As usual, all the Café Concerts take place in the auditorium of the Corn Exchange, Newbury on a Friday lunchtime at 1pm. First, on 26th September, the winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014, Martin James Bartlett, joins us for an hour of piano music. Currently just 17 years old, the Royal College of Music calls him “one of the greatest up and coming young piano talents in the music world”, as he moves to take up his place there in September. On winning the competition, Martin said "It's such an amazing feeling. It's not just the highlight of my musical career, it's the highlight of my life." He was a worthy winner; reviews of his playing in the final mentioned “crisp articulation and playing of superb strength...a particularly individual performance of great character” (Bruce Reader, The Classical Reviewer) and we are very much looking forward to welcoming him to our series.
The second concert, on 17th October, is the explosive and dynamic Villiers Quartet and their programme ‘Celebrating England’. The Quartet has established itself as one of the most charismatic and adventurous quartets of the British chamber music scene, and as such are bringing a this theme to their Corn Exchange recital. Their programme ranges from the evocative work of Delius, Britten and Bridge to a multimedia performance of Chris Roe’s ‘Jetez!’, and also features Britten contemporary and lesser-known composer Robert Still, who lived for 22 years and died in local Bucklebury, near Newbury. Hailed as "one of the best young quartets around today" (Jerry Horner), their concert, complete with projector and animation, promises to be a revolutionary approach to traditional string quartet performance.
Finally, on 21st November, we welcome our second ‘Secrets of the Orchestra’ concert. Having had a wonderful hour with the winds, it is now the turn of the brass section, in ‘Brass Unwrapped’. Some of Southern Sinfonia’s most well-loved and prestigious brass players, curated by trumpeter Howard Rowntree, give an insight into the dynamics of playing trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba in the orchestra. An educational session in part, this concert will inform and entertain children from 10 upwards, while still being fascinating and beautiful for adults like you and I: the beauty being that, however knowledgeable we are about music, we have not spent years as professional brass players! The group will perform stunning music, written or arranged for brass quintet, and give an insightful and often amusing account of orchestral performance. A concert not to be missed.
As Southern Sinfonia’s season finishes, we say goodbye to our Administrator, Anita Forsyth-Forrest, as she retires this week. We will all miss her and we thank her for eleven years with the orchestra. In September, we welcome our new Intern, Richard Brewer, as he joins us upon his graduation from the University of Sheffield. He will be a regular contributor to this blog and we look forward to hearing his erudite thoughts and opinions!
As we continue to prepare for next season and take a well-earned summer holiday, our blog posts will become fortnightly. We promise, though, that we will be Promming and Glyndebourne-ing to the very best of our ability – and we hope you have a wonderful summer.
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