Guy Johnston announces the 11th Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival featuring Mark Padmore, Mishka Rushdie Momen, Julian Bliss, Kathryn Stott, JP Jofre, Morgan Szymanski and ORA Singers
Artistic Director Guy Johnston announces the 11th annual Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival, A World of Music, drawing together musicians from around the globe to the historic rooms of Hatfield House, the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth I. The Festival features world premieres including a new Flute Quartet by Robin Holloway, and chamber works by Joseph Phibbs, Shruthi Rajasekar and Ivan Mosley in a diverse programme including contemporary chamber works from around the world that this year celebrates Gandhi Day (2 October), John Dowland’s musical connections to the House, and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Concerts predominantly take place in the House’s striking Marble Hall, home to the famous Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, moving to the Old Palace for the Finale Concert.
Read moreGuy Johnston reveals his new Stradivarius cello the ‘Segelman’ on loan through J & A Beare and the Beare's International Violin Society at Hatfield House on 12 May and Wigmore Hall on 29 May
Guy Johnston reveals his new Stradivarius cello the ‘Segelman’, loaned to him by a generous anonymous donor through J & A Beare and the Beare’s International Violin Society at forthcoming showcase at Beare’s on Monday 9 May, followed by a launch of Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival on Thursday 12 May. On Sunday 29 May, Guy will give a full cello recital with Melvyn Tan at Wigmore Hall showing off the new instrument in a programme of Chopin and Mendelssohn alongside two works by Sterndale Bennett and Joseph Phibbs. The Beare’s International Violin Society was founded in 2011 by Steven Smith, Managing Director of J&A Beare Ltd., with the aim of supporting young talented musicians through the loan of the finest stringed instruments. The Society brings together patrons who own instruments with the rising stars who play them. In the last 11 years the Society has successfully concluded just under 200 short- and long-term schemes. The partnership with Guy Johnston represents a fitting coronation of the society’s efforts, particularly as the music world comes out of a long period of challenges and uncertainties. This is one of Antonio Stradivari’s famous violoncellos, of which there are only around 65 still in existence. It is believed that he made this cello during his golden age of violin making from 1644 -1737 in Cremona, Italy. The cello was previously owned by Gerston Segelman, a businessman who collected 37 fine Stradivari string instruments. Segelman sold this cello before he died in 1992. The cello was a part of David Josefowicz’s instrument collection at The Royal Academy of Music.
Read moreCoventry Cathedral launches £1 million Diamond Jubilee Organ Appeal at a concert of remembrance with Orchestra of the Swan, Michael Collins and Rachel Mahon
This Jubilee concert on Saturday 11 June, will be raising money for the Coventry Cathedral Diamond Jubilee Organ Appeal, featuring Canadian organist Rachel Mahon and the Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by Michael Collins.
Read moreLeap Into Spring with the Bach Choir in a British-inspired choral music concert featuring works by Wallen and McDowall alongside former Bach Choir Music Director Vaughan Williams & Britten
The Bach Choir and conductor David Hill perform a diverse programme, which features four female composers and shines a light on some truly fresh and inspirational works by Errollyn Wallen CBE, Amy Beach, Cecilia McDowall and Lili Boulanger alongside Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten. In the beautiful and intimate setting of Holy Trinity Church Sloane Square, David Hill conducts The Bach Choir, soloists Alison Ponsford-Hill, Helen Charlston, Hugo Hymas and Jonathan Brown with Philip Scriven at the organ.
Read moreOrchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg’s new Music Director Aziz Shokhakimov and Patricia Kopatchinskaja join forces for a concert of Shostakovich and Prokofiev
In his first season as Music Director with the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, 34-year-old Uzbek, Aziz Shokhakimov, winner of the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition, champions an all-Russian programme with world-renowned violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Their concerts include Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony No. 1 and two orchestral suites from his ballet Roméo et Juliette. As part of the Orchestra’s new 4-year multimedia strategy partnership, the concert will be live-streamed on Medici.tv and both Prokofiev pieces will be recorded for Warner Classics. Celebrated violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s is playing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, which was originally written for David Oistrakh in 1947-48. Oistrakh performed the concerto's premiere on 29 October 1955 with the Leningrad Philharmonic with Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting. It was received in Russia and abroad as an "extraordinary success."
Read moreThe Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra announces Oxford Piano Festival 2022
The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Artistic Director Marios Papadopoulos announce the 24 th Oxford Piano Festival taking place from 30 July – 7 August 2021. The Festival welcomes some of the world’s most distinguished pianists and teachers for the week-long series of varied concerts and masterclasses. This year, concerts and masterclasses are given by Víkingur Ólafsson, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Ingrid Fliter, Alim Beisembayev, Alain Lefèvre, Nikolai Lugansky and Samantha Ege, while the faculty also includes Stephen Kovacevich, Ferenc Rados and Emanuel Krasovsky. A number of concerts and masterclasses will be livestreamed. Joining the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Marios Papadopoulos in an all-Mozartian programme at the Sheldonian Theatre on Sunday 31 July, Ingrid Fliter is the soloist in the ever-popular Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major; Fliter is the winner of the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, one of only a handful of pianists and the only woman to have received this honour. The Orchestra completes the concert with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40.
Read moreInspired by her journey in parenthood, pianist Cordelia Williams releases The Happy Music Play Book, new album Nightlight and film On being a pianist in Kenya
Following a year of lockdown and a 6-month stint in Kenya, pianist Cordelia Williams releases her Nightlight album, book and film inspired by her experiences in motherhood which came into sharp contrast seeing the opportunities available to children in Kenya eager to explore classical music with little formal, professional guidance. The Nightlight album and The Happy Music Play Book explore two sides of the story: the lonely nights spent awake, and the busy days trying to entertain young children. Piano Winner of the 2006 BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition, Cordelia Williams was eager for her two young boys to engage and enjoy music with games rather than formal instrumental training. Facing the challenge of keeping children occupied in lockdowns and quarantines while concert halls remained closed, she wrote The Happy Music Play Book with over 100 musical ideas to introduce music at home during the pre-school years, with illustrations by Erin Keen which will be published in September.
Read moreLondon Festival of American Music presents the UK premiere of As One, a chamber opera about the journey of a transgender woman
This year’s London Festival of American Music is headlined by the UK premiere of As One, a critically-acclaimed chamber opera by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. As One has had close to 50 productions across the US and abroad since its premiere in 2014 and, according to OPERA America, has become the most produced contemporary opera in North America. Laura Kaminsky conceived of As One after reading an article in The New York Times about a transgender man in New Jersey and realized she wanted to create an opera about a transgender individual seeking their truth. In researching source material for the story, she saw Kimberly Reed’s award-winning documentary, Prodigal Sons and reached out to the filmmaker to collaborate with the storytelling and to create an original film that would create the visual landscape for the opera. Kaminsky's concept was to write a monodrama, where a baritone and mezzo-soprano shared one role, “Hannah”, a character in dialogue with herself. And, to create an intimate sonic setting for the opera, she scored it for string quartet. After meeting the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winning librettist Mark Campbell, she asked him to join the team and create a story for the opera. Mark proposed a narrative based partially on Kimberly’s experiences as a trans person, structured the work as a song cycle in three parts and, together, they co-wrote the libretto.
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