City Music Society Lunchtime Concerts

15 January 2008 [FWS]
ANDREW BROWNELL piano Prize-winner in the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition 2006

Bach	Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827
Debussy	Three Preludes (from Preludes Book 2)
Chopin	Ballade No. 3, Op. 47
Chopin	Polonaise-Fantasie Op. 61
Winner of the Second Prize, Silver Medal and the Benjamin Britten Special Prize at the 2006 Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, Andrew Brownell impressed many in the audience in the hall and on TV with his exhilarating performance of Prokofiev's Third Concerto. 'He glittered and sparkled his way through it, pointing up grotesqueries as well as charm and romanticism.' (classicalsource.com)

22 January 2008 [YAS]
RUBY HUGHES soprano GARY MATHEWMAN piano RPS Young Artist Recital

Purcell	Sweeter than Roses (King Arthur) The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation
Mozart	Vorrei punirti indegno (Arminda's aria from La Finta Giardinera)
Schumann	Die Blume der Ergebung Op. 62 Einsamkeit Op. 95 Die Sennin Op. 90 Auftrage Op. 77
Poulenc	Fiancailles pour rire
Winner of the 2006 Susan Chilcott Scholarship, Ruby Hughes has already established herself as an artist to watch. After studies at the Guildhall School and in Munich, her career has taken off with performances as diverse as Mozart at the Salzburg Festival and the lead in a Philip Glass opera with The Bayerischen Stattsschauspie

Presented with the support of
The Royal Philharmonic Society

29 January 2008 [YAS]
THE VILLON TRIO SEBASTIAN MÜLLER violin ELLA RUNDLE cello CAROLYN JOHNSON-WU piano

Shostakovich	Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Op. 8
Chausson	Piano Trio in G minor Op. 3

The Villon Trio made a huge impression in the 2007 Ivan Sutton Chamber Music Award at the Guildhall School. They perform regularly in London and recently gave four concerts in the 2007 International Prague-Vienna-Budapest Summer Academy and Festival in Austria. The Trio look forward to an exciting year ahead that includes performing in the BBC Judith Weir Festival.

5 February 2008 [FWS]
GITARRISSIMA Krisztina Dobó Olga Dimitrova Maria Benischek Réka Mihalovics Caroline Auer	guitars

Tchaikovsky	Four movements from The Nutcracker Suite
Mozart	Overture Le Nozze di Figaro
Prokofiev	The Montagues and Capulets (Romeo and Juliet)
Shostakovich	Valse No. 2 (Jazz Suite)
Phillip Troestl	Giss
Khachaturian	Four movements from the ballet suite Gayaneh
Vittorio Monti	Csárdás

Formed in 2002, Gitarrissima is a unique quintet of guitarists from Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria, playing octave guitar, three concert guitars and acoustic bass guitar. They create a refreshingly original sound giving a new dimension to popular classical works as well as less well-known compositions. Responsible for most of the arrangements for the ensemble, Gitarrissima's members also commission new pieces such as the Troestl work to be heard in this concert. 'The astonishingly perfect interplay of the ensemble turned the predominantly well-known works into a completely new listening experience' (Ruhr News)

12 February 2008 [YAS]

BADKE QUARTET HEATHER BADKE violin EMMA PARKER violin MATHEW JONES viola JONATHAN BYERS cello

Winners of the 5th Melbourne Chamber Music Competition
Haydn	Quartet in F minor Op. 20 No. 5
Debussy	Quartet in G minor Op.10

Graduates of the Royal Academy and Royal College in London, the members of the Badke Quartet achieved a sensational win in one of the most prestigious chamber music competitions in the world in July 2007. Their Melbourne triumph is testament to the group's energetic and vibrant performances and the developing insights to the music they play.

19 February 2008 [YAS]
FIONA KELLY flute MARIA MARCHANT piano Winners of the Eric Falk Trust Award

D Scarlatti	Sonata in G K14
J S Bach, arr. Hess	Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (from Cantata No. 147)
Messiaen	Le baiser de l'enfant Jésus (Vingt Regards sur L'enfant-Jésus)
Chopin	Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor
Gaubert	Nocturne and Allegro Scherzando for flute and piano
Prokofiev	Sonata in D major No. 2 Op. 94 for flute and piano
Selected for the Eric Falk Trust Award (established in memory of a former Vice-Chairman of City Music Society) in 2007, Fiona Kelly and Maria Marchant join forces for the first time. Among many successes Fiona represented her homeland Ireland in the European Broadcasting Union Woodwind Competition and recently won Trinity College of Music's Soloist's Competition. Maria Marchant is also a Trinity graduate but is now a postgraduate at the Royal College of Music. She was awarded the BBC Fame Academy Education Bursary Award and has considerable experience as a concerto soloist.

26 February 2008 [YAS]
GUILDHALL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PAUL WATKINS conductor

Mozart	Violin Concerto No. 3 K216
Prokofiev	Symphony No. 1 Op. 25 (Classical)
The annual visit of one of the leading ensembles in the Guildhall School is always one of our most popular concerts.

4 March 2008 [FWS]
KEN AISO violin SAM HAYWOOD piano

J S Bach	Sonata in F minor BWV 1018
Lili Boulanger	D'un matin de printemps
Beethoven	Sonata in F major Op. 24 (Spring)
Japanese violinist Ken Aiso received his musical education in Tokyo, Dallas and London and now lives in the UK combining a career as a soloist and chamber musician. Praised for his singularly beautiful tone, he is a keen commissioner of new music whilst his interest in period performance has led to membership of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Sam Haywood first came to prominence in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and, like Aiso, takes a special interest in both contemporary and period music performance, in Sam's case performing, broadcasting and recording on the fortepiano. 'Aiso mesmerized the audience with his assured sense of styles and exceptionally beautiful sound.' (Ongaku Gendai, Tokyo)

11 March 2008 [YAS]
RCM WIND ENSEMBLE JANET HILTON director

Haydn	Feldpartie Hob XI/43
Beethoven	Rondino in E flat
Schubert	Minuet and Finale in F D 72
Beethoven	Octet in E flat Op. 103
The Royal College of Music has a strong history of training first-class wind players and Janet Hilton continues this tradition as Head of Woodwind. In their fourth annual visit the wind ensemble presents some slightly less familiar music by very famous names.

18 March 2008 [YAS]
SAMANTHA WARD piano

Albeniz	Almeria (from Iberia)
Chopin	Nocturne in F sharp minor Op. 48 No. 2
Brahms	Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor Op. 2
A graduate of Chetham's School and GSMD, Samantha Ward has had significant success in the past year. Following first prize in the Beethoven Society of Europe's Intercollegiate Piano Competition, for which she was awarded the Musicians' Company Beethoven Medal, Samantha won first prize and gold medal in the Marlow International Computers in Personnel Concerto Competition. She is currently enjoying a Fellowship at the Guildhall School.

25 March 2008 [FWS]
ZEMLINSKY QUARTET František Soucek violin Petr Strížek violin Petr Holman viola Vladimír Fortin cello

Zemlinsky	Quartet No. 1
Dvorák	Quartet in F Op. 96
Since its foundation in 1994, the Zemlinsky Quartet (formerly Penguin Quartet) has continued the deep Czech tradition of the string quartet. During its studies in the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts Prague, the ensemble was coached by members of the renowned Czech string quartets as Talich, Prague, Kocian and Pražák Quartet. Playing with typical Czech warmth and lyricism, the group has a wealth of wonderful Slavic repertoire, both familiar and unfamiliar.

For further information about these concerts please contact
Josephine Richardson, City Music Society Administrator, Tel. 020-8542 0950

Latest update: 31 December 2007	Top of Page