City Music Society Lunchtime Concerts

17 January 2012 [YAS]
GEMINIANI STRING QUARTET VLAD MAISTOROVICI violin EMILY DELLI violin STEPHEN UPSHAW viola WILLIAM IMBERT cello

Haydn	Quartet in D Op. 50 No. 6 ('The Frog')
Schubert	Quartet in A D.804 Op. 29 ('Rosamunde')
Founded in 2009 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Geminiani Quartet unites accomplished chamber musicians from four varied backgrounds with the common goal of approaching the string quartet repertoire with integrity and passion. As a quartet, they have studied with Ferenc Rados, David Dolan and members of the Takacs, Alban Berg, Vermeer and Belcea Quartets, and recent appearances include a concert in the City of London Festival. They were recently first-place winners in the Alexander and Buono International String Competition and were awarded a prize for their interpretation of works from the Second Viennese School at the International Sommerakademie.

24 January 2012 [FWS]
ROY HOWAT piano
Photo: Fleur Kilpatrick
Fauré	Nocturne No. 6 Op. 63
Chopin	Nocturne in E Op. 62 No. 2
Chabrier	Mélancolie; Idylle (from Pièces pittoresques)
Debussy	Brouillards; La puerta del Vino; Les fées sont d'exquises danseuses; La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune; Les tierces alternées (Preludes, Book 2)
Chopin	Waltz in A flat Op. 42
Marking the 150th anniversary of Debussy's birth, the first Free Winter Series concert presents distinguished pianist-scholar Roy Howat in a programme that explores connections between Debussy and Chopin and between Debussy and his immediate predecessors, Chabrier and Fauré. As a contributor to the Complete Debussy Edition and lead editor for the Peters Edition Fauré piano music, Roy Howat brings extraordinary insights to his performances which he will share both in a pre-concert talk and in spoken introductions to the music during the concert.
Pre-concert talk on Debussy at 12.15pm by Roy Howat

31 January 2012 [YAS]
GUILDHALL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ANTHONY MARWOOD director/violin
Photo: Sussie Ahlburg
Brett Dean	Short Stories
Peteris Vasks	Violin Concerto: Distant Light
Our mini-festival of music by composers from the three Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - kicks off with the violin concerto of one of the most well-known of Latvian composers, Peteris Vasks. Australian Brett Dean describes his Short Stories as Five Interludes for string orchestra, telling abstract stories, open to personal interpretation and without specific narrative, except for one inspired by the death of a Soviet Cosmonaut. As soloist and director, Guildhall School alumnus Anthony Marwood brings to his roles what BBC Music Magazine called his 'boundless energy, intellectual curiosity and creative wizardry'.

7 February 2012 [YAS]

ASHLEY RICHES baritone
MAREK RUSZCZYNSKI piano

RPS Young Artists Recital
War and Peace: an exploration of battles in war and human relationships, and peace in life and love featuring songs and arias by Prokofiev, Schumann, Rorem, Poulenc, Tchaikovsky, Duparc, Brahms, Barber, Mussorgsky, Saint-Saens, Ropartz, and Quilter As winner of an RPS Susan Chilcott Scholarship, Ashley Riches presents a typically dramatic selection of songs as befits a rising opera star. After studying English at Cambridge University Ashley has pursued his vocal studies at the Guildhall School where he has been supported by many awards including the Sybil Tutton Award and the John Hosier Music Trust Scholarship. Polish-born Marek Ruszczynski won the GSMD Gold Medal accompanist's prize in 2009.
Presented with the support of the Royal Philharmonic Society

14 February 2012 [FWS]

GRAND DÉSIR ANITA ORME DELLA-MARTA direction, recorders, harp ANNE MARIEKE EVERS mezzo-soprano MARC LEWON lute ELIZABETH RUMSEY viola d'arco

Danse et Chanson
Grand Désir was formed while its members were students of the Schola Cantorum in Basle, drawn together by a common interest in medieval and renaissance music. The group has given numerous performances in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia, and won the Audience Prize in the York Early Music Festival Young Artists Competition in 2009. Their programme explores basse-danses and Burgundian chansons of the 15th century, by Dufay, Binchois, Ockeghem, Paumann and Anon in richly varied combinations of voice and instruments.

21 February 2012 [YAS]
KRISTINE BALANAS violin COLIN SCOTT piano

The Eric Falk Award Concert
Beethoven	Sonata No 4 in A minor Op. 23
Prokofiev	Five Melodies Op. 35a
Garuta	Lugšana ('Prayer')
Tchaikovsky	Valse Scherzo Op. 34
Currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Gyorgy Pauk, Kristine Balanas was born in Latvia and studied at the Emils Darzinš Music High School. A prizewinner at several international competitions during her teens, she now performs regularly in the UK and Europe and frequently in her homeland. She plays the beautiful 'prayer' of her compatriot Lucija Garuta (1902-1977) as part of our Baltic States year. Her violin is the 1808 Giovanni Rota, Cremona, which is on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.
Pre-concert talk on composers from the Baltic States at 12.15pm by Leslie East

28 February 2012 [YAS]
LARA MELDA piano

Photo: Benjamin Harte
Beethoven	Sonata in D minor Op. 32 No. 2 ('Tempest')
Debussy	Reflets dans l'eau (Images, Book 1)
Debussy	Minstrels (Preludes, Book 1)
Chopin	Étude in A minor Op. 25 No. 11
Chopin	Étude in A flat major Op. 25 No. 1
Chopin	Ballade No. 1 in G minor Op. 23
Lara Melda won the BBC Young Musician 2010 competition after apparently reducing one of the judges to tears with a performance of a Chopin Étude. For us she celebrates Debussy's 150th birthday. A pupil at the Purcell School and the RCM junior department, Lara is already an experienced recitalist and concerto soloist with engagements in Switzerland and Turkey as well as the UK.

6 March 2012 [FWS]
ENDYMION ENSEMBLE KRYSIA OSOSTOWICZ violin CLARA BISS violin ASDIS VALDIMARSDOTTIR viola JANE SALMON cello MICHAEL DUSSEK piano

Photo: Will Pascall
Arvo Pärt	Fratres
Shostakovich	Piano Quintet in G minor Op. 57
Arvo Pärt	Summa
"The brilliant Endymion" (Sunday Times) are champions of world class chamber music, new and old. They perform regularly all over the UK, including at Wigmore Hall, the BBC Proms, the Southbank Centre and the Cheltenham and Spitalfields Festivals. They have toured in Austria, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Finland and Italy for many years were resident in Blackheath Concert Halls. Their contribution to our Baltic theme is the distinguished Estonian-born composer Arvo Pärt whose mesmeric string quartets perfectly compliment the 'gravely serene' wartime work of Shostakovich.

13 March 2012 [YAS]
RCM WIND ENSEMBLE SIMON CHANNING director

Hummel	Octet-Partita in Eb
Koechlin	Septet for wind instruments Op. 165
Richard Strauss	Serenade in E flat Op. 7
Dvorak, arr. Graham Sheen	Czech Suite
The Royal College of Music is renowned for the quality of its many ensembles. Head of Woodwind Simon Channing brings a group of top RCM students to play two of the wind ensemble repertoire's most popular pieces, by Hummel and Strauss, plus the Septet by the extraordinary French composer Charles Koechlin, with its scoring including English horn and alto sax.

20 March 2012 [FWS]
MARK BEBBINGTON piano

Photo: Tamara Peel
Ireland	The Island Spell (from 'Decorations')
Ireland	Amberley Wild Brooks (from 'Two Pieces')
Bridge	Three Pieces (1912)
Debussy	Général Lavine - excentric; Feux d'artifice (Preludes, Book 2)
Liszt/Wagner	Liebestod from 'Tristan and Isolde'
Liszt/Verdi	Concert Paraphrase on 'Rigoletto'
The critical plaudits which have greeted Mark Bebbington's performances and recordings has singled him out as a British pianist of the rarest refinement and maturity. Increasingly recognised as a champion of British music, his recent series of the complete solo piano music of Frank Bridge on 3 CDs has been acclaimed for its 'deft, elegant and probing exploration' of Bridge's remarkable and distinct music. As well as Debussy's birthday, Bebbington marks the 50th anniversary of John Ireland's death with two of his most beautiful pieces.

27 March 2012 [YAS]
FOURNIER PIANO TRIO SULKI YU violin PEI-JEE NG cello CHIAO-YING CHANG piano

Fauré	Trio in D minor Op.120
Bridge	Romance (from Miniatures)
Brahms	Trio No. 2 in C Op. 87
Formed in 2009, the Fournier Piano Trio is in its second year as Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music. They made their critically-acclaimed Purcell Room debut as part of the 2011 PLG New Year Series and are winners of a Philharmonia Orchestra MMSF Recital Award and a Tunnell Trust Award. Recent performances include recitals at the Purcell Room, St James Piccadilly, Holywell Room in the UK and abroad in Germany, France and Holland.

3 April 2012 [YAS]
MARTYNA JATKAUSKAITE piano

Mozart	Rondo in A Minor K.511
Liszt	Mephisto Waltz No.1 S.514
Ciurlionis	Prelude VL 185(from 'Druskininai Preludes')
Chopin	Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor Op. 35
Lithuanian-born pianist Martyna Jatkauskaite leads an active concert life as a soloist in England and Europe. As the winner of the Jacques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition, she gave a recital at the Fazioli Concert hall in Italy, followed by her critically acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut in November 2008. In May 2010 Martyna won the Gold Medal, the premier award for musicians at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and in January 2011 the first prize at Giorgos Thymis International Piano Competition (Greece). To contribute to our Baltic composers theme, she contributes a characteristic piece by her compatriot Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis.

For further information about these concerts please contact
citymusicsociety@btopenworld.com

Latest update: 29 December 2011	Top of Page