City Music Society Lunchtime Concerts

13 January 2009 [FWS]
KUNGSBACKA PIANO TRIO BENJAMIN NABARRO violin JESPER SVEDBERG cello SIMON CRAWFORD-PHILLIPS piano
Photo: Hanya Chlala
Enesco	Sonata No. 3 in A minor for violin and piano Op. 25
Mendelssohn	Trio in D minor Op. 49
Formed in 1997, the Kungsbacka Trio quickly established itself after winning the 1999 Melbourne Chamber Music Competition and then becoming BBC Young Generation Artists in 2000. Named after the Swedish town in which it gave its first performance (and where now it organises a festival each year), the trio enjoys a busy career with concert appearances in the UK and many other countries and recordings for Naxos and BIS. Our celebration of the 1809 anniversaries is given a first-rate inauguration!

20 January 2009 [YAS]
BARBIROLLI QUARTET KATIE STILLMAN violin RAKHI SINGH violin ELLA BRINCH viola VICTORIA SIMONSEN cello
Photo: Michael Robert Williams
Beethoven	Quartet in F minor Op. 95 ('Serioso')
Ravel	Quartet in F major
Known for its diverse and prolific repertoire, The Barbirolli Quartet was formed (as the Stillman Quartet) at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in 2003. Originally from Canada, Wales, Australia and New Zealand, the quartet's members now use London as a base for their extensive activities. Winner of awards from the Countess of Munster and the Tunnell Trust during 2008, the quartet currently holds an Artists' Fellowship at the Guildhall School.

27 January 2009 [YAS]
ARIS WIND QUINTET KATE WALTER flute KATHRYN BENNINGTON oboe JAMES BURKE clarinet RUTH ROSALES bassoon EMILY ALLEN horn with FERGAL O'MAHONEY piano Winners of the 2008 Ivan Sutton Chamber MusicPrize

Albeniz	Eritana (Iberia, Book 4)
Hindemith	Quintet: Kleine Kammermusik
Poulenc	Sextet
Since its formation in 2004, the Aris Quintet has performed in a wide range of projects and concerts. Joining forces with Fergal O'Mahony in 2007, the group won the Society's Ivan Sutton Prize in May 2008 with a scintillating performance of the Poulenc Sextet. All former postgraduate students at the Guildhall School, the quintet is dedicated to performing a wide spectrum of repertoire, including creating unique live performances and collaborations with artists, dancers and audio-visual technology.

3 February 2009 [FWS]

LIBOR NOVACEK piano

Celebrating the music of Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)

Haydn	Sonata F major Hob XVI/23
Janacek	On the Overgrown path (selection)
Martinu	3 Czech Dances

Born in Prague, Libor Novacek studied with Joan Havill at the GSMD before commencing a highly-successful career playing concertos and giving recitals in many parts of the world. His recordings of Liszt with Landor Records have drawn exceptional acclaim, including the Diplom d'Honneur of the Ferenc Liszt Society in Budapest. As well as continuing our celebration of Haydn, Novacek marks Martinu's anniversary alongside one of fellow Czech Janacek's few keyboard works.

Pre-concert talk at 12.15 by Anthony Burton on Janacek's On the Overgrown path

10 February 2009 [YAS]

RCM WIND ENSEMBLE JANET HILTON director
Celebrating the music of Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)

Martinu

Sextet for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet and two bassoons
Divertimento for two recorders
Nonet for wind quintet with violin, viola, cello and double bass

The Royal College of Music helps mark the 50th anniversary of the death of the leading Czech composer after Janacek, with a concert of distinctive chamber music. Influenced by Stravinsky, jazz, neo-classicism and his native folk music, Martinu's works are full of wit and charm.

Pre-concert talk at 12.15 by Anthony Burton on Bohuslav Martinu

17 February 2009 [YAS]
PAUL SIDES soprano, Winner of the Eric Falk Trust Award
JONATHAN GALE piano

Schumann	Widmung Op. 25 No. 1 Waldegespräch Op. 39 No. 3 Mondnacht Op. 39 No. 5
Brahms	Meine Liebe ist grün Op. 63 No. 5 Vorschneller Schwur Op. 95 No. 5 Liebestreu Op. 3 No. 1 Anklänge Op. 7 No. 3 Wehe so willst du mich wieder Op. 32 No 5 Wie Melodien Op. 105 No. 1 Wir wandelten Op 96 No. 2
Mahler	Rückert Lieder
Tennessee-born Paul Sides moved to the UK in 2005 to gain stage experience and to study at the RCM with Sally Burgess. Opera roles include Atalanta for Handel Opera Society and she will sing Pamina with English Touring Opera in 2009.

24 February 2009 [YAS]
GUILDHALL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA GORDAN NIKOLITCH conductor

Mozart	Overture, The Marriage of Figaro
Schubert	Symphony No. 5 in B flat major D485
The annual visit of one of the leading ensembles in the Guildhall School is always one of our most popular concerts. Led this year by London Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Gordan Nikolitch, the orchestra plays two of the most popular pieces in the whole repertoire.

3 March 2009 [FWS]
JOSEPH TONG and WAKA HASEGAWA piano 4 hands

Mozart	Sonata in D major KV381
Schubert	Andantino Variations in B minor D823 No. 2
Schubert	Fantasie in F minor D940
Ravel	Rapsodie Espagnole
Prizewinners in the Tokyo International Piano Duo Competition and the Schubert International Competition, Tong and Hasegawa have given recitals throughout the UK as well as in Japan, Germany and the USA. Their debut CD of Debussy was Album of the Week in The Independent and recommended in BBC Music Magazine, and the duo are now planning recordings of Schubert and Julius Röntgen.

10 March 2009 [YAS]

LAURA LUCAS flute HELEN CRAYFORD piano

Telemann	Sonata in F
Doppler	Airs Valaques
Lowell Liebermann	Sonata Op. 23
Poulenc	Sonata
Winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal of the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition, Laura Lucas at 22 has already enjoyed a remarkable career. She was the youngest winner of the Shell/LSO Scholarship in 2001 and reached the national finals of the BBC Young Musician Competition the same year.

17 March 2009 [YAS]
JAMES BARRALET cello SOPHIA RAHMAN piano
RPS Young Artist Recital

Beethoven	Sonata No. 4 in C Op. 102 No. 1
Shostakovich	Sonata in D minor Op. 40
As joint winner of the 2007 Abstract Securities Landor Records competition, James Barralet will shortly be recording his debut CD. He won the RPS Julius Isserlis Scholarship in 2003 and has since studied in Manchester and Basel. His studies have also included Indian music in Calcutta and he gives concerts with tabla player Sankar Chowdhury, as well as taking a big interest in contemporary music.
Presented with the support of the Royal Philharmonic Society
Pre-concert talk at 12.15 by Roger Thomas on Shostakovich's Sonata in D minor Op. 40

24 March 2009 [YAS]
THE BERKELEY ENSEMBLE TATIANA BYSHEVA violin REBECCA MATTHEWS violin DAN SHILLADAY viola GEMMA WAREHAM cello JACQUELINE DOSSER double bass JOHN SLACK clarinet ROSEMARY BURTON bassoon PAUL COTT horn

Vaughan Williams	Quintet in D for piano, violin, cello, clarinet and horn
Ferguson	Octet Op. 4
Growing out of the Southbank Sinfonia, the Berkeley Ensemble aims to explore repertoire for mixed wind and strings groupings with particular reference to British composers. The concert includes a belated celebration of the centenary of Howard Ferguson (born October 1908), composer, pianist and editor, whose Octet with the same scoring as Schubert's is a delightful piece in a style somewhat similar to Walton's.

31 March 2009 [FWS]
THOMAS GUTHRIE baritone SHARONA JOSHUA fortepiano

Schubert	Die Schöne Mullerin
More of a mini-opera than a song-cycle, this remarkable work tells the story of a young miller as he wanders along a stream in search of work, meets a miller's daughter, falls in love with her, loses her, and in deep despair drowns himself in the mill stream. The multi-talented Thomas Guthrie brings his directorial insights to this beautiful work which will be heard to advantage with an 1853 Pleyel piano providing appropriate timbres and textures.
Pre-concert talk at 12.15 by Roger Thomas on Die Schöne Mullerin

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

Latest update: 31 December 2008	Top of Page