresser
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Ross Harris
Face
Allison Bell – soprano
James Way – tenor
Marcus Farnsworth – baritone
BBC Singers
Gergely Madaras – conductor
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The role of those who care for the injured provides the theme: Ralph Vaughan Williams, like Maurice Ravel, was too old to serve in the First World War but he volunteered as a stretcher bearer while the Frenchman drove munitions lorries behind the lines, putting himself in extreme danger. His Le tombeau de Couperin remembers friends killed in the First World War.
John Adams’s The Wound Dresser, for baritone and orchestra, sets words by Walt Whitman who tended the wounded in battle, while Ross Harris’s celebrates the work of fellow New Zealander, the plastic surgeon Harold Gillies who pioneered facial reconstruction and contributed to the rehabilitation of thousands of servicemen.
Face, receiving its UK premiere is a work for soloists, chorus and orchestra with projections.
Thursday 17 May 7.30pm, St Paul’s Church, St Paul’s Rd. Clifton Bristol BS8 1LP
Concert 1: CONTEMPORARY ART SONG
Matthew Clark (baritone)
Jolyon Laycock (Tenor)
James D’Angelo & Philip Blandford (piano)
Matthew Heyse-Moore (clarinet)
SCA’s 2018 festival kicks off with a recital of contemporary art song featuring baritone Matthew Clark. James D’Angelo is accompanist in his own settings of the meditational poetry of Thomas Merton. Philip Blandford is the accompanist in Sulyen Caradon’s settings of translations of Russian poetry portraying an environment poisoned by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Clark and Blandford are joined by tenor Jolyon Laycock in songs that capture the ecstatic response of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to the wild natural scenery of places such as Inversnaid Falls. On a lighter note songs by Peter Nickol (pictured) & Richard Pond are settings of James Turner, Veronica Gosling and W.H. Auden. Clarinettist Matthew Heyse-Moore is the accompanist in settings by Clement Jewitt of his own verses.
Friday 18 May 7.30pm, Royal West of England Academy, Queen’s Road Bristol BS8 1PX
Concert 2: PICTURES IN SOUND
The Roaring Fork Wind Quintet
Estelle Greeley (Flute)
Jennifer Mears (Oboe)
Claire King (Clarinet)
Eleanor Whitfield (Bassoon)
Stephen Macallister (Horn)
Programme:
Julian Dale – Clifton Hill Chimes
Jonathan Palmer – Crystal Eyes
Laura Kane – Quintet No. 2
James D’Angelo – Angels dancing
Peter Nickol (pictured) – Ultramarine
Jaques Ibert – Trois pièces brève
Eric Ewazen – Roaring Fork (1st movement)
David Greenhorne – Full Circle
The second concert in SCA’s 2018 Festival is of music inspired by visual art performed by the West Country’s leading wind ensemble Roaring Fork wind quintet in the wonderful space of the RWA Winterstoke Gallery. The group takes its name from music by American composer Eric Ewazen inspired by a visit to the Roaring Fork Falls in North Carolina. It is a key work in the quintet’s repertoire and shares the same qualities that they display in their playing: freshness, dynamism and accessibility.
Sunday 20 May 2018 at 2.45pm, Under Ground Theatre, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4TL
Archaeus String Trio are Ann Hooley (violin), Elizabeth Turnbull (viola) and Martin Bradshaw (cello).
The Archaeus Trio perform the final recital in the Under Ground Theatre’s official 19th season of Chamber Recitals including the String Trio Op.21 by Leonard Salzedo.
No strangers to premiere performance venues across the globe, the quartet enjoys a broad repertoire and several composers have written works specifically for the group including Antonin Tucapsky, Jeffrey Joseph, Jenni Roditi and Leonard Salzedo.
CD recordings include the quartet by Minna Keal; quartets by York Bowen with the quintet for bass clarinet with Timothy Lines; quartets by Ethel Smyth, Amy Beach and Susan Spain-Dunk; Leonard Salzedo; and quartets by Cyril Scott.
All five of their CDs have been received with great critical acclaim. The recording of Salzedo quartets and the sonata for violin and viola (written for and performed by Ann Hooley and Elizabeth Turnbull) was selected as Editor’s Choice in the Gramophone Magazine.
21st May 2018 at 7.45pm, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London
Experience a selection from Piano40’s unique repertoire for eight hands at two pianos, including three premiere performances, as they return for their tenth Southbank Centre recital.
Piano40 have built their reputation on programming works especially composed for the ensemble, alongside original works from the 19th century. 33 composers have written for the group to date.
Performers
Jeremy Brown piano
Helen Cawthorne piano
Richard Deering piano
Craig White piano
Tuesday 12 June at 6.30pm, Bath Abbey, Bath
Bristol Ensemble
Jon Monie narrator
Shean Bowers conductor
Jools Scott and Sue Curtis When The War Came
Bath Abbey will be holding an enchanting evening of choral music sung by a massed children’s choir of 300 pupils drawn from different primary schools in Bath.
The children are all part of the Abbey’s Schools’ Singing Programme, which brings the joy of singing to thousands of school children in Bath and surrounding areas.
When the War Came tells the story of six young people from a small village whose lives are changed forever when the Great War comes to them. Words: Sue Curtis; Music: Jools Scott.
Sunday 1 July 2018, at 7.00pm, St Nicholas, North Walsham, Norfolk
Agnes (a pocket oratorio) by Sarah Rodgers receives its world premiere at St Nicholas, North Walsham, performed by Julia Doyle, the choirs of St Nicholas and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Commissioned by the Orchestra in partnership with Orchestras Live, Agnes uses the letters of Agnes Paston in helping to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Paston family correspondence.
The concert, titled Reliving History, includes music by Purcell, Handel, Holborne, Warlock and Mozart.
Sunday 8 July at 7.30pm, Cheltenham Town Hall
Haydn Symphony No. 94, Surprise
Haydn Piano Concerto No. 11
Haydn Harmoniemesse
Sir András Schiff conductor/piano
Choir of the Age of Enlightenment
Charlotte Beament soprano
Helen Charlston alto
Nick Pritchard tenor
Dingle Yandell bass
Take a whirlwind tour of the music of Austrian master Joseph Haydn in the hands of one of the world’s greatest musicians, Sir András Schiff, as part of Cheltenham Music Festival.
This concert rounds off the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Visions, Illusions & Delusions season with a varied programme of music by Haydn, who as much as any other composer redefined what orchestral music came to be during the Enlightenment period.
Sunday 29 July at 5.30pm, Hovingham Hall, York
Haydn Symphony No. 26 Lamentatione
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1
JC Bach Symphony in G minor
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5
Rachel Podger director/ violin
There is more to Mozart than meets the eye.
His repertoire is full of surprises and deceptions.
Mozart was the ultimate musical genius – and the ultimate game player. He tore up the rulebook, and if you hear his music twice, you never have quite the same experience.
Join the OAE to explore the hidden secrets of Mozart’s familiar scores, led by the Orchestra’s longstanding collaborator, violinist Rachel Podger. She plays two of Mozart’s great violin concertos, which are both unique in their own ways.
Also enjoy an exhilarating but rarely performed symphony by Johann Christian Bach. The son of Johann Sebastian Bach, JC Bach was a celebrity in London in the 1770s. This Symphony in G Minor is his dramatic, standout work, full of twists and turns and dark passions.
Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 7.30pm, Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Musgrave: Turbulent Landscapes (Scottish premiere)
Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins Conductor
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
Christopher Bell Chorus Director
Elizabeth Watts Soprano
Christopher Maltman Baritone
BBC SSO: Turbulent Landscapes Scottish Premiere, celebrating the 90th birthday of one of Scotland’s most internationally renowned composers, Thea Musgrave, with her remarkable Turbulent Landscapes, a powerful musical journey through six vivid land and seascapes by J. M. W. Turner.
Friday 10th August at 7.00pm, Birmingham Town Hall
Don’t miss the NCCGB 20th Anniversary Concert, which will be an opportunity to hear the choirs of the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain sing a wide variety of works from classical to R&B. These will include pieces by Faure, Goodall and of course Bob Chilcott, President of NCCGB, each choir showing the range of music they have sung during the year.
The concert will end with the première of Everyday Wonders: the Girl from Aleppo, which was written by Cecilia McDowall to commemorate our anniversary year. Performed by current choir members and a group of alumni, Everyday Wonders follows the story of Nujeen Mustafa, who travelled as a child refugee from Syria to Germany, and celebrates her courage and perseverance.
Friday 17th August at 7.30pm, Royal Albert Hall, London
Prom 47: Elgar, Prokofiev and Venables
Edward Elgar
Introduction and Allegro(14 mins)
Philip Venables
Béla Bartók
Venables Plays BartokBBC commission: world premiere
interval
Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No 5 in B flat major(44 mins)
Maverick Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto made a memorable Proms debut in 2016. Now he returns to premiere a new violin concerto written especially for him by award-winning young British composer Philip Venables.
The piece grows out of a recording the composer found of himself as a teenager playing one of Bartok’s Hungarian Sketches to his teacher’s teacher, Rudolf Botta, a Hungarian refugee – and the journey that ensued.
The concerto is framed by two works suffused with sunny optimism – Elgar’s lovely Introduction and Allegro for strings and Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, a piece that rejoices in ‘the strength and beauty of the human spirit’.
Monday 20th August 2018 at 10.00pm, Stoller Hall, Manchester
Zelkova Quartet: Caroline Pether, Alex Mitchell, Ed Pether, Jonathan Pether
Dominic Degavino – piano
Alex Roberts – clarinet
Stella Tahtinen – soprano
Dominic Ciccotti – piano
Meera Maharaj – flute
Lucy Nolan – harp
Emma-Ruth RICHARDS
Ikon for solo clarinet (2013)
Piranesi’s Fantasies for solo piano (2010)
Perpetual Becomings, After Gormley for solo flute and ensemble (2016, world première)
In Aer, 6 Little Songs for soprano and piano (2010)
This is the second recital of music by composer in residence Emma-Ruth Richards. The performance includes a world première of Perpetual Becomings, After Gormley for solo flute and ensemble.
Friday 24th August at 2.00pm, St Andrews Church, Presteigne
Nordic masters, Matthews and Banting
Joseph Tong piano
Edvard Grieg Stemninger (Moods), Op 73 Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6
David Matthews Variations for Piano, Op 72
Cydonie Banting The Gate of Dawn
World premiere of a Presteigne Festival commission
Jean Sibelius Sonatina in E, Op 67 No 2
Erkki-Sven Tüür Piano Sonata
After studying as a clarinettist on the Hampshire Specialist Music Course at Peter Symonds College, Cydonie Banting studied music at Oxford where she graduated with a first class honours degree. Cydonie is a composer whose pieces of music have been performed by groups including the BBC Singers, the Cavaleri Quartet, and Oxford’s Ensemble Isis.
Monday 27th August 7.30pm, at Snape Maltings
National Youth Choir of Great Britain
Ben Parry conductor
Britten Rejoice in the Lamb 16’
Rachmaninov Bogoroditse Devo 4’
Ravel Trois Chansons 7’
and music by Leighton, Gurney, Nico Muhly, Kerry Andrew
and world premieres by Ben Parry and Errollyn Wallen
The brilliant voices of the National Youth Choir – ‘a young choir on blazing form’ (The Arts Desk) – sing songs which celebrate the abundant creativity of those living with mental health conditions. From Britten’s inventive setting of Christopher Smart’s asylum poem Jubilate Agno to new music being given its first performances tonight, this is a programme that goes to the heart – and mind – of who the NYC are.
Tuesday 18 September 2018 at 7.00pm, St John’s Smith Square, London
Libretto by Charles Guillaume Etienne after the fairy-tale by Charles Perrault
English translation by Gilly French, dialogues by Jeremy Gray
Clorinde – Aoife O’Sullivan | Tisbe – Jenny Stafford | Cinderella – Kate Howden
Prince – Bradley Smith | Dandini – Benjamin Durrant | Alidor – Nicholas Merryweather
Baron – Alistair Ollerenshaw
Chorus – Lucy Cronin, Susanne Dymott
Conductor – Harry Sever
orchestra CHROMA
Director – Jeremy Gray
Associate director and choreography – Alicia Frost
Costumes – Jess Iliad
When the orphaned Cinderella, cruelly exploited by her step-family, generously provides breakfast for an itinerant beggar, little does she realise that her reward will be the love and hand of Prince Ramiro. But first she needs a new dress for the ball – and the discarded slipper has to fit…
Isouard’s charming and lyrical telling of Perrault’s much-loved fairy-tale was composed in 1810 for the Opéra-Comique Theatre in Paris and immediately took Europe by storm, its popularity only eclipsed when Rossini adapted the same libretto for La Cenerentola seven years later. Cinderella’s sincerity is matched by simple and affecting melody, whilst her vain step-sisters battle it out with torrents of spectacular coloratura. Ensembles of almost Mozartian effect contribute to make this a jewel of an opera.
There is a pre-concert talk at 6.00pm.
Thursday September 27th 2018, 7:30pm, The Stoller Hall, Manchester
Witold Lutosławski Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Béla Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
György Kurtág Scenes from a Novel*
György Ligeti Aventures & Nouvelles Aventures
Nicholas Kok conductor
Gillian Keith soprano
Jessica Gillingwater mezzo soprano
Alexander Robin Baker baritone
*Elaine Tyler-Hall director
Ligeti’s astonishing Aventures & Nouvelles Aventures is both touching and comic. Three singers – alone in their little universe – tell each other stories, exchange confidences and play games through an invented language of the emotions. Meanwhile, the instrumentalists punctuate the drama with some extreme musical interjections involving a giant hammer, a tray of crockery, and a large rug!
Voice, film and dance combine in Psappha’s atmospheric production of Kurtág’s Scenes from a Novel, which explores the contradictions between fleeting experience and the persistence of memory.
Also featuring Bartók’s exhilarating Sonata for Pianos and Percussion and Lutosławski’s witty, two-piano arrangement of Variations on a Theme of Paganini, the concert launches Psappha’s new season in terrific style.
Tuesday 9th October 2018 at 7.00pm, Burgh House, Hampstead, London
The 21st London New Wind Festival features music by Jennifer Fowler, Hugh Shrapnel and Paul Patterson.
Simon Desorgher – flutes
Catherine Plugyers – oboe
Phil Edwards – clarinet
Henryk Sienkiewicz – horn
Glynn Williams – bassoon
Alan Tomlinson – trombone
Robert Coleridge – piano
David Sutton-Anderson – conductor
Wednesday 10 October 2018 at 7.30pm – Holywell Music Room, Holywell Street, Oxford OX1 3SD
Felix Mendelssohn Song without Words, dedicated to Lisa Cristiani
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Capriccio in A flat major
Lili Boulanger Nocturne; D’un matin de printemps
Elisabeth Lutyens Nine Bagatelles
Rebecca Clarke Epilogue, dedicated to Guilhermina Suggia
Rebecca Clarke Passacaglia on an Old English Tune
Ann Carr-Boyd Beneath the Yellow Moon, UK premiere, dedicated to Alice Moyle
Liza Lim Invisibility, inspired by Aboriginal women singers of Yolgnu culture
Errollyn Wallen Dervish
Wendy Hiscocks Songline
A concert celebrating Women Musicians and their Stories in Music presented by Australian cellist Coral Lancaster with pianist Wendy Hiscocks in the sublime setting of Oxford’s Holywell Music Room. Composers represented include Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Lili Boulanger, Elisabeth Lutyens, Rebecca Clarke, Ann Carr-Boyd (UK premiere), Liza Lim, Errollyn Wallen and CAM’s Artistic Director Wendy Hiscocks (world premiere).
Presented by Celebrating Australian Music.
Thursday 11 October at 7.30pm, Redmaids’ High School, Bristol, BS9 3AW
Nicola Benedetti violin
Leonard Elschenbroich conductor
Bristol Ensemble
Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in E minor
Beethoven – Symphony No. 7
Maria Walpurgis – Sinfonia from Talestri
Redmaids’ High School, Bristol, is delighted to be welcoming renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti to perform in October. She will be joined in concert by the Bristol Ensemble and conductor Leonard Elschenbroich for a programme including Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Maria Walpurgis’ Sinfonia from Talestri.
This performance will be the inaugural concert given by the Bristol Ensemble in Redland Hall as Redmaids’ High School’s Orchestra-in-Residence.
Tickets £30 BOOK ONLINE
Saturday 20 October at 8.00pm, West Road Concert Hall, 11 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DP
Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos K.365
Schumann arr. Robin Holloway Six Canonic Studies op.56
Schumann Symphony No.3 ‘Rhenish’
In this concert, the Cambridge University Orchestra weaves its way from classic to classic by way of Holloway’s astute reinterpretation of Schumann’s studies for the unusual pedal-piano. We end the evening with Schumann’s great, final symphony, known as the “Rhenish”. From its dance-like melodies to its enchanting contrapuntal chorale to its heroic conclusion, the symphony is a masterful close to the evening from one of Holloway’s favourite composers.
Monday 12 November 2018 at 7.30pm, St Paul’s Church, Clifton, Bristol
Space Time Sounds
performed by Gemini:
Sarah Leonard – soprano
Ian Mitchell – clarinet and bass clarinet
Joby Burgess – percussion
Music by the Severnside Composers Alliance
Caradon, D’Angelo, Greenhorne, Harvey, Hasse, Laycock, Metzger, Nickol, Palmer, Poole
Tickets £10 (£8) students & under-16s free.
Wednesday 21 November 2018, at 7.30pm, St James’s Piccadilly, London
Angela Brownridge (piano) plays Debussy, Liszt and Chopin
Debussy – Pour le piano
Liszt – Sposalizio & Petrarch Sonnet No.104 (from Années de Pélèrinage: Deuxième année Italie)
Chopin – Three Etudes (Op.25 Nos.1 & 7; Op.10 No.5)
Debussy – 12 Preludes, Book 2; L’isle joyeuse
Hailed as a major star in classical music and one of the worlds finest pianists by the New York Times, Angela’s playing brings spontaneity, character and beauty of sound to the platform.
She has amazing technique, tonal splendour, wonderful clarity and dramatic force of which electrifying authority, passion & dedication were the keynotes. She is an artist of the highest calibre and this was playing of the highest order. (The Guardian)
She gave one of the finest and most riveting performances I have ever heard. (Daily Telegraph)
Saturday 24th November, 7.30pm, St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London
Amici Chamber Choir, conductor Paul Jeanes
Rachmaninov – Bogoroditsye Dyevo
Bairstow – Let all mortal flesh keep silence
‘O Mysterium’ by Victoria
‘O Mysterium’ by Thompson
Gjeilo – Northern Lights; Serenity; Ubi Caritas
Randall Thompson – Alleluia
Dvořák – Mass in D
A richly rewarding evening of beguiling choral music sung with passion and commitment.
The Amici Chamber Choir was established in 1986 so that a group of experienced and enthusiastic amateur singers could enjoy performing music to a high standard. The choir celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2016.
The choir draws its members from across north/west London and consists of about 33 singers who are required to have good sight singing ability. We perform regular concerts in Harrow and central London, with occasional trips to other parts of the UK. The repertoire covers both sacred and secular works, from Renaissance church music and madrigals to music of the present day.
Friday 30th November at 1.10pm, The Reid Hall, University of Edinburgh
KURTÁG miniature string trios from Signs, Games and Messages
HARVEY String Quartet No.4
Admission Free
With programmes that are diverse, imaginative and inspiring, Hebrides Ensemble has established itself as one of the foremost chamber music collectives in the UK. Co-founded and led by its artistic director, the cellist and conductor William Conway, the Ensemble is renowned for its fresh and intelligent approach to programming, which places contemporary music at the heart of a diverse range of repertoire.
Sunday December 9th at 3.00pm, Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth
Franz Schubert Quintet in C Major D. 956
Amy Beach Quartet for Strings Op. 89 [composer profile]
Bristol Ensemble’s popular series of Sunday afternoon tea-time chamber recitals continues with works for string ensemble.
Recognised as America’s leading woman composer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Amy Beach belonged to the Second New England School of composers. Her one-movement Quartet for Strings, completed in 1929, is a lean yet lyrical work of great originality, incorporating Alaskan Inuit melodies as thematic material.
Written just two months before the composer’s death, Schubert’s string quintet is regarded by many as his finest chamber work. The Adagio second movement is tranquilly sublime, and is so treasured that it has become one of the most requested pieces on Desert Island Discs.
Tickets £10 on the door.
Saturday 15th December, at 7.30pm, Clifton Cathedral, Bristol
Handel composed his most famous piece in 1741, continuing to work on it after its initial performance, to arrive at the version we know today in 1754. It tells the story of Jesus’s birth, life, death, resurrection and victory over sin and death, through impressive solo arias interspersed with compelling choruses.
Since the 1740s Messiah has been sung annually by many choirs and remains one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.
Thursday 20th December at 6.45pm, St Paul’s Cathedral, London
The British Red Cross is proud to host its Festive Concert in the iconic St Paul’s Cathedral in London to help raise vital funds for people in crisis across the UK.
There will be performances by the Kingdom Choir (of Royal Wedding fame), Nadine Benjamin and Toby Spence, and readings from British Red Cross celebrity supporter Joanna Lumley.
The concert will also feature the world premiere of a specially composed work by Sir Karl Jenkins. The evening promises to be a special one!
This wonderful celebration will bring people together, regardless of religion, to make connections over the holidays and get people into the festive spirit.
Friday 4th January, at 7.30pm, Wigmore Hall, London
Iestyn Davies and outstanding young countertenor James Hall explore a programme of duets, including Purcell’s heartfelt elegy to Queen Mary and Blow’s ravishing tribute on the tragic death of Purcell.
Henry Purcell (c.1659-1695)
Come, ye sons of art, away Z323
Sound the trumpet
Hail, bright Cecilia Z328
In vain the am’rous flute
O solitude, my sweetest choice Z406
The Maid’s Last Prayer, or Any Rather than Fail Z601
No, resistance is but vain
Dioclesian Z627
Chaconne – two in one upon a ground
John Blow (1648-1708)
Ah heav’n! what is’t I hear
Henry Purcell
Bonduca, or The British Heroine Z574
Sing, sing ye Druids
Dioclesian Z627
Since from my dear
O dive custos Auriacae domus (Ode on the death of Queen Mary) Z504
Interval
John Blow
Paratum cor meum
Pelham Humfrey (1647-1674)
Lord, I have sinned
Wilt thou forgive that sin (A Hymne to God the Father)
William Williams
Sonata in imitation of birds
John Blow
An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell
Friday 8 February 2019, 6.30 — 8pm at the Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London
A celebration of the 200th birthday of the visionary art critic and social reformer John Ruskin, with readings by actors Michael Palin and Dan Draper and music performed by tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson, accompanied by the Coull Quartet.
John Ruskin, one of the most important writers and thinkers of the 19th century, was born on 8 February 1819. To honour the bicentenary of his birth we present a portrait of this trenchant art critic and passionate social reformer in an evening of readings from his books and letters. Ruskin’s critiques of the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, Academy Notes, along with his defence of Turner and promotion of the Pre-Raphaelites, were a profound influence on Victorian taste. This event celebrates Ruskin’s ideas and values, and tells the story of his troubled life.
Ruskin’s words will be read by actors Michael Palin and Dan Draper, with songs by Ruskin performed by the tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson, accompanied by the Coull Quartet. The music, realised by composer Sarah Rodgers, includes a complete performance of her setting of Ruskin’s fairy tale, The King of the Golden River.
February 17, 2019, 3:00 pm at Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth
Fauré Piano Quartet in No.1 C minor, Op.15
Franck Violin Sonata in A major
There’s a Gallic feel to February’s concert, with music from across the Channel. César Franck’s romantic work is regarded by many as the finest violin sonata in all French music. Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet was written at a time of emotional turmoil in the composer’s life, but is predominately positive and uplifting in mood. Tickets £10 on the door.
24th February to 2nd March all at 7.30pm, The Warehouse, Theed Street, London SE1
Lontano’s Biennial Festival – created in 2006 – explores and celebrates the work of major American composers and reflects the variety of style that is so characteristic of contemporary American music today. The festival programme was put together by Lontano’s Music Director Odaline de la Martinez, one of Britain’s most dynamic and gifted musicians and the first woman to conduct a complete BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall. This year’s festival celebrates American Diversity featuring not only American Women Composers, but also American Composers of Colour. The Festival also celebrates Odaline de la Martinez’s 70th birthday with the World Premiere her opera Imoinda – A Story of Love and Slavery.
March 8, 2019, 7:30 pm at Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1DZ
Programme to include excerpts from In a Time Lapse, Devenire and Elements
The Bristol Ensemble performs some of the most famous pieces composed by Ludovico Einaudi to the backdrop of beautiful images of nature. Scored for piano and strings, the ethereal works create a meditative atmosphere, creating waves of emotion to engulf the listener.
Tickets £25 (half price for students and under 18s)
Friday 12 April, 7.30pm, Wigmore Hall, London
Nash Ensemble;
Stefan Asbury conductor;
Claire Booth soprano;
Simone Leona Hueber reciter;
Lawrence Power viola;
Adrian Brendel cello;
Ursula Leveaux bassoon;
Lucy Wakeford harp
The Nash Ensemble’s annual contemporary music showcase features six works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, with whom the group has enjoyed a long and close association. In addition to two earlier Nash commissions, Fantasia upon all the notes and The Woman and the Hare, they include a new Duo specifically written for the Nash’s violist Lawrence Power and cellist Adrian Brendel. The programme also takes in Elliott Carter’s Mosaic, inspired by memories of the pioneering harpist Carlos Salzedo, and a newly revised piece for solo bassoon by the late Oliver Knussen, originally written as a study for a large-scale project based on the writings of Kafka. Stefan Asbury conducts the ensemble works and the solo soprano is the Nash’s frequent and welcome guest, Claire Booth.
6.00pm – pre-concert talk
Saturday 13 April, 7.30pm at St Swithin’s Church, Bath
Bath Minerva Choir
Bristol Ensemble
Conducted by Gavin Carr
Mozart Vesperae solennes de Confessore, KV 339
Mozart Serenata notturna, K239
Haydn Missa in Angustiis (‘Nelson’ Mass)
Bath Minerva Choir presents two beautiful works to mark this spring – the Haydn Missa in Angustiis – also known as the Nelson Mass – is widely known and is happily contrasted with one of Mozart’s loveliest pieces – the Vesperae Solennes de Confessore. A beautiful programme of music from the classical era performed by the Bath Minerva Choir and Bristol Ensemble under the direction of Gavin Carr.
Tuesday 23 April, 7.30pm St John, Maddermarket, Norwich
A feast of Renaissance and contemporary music performed by Stuart King (clarinet), Clare O’Connell (cello) and superstar viola da gamba player Liam Byrne, with visuals from Claire Shovelton.
More than just a concert, Awakening seamlessly weaves together music from experimental composers both ancient and modern; the gamba, cello and clarinet creating a uniquely rich sonic experience, linked by electronic episodes and enhanced by Claire Shovelton’s imagery, to immerse you in a transcendental, transformative world.
Music will include works from Nico Muhly, Pierre de la Rue, Christopher Tye and Alexander Agricola with three new CHROMA commissions from outstanding composers Freya Waley Cohen, Rubens Askenar and David Bruce.
The concert lasts approx one hour with no interval.
TICKETS: GO TO CHROMA BOX OFFICE
£15/£12 concessions (CHROMA Friends £13/£10)
under 18s free, subject to availability.
Thursday 2 May, 7.30pm at St Michael’s Manchester
Programme
Anthony Burgess Cello Sonata ‘for the dead 1939-45’
Arnold Schoenberg Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte
David T Little and the sky was still there
Tim Wright The Bridge
Nigel Osborne Bosnian Voices
Mark Heron conductor
Jessica Gillingwater mezzo soprano
Richard Suart speaker
“And I heard a voice that said to me: If you care about the state of your soul, if you care about anything at all, if you want to continue to be a good person: Get out.” David T Little’s and the sky was still there with a film by R. Luke DuBois challenges the US army’s controversial ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy towards gay and lesbian soldiers.
The war in Bosnia ended nearly a quarter of a century ago, with the tragedy of Srebrenica. Influenced by the chiming of church bells and the Muslim call to prayer, Nigel Osborne’s Bosnian Voices is a set of songs written by ordinary Bosnians – children and adults – about their lives then and now.
Tim Wright’s sparse and tense music for a 1929 silent film by Charles Vidor tells the dramatic story of a spy sentenced to be hanged from a bridge.
Two giants of the twentieth century react to the atrocities of the second world war. Schoenberg takes his inspiration from the poetry of Byron, and writer Anthony Burgess turns to music in his heart-felt for the dead 1939-45.
Saturday May 11, 2019 at 7:30 pm, Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Henleaze, Bristol BS9 4BT
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 (reduced orchestration)
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
Brahms Hungarian Dances
Bartók Romanian Folk Dances
Monti Csárdás
Viv McLean piano
Roger Huckle violin
Music inspired by passionate and romantic Hungarian folk melodies features in this programme, alongside Beethoven’s dark and brooding Piano Concerto No.3, in a reduced orchestration arrangement. We’re delighted to welcome back the pianist Viv McLean for a fifth year as soloist, completing the set of Beethoven piano concertos, and also performing Liszt’s dramatic Hungarian Rhapsody in an arrangement for piano quintet.
Thursday 16 May at 7.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London
Richard Wagner – Tannhäuser – Venusberg Music
Judith Weir – Forest
John Harle – Briggflatts(world premiere)
Gioachino Rossini – Othello Overture
Jean Sibelius – Spring Song, Op 16
Michael Torke – Green
Erich Wolfgang Korngold – Robin Hood Suite
The BBC Concert Orchestra and Principal Conductor Bramwell Tovey paint a musical portrait of the colour green.
Emeralds. Jealousy. Youth. Joy. Spring. Victory. Nature. We discover how green has been melodically interpreted through great classics and music of today.
Part of the BBC Concert Orchestra’s new, occasional series of concerts inspired by colours, this performance features the world premiere of John Harle’s piece written for young saxophonist of the moment, Jess Gillam.
Presented by Lachlan Goudie, artist, documentary presenter and judge on BBC One’s Big Painting Challenge.
Part of BBC Concert Orchestra 2018-19 Southbank Centre SeasonColour Series
Saturday 18 May at 7.00pm, Cadogan Hall, Chelsea, London
Bach B Minor Mass
Joanna Tomlinson conductor
Miriam Allan soprano
Roderick Morris countertenor
Greg Tassell tenor
Matthew Brook bass
Constanza Chorus
In its tenth birthday celebration concert, the dynamic Constanza Chorus is joined by OAE for a performance of Bach’s masterpiece, the Mass in B Minor.
The work is regarded as one of the greatest musical compositions of history: technically awe inspiring, but hugely spiritual and life affirming. Miriam Allan, Roderick Morris, Greg Tassell and Matthew Brook complete the wonderful line up of performers.
Wednesday 22 May at 7.00pm, College Building, UCL, London
City University ensemble-in-residence, EXAUDI, return for their annual concert of premieres by City Postgraduate and Undergraduate composers.
The students respond to EXAUDI’s Madrigal Project, in which the group brings together classics from the Italian Renaissance through to the present. The results exploit the full range of EXAUDI’s virtuoso vocality to ask the question: what does it mean to write a Madrigal today?
FREE ADMISSION – BOOKING FORM
Sunday 16 June at 4.00pm, Snape Bridge, Snape, East of England, IP17 1SP, United Kingdom
Adrian Brendel cello
Joanna MacGregor piano
Marta Fontanals-Simmons mezzo-soprano
Britten Sonata 18’
Imogen Holst The Fall of The Leaf for solo cello 9’
Harvey Songs and Haiku (UK premiere) 10’
Curve with Plateaux 12′
Britten Folk Songs for mezzo and piano: The Last Rose of Summer; O Waly, Waly; The Salley Gardens 11′
Bridge Sonata 22’
MacGregor and Brendel offer intimate music for cello and piano by Britten, his teacher, his assistant and his younger colleague. Large-scale sonatas bookend the programme – Britten’s punchy, richly characterised work written for his new friend Rostropovich to premiere at the 1961 Aldeburgh Festival, and Frank Bridge’s achingly beautiful piece of late-Romantic wistfulness composed during WWI.
In between, Imogen Holst’s cello solo alternates between plangent beauty and pizzicato passages aimed at sounding ‘like the lute of our friend Julian Bream’. Mezzo Fontanals-Simmons sings Britten Folksongs and songs by Jonathan Harvey.
Part of the Aldeburgh Festival.
Sunday 7th July at 11.00am in the Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Anastasia Kobekina cello
Lilit Grigoryan pianist
Quatuor Arod
Elisabeth Brauss piano
Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso
Konstantia Gourzi Call of the Bees (World Premiere)
Sergei Prokofiev Cello Sonata in C, Op. 119
Johannes Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme, which brings the world’s most promising new talent to audiences across the UK, this is the first recital in a series of three at Pittville Pump Room. The programme includes a World Premiere by Greek composer Konstantia Gourzi, and concludes with Brahms’s dark and brooding Piano Quintet in F minor.
Sunday July 14th 2019, 4:00pm, Mortimer Suite, Hull City Hall
Programme
David Fennessy – Panopticon
Event information
The 17-minute piece is performed twice, with a short Q&A session with the composer between the performances.
Overview
The cimbalom governs the string ensemble in a new work by David Fennessy, performed by Psappha. Every attack on the string of the instrument has a consequence on the rest of the players. Each beat triggers a ripple, much like a stone dropped into a still lake, which eventually reaches the strings: they reflect and magnify its effects. The cimbalom also governs pulse and dynamic and, through its careful exploration of the natural harmonics available on its lowest string, plots the entire course of the piece. The word ‘panopticon’ is usually associated with an 18th-century design concept for a circular prison. Cells were arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could be observed at all times.
Tuesday 13th August at 7.00pm, Royal Albert Hall, London
Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations is the inspiration for a new work commissioned from 14 living composers as a special birthday tribute to conductor Martyn Brabbins, who turns 60 today.
Elgar’s original set also features, as do Vaughan Williams’s exquisite Serenade to Music and Brahms’s ‘Little Requiem’, the Song of Destiny.
Programme
Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M. C. B. c30’
New ‘Enigma’ variations by Kalevi Aho, Sally Beamish, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Richard Blackford, Gavin Bryars, Brett Dean, Dai Fujikura, Wim Henderickx, Colin Matthews, Anthony Payne, John Pickard, David Sawer, Iris ter Schiphorst and Judith Weir
BBC commission: world premiere
Vaughan Williams
Serenade to Music 13’
Henry Wood Novelties: world premiere, 1938
– interval –
Brahms
Song of Destiny 18’
Elgar
‘Enigma’ Variations 29’
Nadine Benjamin soprano
Idunnu Munch mezzo-soprano
William Morgan tenor
David Ireland bass-baritone
ENO Chorus
BBC Singers
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor
From Thursday 26th August for 6 days in Presteigne, Powys, Wales
Artistic innovation and musical discovery in the Welsh Marches
Held each August in an intimate setting nestling on the Powys/Herefordshire border, the Presteigne Festival has become a focal point for those seeking musical nourishment and artistic discovery in the beautiful surroundings of the Welsh Marches. With a truly forward looking commissioning policy, the organisation works closely with composers and artists to create and curate inspiring programmes and events for an ever-widening Festival audience and to bring experience broadening opportunities to its host community.
The Presteigne Festival’s six music-filled days span the August Bank Holiday period. Established over thirty years ago, the Festival has a long tradition of supporting young artists and for presenting a fresh and individually stylised mix of contemporary works carefully balanced with twentieth century classics and featuring a wide range of music from the standard repertoire.
Presteigne Festival 2019
Described by Musical Opinion Quarterly as ‘an indispensable mainstay of the cultural calendar’, the 2019 Presteigne Festival programme brings together a large number of diverse musical elements, but with an important American strand running throughout.
We welcome two exciting composers-in-residence – from the UK, Cheryl Frances-Hoad ‘A remarkable talent’ The Times, and from the United States, composer and virtuoso harpist Hannah Lash ‘striking and resourceful … handsomely brooding’ New York Times; we also include a mini-feature of works by the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Copland, among the most important and highly respected figures in all American music.
The Festival continues to actively promote the work of living composers with a collection of specially commissioned pieces from James Francis Brown (string trio), Cheryl Frances-Hoad (Clarinet Quintet), Harriet Grainger (a setting of the Missa brevis), Hannah Lash (Concertino for flute and string orchestra), Freya Waley-Cohen (a work for string quartet), Adrian Williams (Concerto for string orchestra, co-commissioned with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta) and 2018 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize-winner, Liam Mattison (a work for percussion and piano).
A carefully balanced collection of supporting events extends the American theme further and includes Sarah Gabriel’s hugely entertaining one-woman show, Dorothy Parker takes a Trip, together with exhibitions, a trio of American movies, talks from Stephen Johnson, Ian Marchant and Nick Murray, poetry with Fiona Sampson, Welsh art with Peter Lord and more besides.
Artists appearing include the Albion Quartet, pianists Tom Poster and Siwan Rhys, virtuoso flautist Katherine Bryan, French clarinettist Rozenn le Trionnaire, string players Mathilde Milwidsky (violin), Alice Neary (cello), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) and Hannah Lash (harp), soprano Elizabeth Cragg and exciting young percussionist George Barton. A specially-formed Presteigne Festival Chamber Choir will be directed by Philip Sunderland and the ever-popular Festival Orchestra will appear three times under artistic director, George Vass.
Outreach continues to be a vital part of the Presteigne Festival’s work, enabling better engagement with communities both at home and away. In 2019, we’ll be working with senior members of the community in association with the Bleddfa Centre for the Creative Spirit, and our Autumn Tour is to be undertaken by exciting young piano and percussion duo George Barton and Siwan Rhys.
Thursday 10th october, 6.00pm at St John’s, Waterloo
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No.8
Colin Labadie Entwined (UK premiere)
James Hendry conductor
Beethoven described his Eighth Symphony as “unbuttoned”; today we might think of it as being like a double espresso. Small in form but serving a brilliant intensity of innovation, the symphony shows a radical composer experimenting with textural, rhythmic and harmonic elements. Then, with the brain buzzing from musical caffeine, thoughts turn to an array of loose ends that Beethoven leaves deliberately untied, extending the music’s impact beyond the live performance.
FREE
Book your ticket online, then give what you can on the night!
BOOK HERE
Sunday 13 October to Tuesday 15 October
The Barn, Banchory, Aberdeenshire
For ages 14-19
Create your own piece of music with professional composers, Ailie Robertson and Linda Buckley, and musicians from Red Note Ensemble who will premiere your piece in a concert at the end of the course. You will also receive a recording of your piece after the course.
Timetable:
Sun 13 Oct 2 – 8pm
Mon 14 Oct 10am – 5pm
Tue 15 Oct 10am – 5pm & performance at 6pm
Venue: The Barn, Banchory, Aberdeenshire
Friday October 18, 2019, 7:30 pm at Malmesbury Abbey, Gloucester Road, Malmesbury SN16 9BA
Bristol Ensemble
Director/ Soloist – Roger Huckle
Elgar Serenade for Strings
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Delius Two Aquarelles
Haydn Symphony No.83 ‘The Hen’
A concert of English and nature inspired music with master works by Elgar and Vaughan Williams alongside the wonderful ‘The Hen’ Symphony by Haydn. The Lark Ascending forms the centre of this programme and remains one of the UK’s most popular classical piece. Elgar’s Serenade for Strings is a timeless masterpiece and the Two Aquarelles by Delius are perfect for an Autumn serenade.
Tickets £18 for adults, £5 under 18s available to buy online, over the counter at the Malmesbury Abbey shop, or by phone on 07766 105491.
Saturday 26 October 2019, 12.00pm at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Aberdeen, 28 King Street, AB24 5AX
Sergio Vega Dominguez (oboe) and Martin Storey (cello) from Red Note premiere five new works for oboe and cello developed by Scotland based composers Andrew Blair, Kevin Leomo, Gillian Walker, Ewan Mackay and Harry Gorski-Brown during a residential composers’ development weekend in Aberdeenshire.
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Friday 1st November, 7.00pm at Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD
Programme
Nate Chivers New work world premiere
Athanasia Kontou New work world premiere
Zakiya Leeming New work world premiere
Tywi Roberts New work world premiere
Overview
Psappha are delighted to be back at New Music North West, the region’s leading contemporary music festival, to perform the world premieres of four new pieces written especially for them by four postgraduate composition students at the RNCM – each one inspired by a winning poem in MMU’s Mother Tongue Other Tongue poetry competition. They’ll be working closely with the composers as they create, refine and complete their pieces, which will be introduced by BBC Radio 3’s Elizabeth Alker and the composers at a concert that will also feature performances by the four winning poets.
Elizabeth Alker Presenter
Laurent Zufferey, CJ Wu, Riley Court-Wood, Omer Shteinhart conductors
Laiba Ansari, Tobias Jaimon, Marc Jardin, Jessica Nwgiwe poets
Tickets cost £5 BUY HERE
Wednesday November 13, 2019 at 7:30 pm, St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol BS1 5RR
Bristol Ensemble
Adrian Chandler violin soloist and director
Johann Christian Bach Quintet in G Op.11 No. 2
Francesco Geminiani Concerto Grosso in G minor after Corelli
Nicola Matteis Ground After the Scotch Humour
Nicola Matteis the younger Trio Sonata in G minor
Antonio Vivaldi Concerto Alla Rustica RV151
Antonio Vivaldi Autumn from The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi Concerto in D RV210
The Bristol Ensemble unveils its Baroque specialist ensemble for the first time, under the directorship of Adrian Chandler.
Adrian will be familiar to St George’s audiences from his performances with La Serenissima and takes over the leadership of Bristol Ensemble Baroque in what will be a vibrant, energetic and thoroughly engaging performance exploring some known and less familiar composers of the Baroque period.
The programme will include works by Johann Christian Bach, Francesco Geminiani, Nicola Matteis and violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi performed by Adrian Chandler.
Tickets £25, £22, £18, £14, available HERE
Thursday 28 November, 7.30pm at Halle St Peter’s, Manchester
Programme
Webern String Quartet, Op.28
Cheryl Frances-Hoad The Whole Earth Dances
Athanasia Kontou After Psappha
Alissa Firsova Songs of the World world premiere
Lutyens The Valley of Hatsu-Se
Schoenberg, arr. Webern Chamber Symphony No.1
Overview
The first concert at the newly renovated Hallé St Peter’s features a Psappha commission inspired by the Vienna of a century ago. Alissa Firsova’s Songs of the World sets three poems by Hugo van Hofmannsthal – a contemporary of Anton Webern, whose abstract but gripping String Quartet and masterful arrangement of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony both feature tonight. Poetry also provides the inspiration for Elizabeth Lutyens’ rarely-heard The Valley of Hatsu-Se, which draws on Japanese texts, and Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s more recent The Whole Earth Dances, inspired in part by Ted Hughes.
Stephen Barlow Conductor
Daisy Brown Soprano
Into the Music at 6.40pm (Free to ticket-holders)
Alissa Firsova and Athanasia Kontou join Tim Williams and the RNCM’s Douglas Jarman to introduce tonight’s concert.
Tuesday 3 December, 7.30pm at Chipping Sudbury Town Hall, Bristol BS37 6 AD
Roaring Fork Wind Quintet, now in their 10th year delight audiences with their eclectic programmes of music including new work by British composers. This programme features Serensina by Peter Nickol.
Sunday 12 January, 10.30am and 12.00pm at Royal Festival Hall, London
The Patient Horse and the Dutiful Donkey
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s interactive music-making session for ages two to five introduces Telemann’s noble steed.
A master of musical storytelling, Telemann guides us through Don Quichotte’s wild and wacky escapades.
On this adventure, the Orchestra creates a high-brow horse and a common donkey. Come and listen to what they sound like!
These interactive OAE Tots concerts have lots of action and activity to captivate the youngest music-lovers.
You can also meet the players and the instruments in the foyer after the performance.
Saturday 18 January 2020 at 7.30pm, Wigmore Hall, London
Rossini, Spohr and Schubert.
The first of Rossini’s elegant string sonatas precedes a pair of octets for wind and strings: the one by Spohr, with a pair of horns, full of delights, including a set of variations on Handel’s ‘Harmonious Blacksmith’ theme; the familiar one by Schubert the epitome of the divertimento in its variety and tunefulness.
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Saturday, 25 January, 2020, 7:30pm at Trinity-Henleaaze URC Waterford Road, Henleaze, Bristol BS9 4BT
Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Op.70
Mozart String Quintet in G minor K.516
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
Tchaikovsky’s string sextet Souvenir de Florence was written following a trip to Italy, during which the composer visited the historic city and sketched one of the work’s principal themes there.
The music exhibits an abundance of Russian passion and fervour, combined with Italian lyricism and brilliance. Scored for two violins, two violas and two cellos, it is symphonic in its sonority and texture, with plenty of opportunity to display the players’ virtuosity. Mozart’s String Quintet is written in his ‘tragic’ key of G minor and is scored for string quartet plus a second viola, giving a rich and melancholic quality to the texture.
Monday 27 January at 7.45pm, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
David Matthews has set 5 poems of Muriel Spark for mezzo-soprano, piano and string quartet. This work receives its Scottish premier performed by Victoria Simmonds and members of the Nash Ensemble.
David Matthews will be in conversation with the President of the Muriel Spark Society, Alan Taylor, before the concert.
HOW TO BOOK
Saturday 8 February 2020 at 5.30pm and 7.30pm, Wigmore Hall, London
5.30pm:
Beethoven: Clarinet Trio in B flat, Op.11
Weber: Introduction, Theme & Variations for clarinet & piano
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: String Quartet in E flat
7.30pm:
with James Gilchrist (tenor)
Group of songs for voice and piano by Loewe, Reichard & Zelter (with Roger Vigones, piano)
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet in A minor, Op.13
Schubert: Auf dem Stron, D843 for tenor, horn & piano
Schubert: Piano Trio in B flat, D898
Friday 14 February 2020 at 8.00pm, Kings Place, London, N1 9AG
Aaron Holloway-Nahum
The inaugural concert of Riot Ensemble’s ReNEW series at Kings Place, bringing the cream of international contemporary music on to the Hall One stage.
‘Every aesthetic trace, every footprint of an object, sparkles with absence. Sensual things are elegies to the disappearance of objects.’ Realist Magic, Timothy Morton
Liza Lim’s Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus aspire to ‘make a music out of relics of the past’, which here range from Janacek to the last-ever heard mating call of the now-extinct Kauai O’o bird. Aaron Holloway-Nahum’s Like a Memory of Birds (ii) is also about degradation and loss, filtering a familiar melodic line through an alien soundscape until it disintegrates and disappears. Meanwhile, Ctrl by Laurence Osborn, which features Sarah Dacey’s soprano filtered through an auto-tune pedal, examines themes of masculinity and violence.
Aaron Holloway-Nahum Like a memory of birds (ii)
Liza Lim Extinction events and dawn chorus
Laurence Osborn CTRL
Tickets £18.50-£14.50 (Under 30s tickets available)
Saturday 22 February, at London venues
Anders Hillborg – photo by Mats Lundqvist
The event includes: Camilla’s Classical: Anders Hillborg & Ivan’s Childhood – Camilla Lundberg’s documentary examining Hillborg’s life and work (10.30am);
Hillborg’s chamber music, introduced by the composer (Milton Court Concert Hall, 1.30pm); the BBC Singers performing Hillborg’s choral music including O Dessa Ögon, Mouyayoum and the UK premiere of The Breathing of the World (St Giles Cripplegate, 4pm);
Talk – Meet the composer (6pm); and Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Hillborg’s music including the UK premieres of Peacock Tales and the Violin Concerto (Barbican Hall, 7.30pm).
Tickets £37-£50.
Tuesday 25 February, 8.00pm at The Stables, Wavendon
After their recent foray into the world of gypsy music with their classical-chart-topping Baroque Bohemians project, Red Priest return to theirorigins with a stunning concert of baroque classics, arranged and performed with their trademark energy, virtuosity and (in the best baroque sense) madness!
The programme includes works by Bach, Vivaldi and Albinoni.
Sunday 15 March, 6.30pm at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL
Brahms | Quartet in A minor Op.51/2 (1865)
Camden Reeves | Quartet No. 5 ‘Blue Windows’ (world premiere) (2019)
Beethoven | Quartet in E flat Op.127 (1823-24)
Amy Tress (violin)
William Newell (violin)
Stephen Upshaw (guest viola)
Stephanie Tress (cello)
Winners of the 2014 Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Competition, the Solem Quartet has recently performed at the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. They make their Conway Hall début in works by Brahms and Beethoven, alongside the world premiere of Manchester-based composer Camden Reeves’ fifth quartet.
Conway Hall Sunday Concerts
Founded in the 1880s, the Conway Hall chamber music concert series is the longest-running of its kind in Europe. Conway Hall was purpose-built in 1929 to host concerts and lectures, and they have continued here until the present day. The ethos of “affordable classical music for all” still remains. Browse the website for more information about all the Spring 2020 Season music events, including concerts, pre-concert talks and recitals.
Thursday 19 March 2020, 7.30pm at Halle St Peter’s, Manchester
Programme
Harrison Birtwistle Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum
Matthew Grouse wood.pulse
Gary Carpenter Fischietto è Morto
Mahler, arr. Schoenberg Das Lied von der Erde
Overview
Written in deep despair following the death of his daughter and the diagnosis of a debilitating heart condition, Gustav Mahler’s final, colossal song cycle ends with an epic goodbye – Der Abschied, or ‘The Farewell’ – that he didn’t live long enough to hear performed in public. Arnold Schoenberg declared it the Mahler work that ‘points furthest into the future’, then took it there himself with this arrangement for chamber orchestra. Also tonight, two distinctly playful pieces with unlikely inspirations: Harrison Birtwistle’s homage to Paul Klee and Gary Carpenter’s trombone-led tribute to the art of the clown. The premiere of Matthew Grouse’s invigorating bassoon solo completes the evening.
Chloé van Soeterstède Conductor
Sarah Castle Mezzo-soprano
Ben Johnson Tenor
Katy Jones Trombone
Wednesday 25 March, 7.30pm at The Ceilidh House, Arnisdale, IV40 8JH
Thursday 26 March, 7.30pm at Poolewe Village Hall, Poolewe, IV22 2LD
Friday 27 March, 7.30pm at SEALL, Ostaig House, Sleat, Isle of Skye, IV44 8RQ
Music and Verse from the Atlantic and beyond
Celebrating Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, Red Note string players Jackie Shave (violin) and Robert Irvine (cello) blend their styles with Eliza Marshall on flutes and whistles and iconic Indian tabla player/composer Kuljit Bhamra to explore the theme of ‘Oceans and Journeys’.
The musicians are joined by actor Crawford Logan in a concert integrating poetry and music of great power and beauty, performing specially written works by members of the ensemble and others.
The ensemble will tour the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, interleaving poetry from local and international poets celebrating and exploring the passions of the Oceans.
The programme will include:
Jackie Shave ‘Sea Fever’
Kuljit Bhamra ‘Indigo Sunrise’
Eliza Marshall ‘Fear A’Bhàta
Robert Irvine ‘The Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks’ (Neruda)
Jackie Shave ‘Machair to Myrrh’
Irvine/Bhamra ‘Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner’
Marshall ‘Lord Franklin’s Lament’
Bhamra/Marshall ‘Billy Bhangra’s voyage’ (drowning and reincarnation)
Poems and text from Mackay-Brown, Elliot, Neruda and Scottish writers
TICKETS available locally.
Wednesday 1 April, 7.30pm at Church of All Saints, Pembroke Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3ED
Bristol Brass Consort
Paul Harris and Tom Deakin – Trumpets
Paul Tomlinson – horn
John Cornick – Trombone
Simon Derrick – Tuba
Bristol Brass Consort has been entertaining diverse audiences for over 30 years. Their music covers a wide spectrum: folk music, fanfares, show tunes, seasonal and sacred music, jazz and classical music spanning six centuries. They have played at festivals throughout the UK and Europe, and on BBC television and radio. Over the years they have commissioned new works from many living composers.
Their concert on 1st April is a collaboration with Severnside Composers Alliance featuring world premieres by leading West-country composers alongside vibrant and showy pieces from BBC’s regular repertoire such as Anthony DiLorenzo’s “Firedance”. It all adds up to a programme that is fascinating in its range of musical styles. Fanfares by Liz Lane and Arthur Keegan-Bole set a celebratory mood. Jonathan Palmer and David Greenhorne highlight the consort’s well-known interest in renaissance and early music. Jolyon Laycock showcases the virtuoso brilliance of the piccolo trumpet. A slow-moving sombre “Elegy” by Kostis Tsioulakis contrasts with James D’Angelo’s fast-moving “Scherzo”, and Frank Harvey dishes up a jokey take on action movie sound tracks.
Sunday 9 August, 6.00pm at Melody Lane Courtyard, London
Hear the Corran Quartet play Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
Tuesday 25 August, 7.00pm live-streamed from Temple Church, Victoria Embankment
Imogen Cooper performs Schubert and Ravel
Schubert Moments Musicaux
Ravel Jeux D’eau
Ravel Sonatine
Ravel Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
Sunday 11 October at 5.00pm. Live stream from Wigmore Hall, London
Consone Quartet
BBC New Generation Artists: The Long Weekend
Beethoven Quartets
String Quartet in G Op. 18 No. 2
String Quartet in C minor Op. 18 No. 4
This concert will be live streamed.
All concerts in the Autumn Series will be available on demand for 30 days after the date of the concert.
Wednesday 14 October, streamed on Marquee TV
Storming the Heavens
The third of a 13 concert series performed by the LPO and streamed live on Marquee TV
John Storgårds (conductor)
Simone Lamsma (violin)
JULIAN ANDERSON Van Gogh Blue*
NIELSEN Violin Concerto
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 In 1811, Beethoven conceived a symphony without precedent. ‘He’s ripe for the madhouse’ declared one contemporary, but 250 years on from the composer’s death, the Seventh Symphony burns with undimmed popularity and power. John Storgårds has followed the Symphony’s influence down two centuries, and paired it with two works of maverick genius. Simone Lamsma plays Nielsen’s Violin Concerto of 1911 – a bracing counterblast to romantic clichés, composed under clear northern skies. And Julian Anderson plunges into the luminous, swirling imagination of Vincent van Gogh, creating sounds that transcend social distance, glowing with fantasy and colour. *Supported by Resonate. Resonate is a PRS Foundation initiative in partnership with the Association of British Orchestras, BBC Radio 3 and Boltini Trust.
WATCH HERE
Thursday 22 October at 8.00pm, Barbican Hall London and live streamed
Performers
Isata Kanneh-Mason piano
Braimah Kanneh-Mason violin
Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello
Konya Kanneh-Mason violin/piano
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason cello/piano
Aminata Kanneh-Mason violin
Mariatu Kanneh-Mason cello
Programme
Dmitri Shostakovich Piano Trio No 1 in C minor, Op 8
Franz Schubert Impromptu No 4 in A-flat major, D899
Impromptu No 4 in F minor, D935
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Mélodie, Op 42 No 3
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Trio in B-flat major, K502 Mvt III
Samuel Barber Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op 6 Mvt I
George Gershwin Three Preludes
Eric Whitacre The Seal Lullaby
Jerry Bock, arr Kanneh-Masons Fiddler on the Roof medley
Sunday 8 November, 3.00pm at Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 4SR
A theatrical work conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C.F. Ramuz, A Soldier’s Tale is a parable of a soldier who trades his violin to the devil in return for a fortune, later deliberately losing at cards to win it back. But the Devil is not so easily beaten…
Actor Tama Matheson narrates this Faustian story, while rhythms of ragtime, tango, waltz and a march jostle for position in the highly original and positively primal score, performed by an LMP septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet/trumpet(?), trombone and percussion. Written at the end of the First World War, The Soldier’s Tale is a lesson for all cultures and times. This Classical Club performance will be broadcast first on Remembrance Sunday from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and the concert will end with The Last Post. Enjoy the whole 8-concert series online via LMP’s Classical Club, tickets just £12 each or £50 for the full 8-concert series if you book before 31 October (£60 thereafter).
Thursday 14 January 2021, 6.00pm
BOOK TICKETS
Henry Purcell – Bess of Bedlam, Z.370
Joseph Haydn – Piercing Eyes, Hob XXVIa:35
Joseph Haydn – The Mermaid’s Song, Hob XXVIa:25
Joseph Haydn – She never told her love, Hob XXVIa:34
Hugo Wolf – Italienisches Liederbuch
Henry Purcell – A morning hymn, Z.198
Jonathan Dove – Song of the dry orange tree
Mátyás Seiber – O your eyes are dark and beautiful
Benjamin Britten – Cabaret Songs: Funeral Blues
Kurt Weill – Nanna’s Lied
Kurt Weill – Surabaya Johnny
Kurt Weill – Je ne t’aime pas
Cole Porter – Gay Divorce: ‘Night and day’
George Gershwin – Girl Crazy: ‘I Got Rhythm’
Frederick Loewe – My Fair Lady: ‘I could have danced all night’
Friday 15 January 2021, 7.30pm
Anthony Robb – flute
Robert Manasse – flute
Carmine Lauri – violin
Natalia Lomeiko – violin
Tamás András – violin
Yuri Zhislin – violin
Charlotte Scott – violin
Shlomy Dobrinsky – violin
Marios Papadopoulos – director / harpsichord
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
Johann Sebastian Bach – Brandenburg Concerto no.4 in G major, BWV 1049
Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto for 4 violins in B minor, Op.3 no.10
Johann Sebastian Bach – Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041
Johann Sebastian Bach – Air on the G string
Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D Major, P.37
Thursday 28 January, 6.00pm
Fritz Kreisler – Recitativo und Scherzo-Caprice, Op.6
Eugène Ysaÿe – Sonata for solo violin in E minor, Op.27 no.4
Kensington and Chelsea Music Society and Bedford Music Club are delighted to be collaborating on an exciting new series of virtual concerts in January & February 2021.
The concerts will be streamed live from the 1901 Arts Club in London and subsequently made available on YouTube. There is no charge for watching, but we hope that anyone watching will feel inclined to donate via GoFundMe and help cover our total costs.
Monday 8 February at 7.30pm – live stream
Nash Ensemble
Alasdair Beatson piano
Stephanie Gonley violin
Lawrence Power viola
Adrian Brendel cello
Graham Mitchell double bass
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) – Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat major Op. 87
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) – The Trout D667
By the time Dvořák composed his Piano Quartet in E flat he was an international celebrity, feted by the German and English musical establishments. It was composed during July and August 1889, and the inspiration seems to have flowed easily; Dvořák wrote ‘The melodies just surged upon me’. Our Chamber Ensemble in Residence also performs one of the absolute classics of the chamber music repertory, Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet.
Saturday 13 February at 7.00pm – live stream
As part of the London Spring Festival
The Passing of the Year
The programme sees VOCES8, hosts of ‘Live from London’ presenting music rooted in nature – from extravagant Elizabethan idylls, styled for their queen ‘Oriana’, to Alec Roth’s rapt, soaring ‘Stargazer’ and Kate Rusby’s ‘Underneath the Stars’. The programme title comes from Jonathan Dove’s superb song cycle which evokes the beauty and mystic power of the changing seasons and describes the triumph of nature’s perpetual cycle. The composer himself will accompany VOCES8 on the piano. Also included are folksong arrangements describing the beauty of the world around us.
VOCES8
Jonathan Dove – piano
Thursday 25 February at 7.00pm – live stream
Bacewicz Music for strings, trumpet & percussion
Strauss Oboe Concerto
Schreker Chamber Symphony
Duncan Ward conductor
Juliana Koch oboe
London Symphony Orchestra
Three tales from the 20th century: power, passion and pure beauty, in music by Bacewicz, Schreker, and Richard Strauss.
What a difference half a century makes. Schreker wrote his sensuous, shimmering Chamber Symphony in the Vienna of Klimt and Freud. Grażyna Bacewicz, in post-war Poland, was working in a very different world, and writing music of uncompromising personality and power. Richard Strauss, meanwhile, remembered a happier age in what might be the greatest of all oboe concertos.
Wednesday 24 March at 7.30pm
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Kirill Karabits (conductor)
Penderecki
Prelude for Peace
Haydn
The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross (orchestral version)
Penderecki described his four-minute, brass Prelude as a distillation of his childhood memories from the period of German occupation and communist regime that came to dominate Poland after the war, leading to a sense of final liberation. Haydn “translated” the seven last short sentences uttered by Christ from the Cross (according to the gospels of Matthew, Luke and John) into a sequence of seven slow, prayerful, meditative sonatas, framed by an intense introduction and a short, explosive coda. It was commissioned in 1783 for the Good Friday service at the Oratorio de la Santa Cueva, Cádiz.
Monday 10th May, Wigmore Hall at 1.00pm, live stream
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Viola Sonata in F minor Op. 120 No. 1
Kurt Schwertsik (b.1935)
Haydn lived in Eisenstadt
Johannes Brahms
Viola Sonata in E flat Op. 120 No. 2
2019 New Generation Artist Timothy Ridout joins Tom Poster from Wigmore Hall’s Associate Artists, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, to bring the world première of Kurt Schwertsik’s Haydn lived in Eisenstadt, written especially for this concert. This will be performed between two Brahms viola sonatas which were originally written for clarinet.
Friday 11 June at 3.00pm and 7.00pm, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
One of opera’s most exciting singers, tenor Allan Clayton gives a recital featuring the world premiere of a new song cycle by Mark-Anthony Turnage, which sets texts by Rachael Hewer and Anna Ahkmatova as a way to reflect on the life of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian dissident who was murdered in London in 2006.
The programme also features Schumann’s songs, which build on the extreme emotions of Heinrich Heine’s poetry, and three songs by Priaulx Rainier, who was championed by Peter Pears.
Allan Clayton tenor
James Baillieu piano
Rainier Three Greek Epigrams (7’)
Mark-Anthony Turnage Silenced (world premiere, 12’)
Schumann Liederkreis Op.24 (20’)
Concert length: approx. 45 minutes, with no interval
Friday 11 June, 7.30 at Pinner Parish Church, HA5 3AA
Beethoven in heaven
Bach / Busoni
Chaconne from JS Bach’s D minor Partita
Ludvig van Beethoven
Sonata in F major Op 10 #2
Schubert
Sonata in Bb, D960
The title of Colin Stone’s recital programme comes from a phrase that his teacher, Edith Vogel, used to describe Schubert.
Colin Stone’s career as a performer began in the late 1980s. He was encouraged by Sir Charles Groves at the finals of the 1985 Young Concert Artist’s Trust and went on to win the Royal Over-Seas League piano competition in 1986. A debut at the Wigmore Hall and numerous broadcasts on BBC Radio3 helped to establish his growing reputation and has led to performances around the world. A number of acclaimed recordings followed, both of solo repertoire and chamber music with the London Mozart Trio, which he founded in 1989. He made his debut as a soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Grant Llewelyn in 2001, and gave his first cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas in 2005.
18-23 June, Kirkwall, KW15 1HP
The 2021 Festival
An inspiring mix of live and prerecorded performance and film: sit back and take in the sights, sounds and poetry of the Festival and Orkney from the comfort of your own home and tune in to invididual films or buy a Rover ticket to experience all of our online films. You’ll also find a range of free films on this website, many of them celebrating the 100th birthday of George Mackay Brown. If you’re in Orkney, then you can join us in person at our ‘live’ events. Drive-in movies, live music, newly composed music and inspiring, outdoor venues will make these rather special.
Saturday 26 June, Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, CB11 4UH
An eclectic programme by chamber choir Tenebrae including music by English composers, Jonathan Harvey, Bob Chilcott and Richard Rodney Bennet.
Lobo Versa est in luctum
Croft/Purcell Burial Sentences
Tallis Salvator mundi
Lotti Crucifixus
Allegri Miserere mei, Deus
William Harris Bring Us, O Lord God
Jonathan Harvey Song of June
Bob Chilcott Before the Ice
Richard Rodney Bennet The Seasons of his Mercies
Eric Whitacre Sleep
17th July – 2pm EDT | 7pm BST Live Stream from London
Suspended in Time
Vaughan-Williams The Lark Ascending
Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time
Four of the UK’s most renowned solo and chamber musicians unite to take you on an inspirational journey through Messiaen’s well known masterwork, Quartet for the End of Time. Whilst Messiaen musics hope from despair inspired by text from the book of Revelation, so Vaughan Williams turns to poet George Meredith and our most beloved The Lark Ascending for his inspiration.
Julian Bliss – clarinet
Jack Liebeck – violin
Sheku Kanneh-Mason – cello
Katya Apekisheva – piano
19:30 Fri 30 Jul 2021 Royal Albert Hall
Programme
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Serenade to Music(15 mins)
Francis Poulenc
Organ Concerto(22 mins)
Sir James MacMillan
When Soft Voices Die(8 mins)BBC co-commission with Help Musicians: world premiere
Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 2 in D major(43 mins)
Dalia Stasevska leads a First Night featuring Vaughan Williams’s ravishing Serenade to Music – written to celebrate Proms founder-conductor Henry Wood’s 50 years on the podium and premiered by him at his jubilee concert in the Royal Albert Hall in 1938. Sir James MacMillan offers a new companion piece to the Serenade and Poulenc’s Organ Concerto is a piquant foil, showcasing the instrument in a vivid play of light and shade.
Image: Dalia Stasevska © Sanna Lehto
Broadcast on BBC TV
Booking opens for this concert at 9am on Saturday 26 June. Or watch on BBC TV.
7th August 2021 – 2pm EDT | 7pm BST
Descend to Earth
Chineke!
VOCES8
Matthew Lynch, conductor
The Chineke! Orchestra will perform as part of LIVE from London. Founded in 2015 by double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, the Chineke Foundation has gained widespread acclaim through the Chineke! Orchestra (and it’s sister Chineke! Junior Orchestra), Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra. The organisation aims to be a catalyst for change, realising existing diversity targets within the industry by increasing the representation of Black and ethnically diverse musicians in British and European orchestras.
The programme includes music by Mendelssohn, British composer Philip Herbert and Nigerian Fela Sowande. Chineke! will be joined by VOCES8 in a new arrangement of Deep River for voices and orchestra by Matthew Lynch and in new orchestrations of choral music by Ken Burton previously heard in LIVE From London festivals.
Monday 16 August – streamed on line at 8.00pm
Free pre-concert chat at 6.00pm
Schubert ‘Die Forelle’ in Db Major, D. 550
Schubert Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 ‘The Trout’
Piano Solo: Kristian Bezuidenhout
Tenor Solo: Guy Cutting
Violin: Matthew Truscott
Viola: Max Mandel
Cello: Luise Buchberger
Double Bass: Christine Sticher
Tuesday 24 August at 7.30pm, Snape Maltings, Suffolk
Programme
Britten Sinfonietta (15’)
Britten Suite for Harp (9′)
Britten arr. Joseph Phibbs Our Hunting Fathers (world premiere, commissioned by Britten Pears Arts, 27’)
This performance will last approximately 60 minutes.
Tour 2021 – Preludes and Encores – starts 28 August
Johann Sebastian Bach – Cello Suite no.1 in G major, BWV 1007: Prelude
Astor Piazzolla – Libertango
Robert Oetomo – Over the Rainbow (arr. for Marimba)
Steven Moore enters his first Tour of 2021 performing some breathtaking music on Marimba. Repertoire will include Cello Suite No.1 by Bach, Piazzola’s Verano Porteno and a beautiful arrangement of ‘Over the rainbow’ from Roberto Oetomo.
Concerts will be on a ‘Pay as you feel’ basis so a great opportunity to try something new.
Monday 13 September 2021, 8.00pm – 9.10pm at St Mary’s Church, Haddington
Programme
Mahler arr. Schoenberg Das Lied von der Erde
Joshua Ellicott, Tenor
Roderick Williams, Baritone
Hebrides Ensemble
William Conway, Conductor
Lammermuir Festival returns with live audiences in September 2021 – and Hebrides Ensemble are delighted to be part of it performing Schoenberg’s chamber arrangement of this Mahler masterpiece, in the company of two exceptional singers: Joshua Ellicott and Roderick Williams.
The impetus for Mahler’s composition of The Song of the Earth came from a period of personal tragedy including the diagnosis of a potentially fatal heart defect. For him, said Bruno Walter, “The world and life now lay in the sinister shadow of [death’s] nearness”, and this moving allegory of transitory human existence merging into eternity proved to be his final testament.
Friday October 8th 2021, 7:00pm at Hallé St Peter’s
Thrilling new works by young British composers introduce Psappha’s 30th-birthday season – Tim Williams’ last as Artistic Director. Psappha launches its 30th-anniversary season with a typically adventurous programme celebrating the possibilities of new music – and the fearless brilliance of young British composers.
Programme
Adam Gorb Kol Simcha Suite
Philip Rousiamanis The Sun, the Moon and their lobster children World premiere
Nina Whiteman The Galaxy Rotation Problem
Bofan Ma vibrato/scratch lottery/vegetable soup World premiere
Tom Coult Two Games and a Nocturne
Michael Betteridge Grind World premiere
Tom Harrold Dark Dance
–
Jamie Phillips Conductor
With Psappha Conrad Marshall, Dov Goldberg, Benjamin Powell, Tim Williams, Michael Harper, Delia Stephens, Benedict Holland, Heather Wallington and Jennifer Langridge
October 10, 2021, 7:30 pm at St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol BS1 5RR
Haydn The Creation
Bristol Bach Choir
Bristol Ensemble
Roger Huckle leader
Sarah Power soprano
William Wallace tenor
Edward Grint bass-baritone
Christopher Finch conductor
Joe Price lighting and projection design
Postponed from Autumn 2020
Bristol Bach Choir presents an immersive performance of Haydn’s Creation, in which the vivid score will be enhanced by atmospheric image projection and creative lighting design. This unforgettable performance, which promises to enchant and beguile, will be a feast for the senses and the soul. With text from the Book of Genesis and Milton’s Paradise Lost, The Creation is filled with soaring melodies, blockbuster choruses and vibrant orchestral writing. Inspired by his trips to England, where he first heard Handel’s oratorios, The Creation is widely considered Haydn’s crowning masterpiece.
Sunday 14 November, 3.00pm at Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth GL6 0DQ
The musicians of the Bristol Ensemble bring the colourful and evocative tango-inspired music of Ástor Piazzolla to Christ Church in Nailsworth as part of the tea-time series of concerts. Tickets £10 on the door.
Wednesday 24 November, 7.30pm at Rudfolf Steiner Hall, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT
Rudolf Steiner Hall
Angela will be performing as part of the new International Concert Series.
The programme will be –
Haydn Sonata no. 52 in E flat major
Chopin 3 Polonaises
Ravel Sonatine
Tickets are available through eventbrite.
”true genius. Her performances were passionate, rhapsodic, and totally compelling. She is a marvellously exciting artist with a strong sense of musical structure.”
Wednesday 1 December, 7.30pm at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London
London Sinfonietta explores the music of Catalan visionary Roberto Gerhard in this sun-soaked and folkloric programme, alongside three pieces by living composers. Gerhard’s brilliantly virtuosic pieces are named for the zodiac symbols: Libra, his own sign, draws together a colourfully rhythmic folk-like melody with 12-tone influences, while Leo, written for his wife, contrasts the lion’s lazy peacefulness with awe-inspiring outbursts when roused.
The London Sinfonietta returns to these pieces, having given their first European performances in the ensemble’s first year of existence.
Roberto Gerhard Libra
Lisa Illean Januaries
Joan Magrané Figuera Faula
Raquel García Tomás aequae
Roberto Gerhard Leo
Edmon Colomer conductor
London Sinfonietta
Saturday 11 December, Wigmore Hall at 5.00pm
Admission: One Shilling
Dame Patricia Routledge as Dame Myra Hess, Piers Lane (piano)
Admission One Shilling, devised by Dame Myra Hess’s composer great-nephew Nigel Hess, tells the story, in words, music and images, of the series of morale-boosting lunchtime concerts that Dame Myra organised at the National Gallery during the Second World War. It draws on press interviews she gave and comments she made during BBC broadcasts. She is represented by the much loved Patricia Routledge. The pianist Piers Lane performs music Myra Hess played in these concerts, by Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Chopin, Beethoven and Bach – including her celebrated transcription of Jesu, joy of man’s desiring.
Tuesday December 28, 2021 at 19:30, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
London Octave
Lorraine McAslan (violin)
Norbert Blume (viola)
Neil Brough (trumpet)
Dietrich Bethge (cello/director)
Brandenburg Concerto No 1 in F – Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No 2 in F – Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G – Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No 4 in G – Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D – Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No 6 in B flat – Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos are among his most popular compositions. London Octave’s performance at Christmas each year attracts a sell-out audience at St Martin’s. Each concerto is unique and played by different solo instruments. Marvellously varied and lively musicmaking by Britain’s finest instrumentalists.
Friday 14 January, 2022, at 7.30pm
Performers
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Marin Alsop conductor
Kian Soltani cello
Repertoire
Barber: Symphony No.1
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No.1
Interval
Brahms: Symphony No.4
Alsop is a conductor who illuminates everything she touches, so whether it’s the restless energy of Samuel Barber’s all-American classic or the autumnal beauty of Brahms’ magnificent farewell to the symphony, expect uncompromising sincerity and emotion without limits.
Saturday 22 January 2022, 7.30pm at Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol BS9 4BT
Dvořák Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81
Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K.581
Dave Pagett clarinet
Paul Israel piano
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
Exploring music for five musicians, this programme contrasts Dvořák’s iridescent Piano Quintet with Mozart’s sublimely beautiful Clarinet Quintet, one of the most well-loved works in the chamber music repertoire. The work has been celebrated through the centuries for its exquisitely-crafted melodic lines.
In his expressive Second Piano Quintet, Dvořák creates a dazzling array of colour and texture through his imaginative scoring of the ensemble, combined with passages of pure beauty.
Friday 11 February, 7.00pm, YouTube premiere broadcast
Part two of this four part series on deeper listening, commissioned and promoted by Norfolk-based arts and well-being organisation, Home Stage. Geraldine Allen and Sarah Rodgers guide you through a process to enhance your listening experience with music by British composers. The second programme features works by William Lloyd-Webber, Edward German and Arthur Bliss each with their own story to tell. The performances are by Geraldine Allen (clarinet) and Brenda Blewett (piano).
To find out more go to HOME-STAGE
Monday 14 February 2022, 7.30pm at St George’s, Bristol
The Bristol Ensemble
Roger Huckle conductor/ violin
Kat Kleve soprano
Howie Michaels singer
Morricone Cinema Paradiso Love Theme
Nigel Hess Ladies in Lavender Main Theme
Einaudi Love is a mystery
Dvorak Humoresque
Shostakovich Waltz No.2
Mascagni Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana
Fauré Après un rêve
Beethoven Für Elise
Elgar Salut d’amour
Shostakovich Romance
Jarre / Webster Doctor Zhivago – Somewhere My Love
Rota Love theme from Romeo and Juliet
Leonard Cohen Dance Me to the End of Love
Weiss /Creatore /Peretti Can’t help falling in love
Kern / Hammerstein Can’t help lovin’ dat man
Mancini / Mercer Moon River
Piazzolla Libertango
Monti Czárdás
For one night only, allow yourself to be swept off your feet for an evening of passion and drama from the world of classical and film music. Promising to be a Valentine’s Day to remember, this concert brings you outstanding romantic melodies, poignant songs and exquisite music from some of the world’s favourite romantic composers, all beautifully performed within the intimate surroundings of St George’s Bristol.
Friday, 11 March, 7.30pm at Square Chapel, Halifax
Kate Whitley Three Pieces for Violin & Piano
Berg Piano Sonata op. 1
Mark-Anthony Turnage Slide Stride
Shostakovitch Piano Quintet
With Psappha
Benjamin Powell, Benedict Holland, Sophie Rosa, Heather Wallington and Jennifer Langridge
The Piano Quintet by Dmitri Shostakovich is one of his most loved chamber works. Music that looks back to the famous chamber-music masterpieces of the romantic age and often glances towards Bach, while at the same time speaking a language of its own, of unusual purity and plainness. Berg’s compelling piano sonata was completed in the year he finished his formal studies with Arnold Schoenberg, and first performed in Vienna in 1911. Psappha’s Patron Mark-Anthony Turnage pays electrifying tribute to American stride piano pioneer James P Johnson and to begin, a piece by one of Britain’s most exciting young composers: a trio of short duets by Kate Whitley, founder of London’s fabulous Multi-Story Orchestra.
Saturday 19 March 2022, 7.30pm at Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Henleaze, Bristol BS9 4BT
Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat K.452
Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin arranged by Mason Jones
Shostakovich Valse No.2
Malcom Arnold Sea Shanties
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
Celebrating the coming of spring, this concert features virtuosic music for wind ensemble from across the centuries. At the heart of the programme is Mozart’s three-movement Quintet, scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon. Shortly after the premiere, Mozart wrote to his father that “I myself consider it to be the best thing I have written in my life.” 130 years later, Ravel wrote his homage to friends lost in the First World War, with each of the six movements dedicated to a different person. The programme is completed with Shostakovich’s famous Waltz and Malcolm Arnold’s imaginative and colourful Sea Shanties.
Thursday 31 March 2022, 7:00pm at Hallé St Peter’s
Ben Gaunt All the Castles I Have Ever Loved World premiere, Psappha commission
Derri Joseph Lewis …BREATHE… World premiere
Anna Thorvaldsdottir Sola
Lisa Robertson New work World premiere, Psappha commission
Nina Danon New work World premiere, Psappha commission
Electra Perivolaris New work World premiere, Psappha commission
Athanasia Kontou New work World premiere, Psappha commission
Peter Maxwell Davies The Last Island
Mark Heron Conductor
Tom McKinney Guitar
With Psappha
Benedict Holland, Zoë Beyers, Alex Mitchell, Alistair Vennart, Jennifer Langridge and Petr Prause
Tim Williams’ final Manchester concert as Psappha’s Artistic Director pays emotional homage to the late Peter Maxwell Davies, the British composer whose music was the group’s original inspiration, and to the wild, untamed land that Max came to call his home.
The Last Island paints a haunting picture of Orkney in all its mysterious isolation. It’s performed tonight alongside four new works inspired by it, written especially for tonight’s concert by four brilliant young composers and accompanied by new films shot by Tim Williams across Orkney in summer 2021.
The concert begins with world premieres from Ben Gaunt, written for Psappha, and Derri Joseph Lewis, composed for guitarist and BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom McKinney – and continues with Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Sola, a mesmerising and atmospheric new concerto-of-sorts for viola and electronics.
Tonight’s concert will last around 75 minutes with no interval, ending around 8.15pm.
Saturday 10 April, 7.30, at St George’s, Bristol
Bristol Ensemble Baroque ushers in Easter with a performance of Bach’s glorious setting of the St John Passion. Bach’s interpretation of the Passion of Christ is one of the most moving and emotive set to music. The Choir of Royal Holloway joins the period instruments of the Bristol Ensemble Baroque for what promises to be a moving rendition of this great Baroque masterpiece. The performance will be given against a backdrop of wonderful period paintings depicting the scenes of the St John Passion.
Friday 22 April, 7.30pm at Sage Gateshead
Everyone’s got their own favourite bit of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: the birdsong of Spring, the downpours of Summer, the celebrations of Autumn or the icy shiver of Winter. Three centuries after they were composed, they’re as fresh and tuneful as ever – and there’s still nothing to beat the sensation of hearing these four brilliant concertos performed live in concert. Rachel Podger is an expert on baroque music, as well as a dazzling violinist. She takes the spotlight today, and shares three more baroque gems by Telemann and Corelli: expect wit, drama and pure sonic splendour.
Saturday 30 April, 7.00pm, at Bath Abbey
J.S. Bach Mass in B minor
Bath Choral Society
Bristol Ensemble
Ruth Provost soprano
Gwen Martin mezzo soprano
Hugh Cutting countertenor
Nick Pritchard tenor
Darren Jeffery bass
Shean Bowers conductor
Bach’s Mass in B Minor is the high point of his musical art. It combines dramatic choruses in four to eight parts and full orchestration with subtle solos where the voice is accompanied by complementary instruments.
Friday 13 May, from 6.30pm at St John’s Smith Square, London
Gabrieli
Paul McCreesh
Director
Works by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli
Pre-concert talk l 6.30-7pm I Friday 13 May
A Venetian Coronation 1595 is a musical re-creation of the Coronation Mass for the Venetian Doge Marino Grimani, evoking the grand pageantry of what would have been a truly magnificent event. Grimani’s love of ceremony and state festivals fuelled an extraordinary musical bounty during his reign and gave rise to the great musical riches of the period, especially the works of Giovanni Gabrieli. With cornetts, sackbuts and an all-male vocal consort, Paul McCreesh fully exploits the dazzling polyphony of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli’s music, captivating the audience in a performance that is at once theatrical and ceremonial.
Saturday 14 May, 7.30pm at Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol BS9 4BT
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
Barber Adagio for String Quartet
Gershwin Concerto in F
Mozart Piano Concerto No.11 in F, K413
Viv McLean piano
Featuring virtuoso pianist Viv McLean, a firm favourite in Henleaze Concert Society’s seasons of concerts. In this programme, postponed from 2020, he’ll be performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, a jazzy, optimistic, richly-textured work packed full of fabulous tunes and toe-tapping rhythms. It was commissioned by Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra, the day after he had heard the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue. By contrast, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.11 in F is as delicate, elegant and heartrendingly beautiful as you’d expect. Completing the American connection is Barber’s passionate Adagio, in its original version for string quartet.
Friday 20 May, 1.00pm at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow
Swedish Chamber Games was an initiative in 2019 offering Swedish composers the chance to have their pieces performed by groups outside Sweden. Supported by STIM (Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå), Hebrides Ensemble was one of five groups across Europe invited to perform the winning works.
For this special performance, newly composed works by students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland are paired with those by Swedish composers and Britta Byström, Henrik Denerin and Leilei Tian.
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