Hebrides Ensemble & Max
7.30pm – St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
A poignant concert in memory of Peter Maxwell Davies, the founder of the St Magnus International Festival, and a great friend of Hebrides Ensemble.
A poignant concert in memory of Peter Maxwell Davies, the founder of the St Magnus International Festival, and a great friend of Hebrides Ensemble.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Saturday 17th August at 3.00pm and 7.00pm, Pianodrome, Pitt Street Market, Edinburgh
Hebrides Ensemble are delighted to be performing two concerts at this amazing venue during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Pianodrome is the world’s first 100-seater amphitheatre constructed entirely from up-cycled pianos!
The performances take place at 3pm and at 7pm.
Zoë Beyers Violin
William Conway Cello
Huw Watkins Piano
Janáček Dumka
Osborne The Piano Tuner
Dvořák Dumky Trio (Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor)
Monday 26th August at 8.30pm, New York Times Main Theatre, Book Festival Village, Edinburgh
We may remember the first line of a novel, but what about the last? In this celebration of great endings to close the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hebrides Ensemble have challenged composers Linda Buckley, Matthew Grouse, James MacMillan, Pàdruig Morrison and Gareth Williams to respond musically to favourite last lines from novels, submitted by members of the public. Hear an exclusive live performance from the Ensemble as you learn which nine lines have been chosen.
Catherine Backhouse Mezzo-soprano
Yann Ghiro Clarinet
Zoë Beyers Violin
William Conway Cello
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.
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.
Sunday 3 October 2021, 2.00pm – 5.30pm at The Morphy Richards Engineering Centre, Dumfries House Estate, Cumnock, KA18 2NJ
The Cumnock Tryst
Returning to live performance after a Covid-enforced hiatus in 2021, the Cumnock Tryst is one of the jewels of Scotland’s festival calendar. We are delighted to return with a programme of gems for string trio and oboe on the closing day of the Festival.
Programme
Dohnányi String trio
Britten Metamorphosen
Klein String Trio
Britten Phantasy Quartet
Performances at 2pm and 4.30pm, Sunday 3 October
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.
Saturday 20 August 2022 11.00am – 1.00pm, The Queen’s Hall , Clerk Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9JG, UK
Programme
Richard Strauss, arr. Brett Dean – Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (1895/1995)
Brett Dean – Recollections
Johannes Brahms – String Sextet No.1 in B-flat, Op.18
Hebrides Ensemble is delighted to be invited to perform this prestigious programme as part of the Edinburgh International Festival’s 75th anniversary programme.
Australian musician Brett Dean is respected worldwide as both a violist and a composer. He collaborates with Hebrides Ensemble in the surreal reminiscences and swirling colours of his own ‘Recollections’, a vivid voyage into musical memory.
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