Summer Lunchtime Concerts 2017

Transcription

1 St Mary s Church, Portchester Summer Lunchtime Concerts 2017 Photograph Robert English Photograph Robert English

2 Welcome Welcome to St. Mary s Church, Portchester for the 2017 series of lunchtime concerts. This is now our eighth season of recitals and again we have some marvellous performers lined up. We are pleased to welcome back many of our performers from last year including flautist Ivor Humphreys and pianist Hilary Needham, who begin our concerts with some wonderful music, and violinist Judith Wolpe who finishes the series in style. Also returning are Karen Kingsley and Rob Blanken, who together with Richard Moore, are presenting a concert of piano and wind music on August 3 rd and Eunice Pike, Cathy Mathews and Mikhail Lezdkan who are giving a concert of piano and string music on July 27 th. The series also features international concert pianist Grace Yeo on July 13 th, with works by Beethoven and Schumann. Peter Gould, former organist at Derby Cathedral, will give a popular organ concert on August 17 th and Baroque Ad Hoc on August 10 th will shed new light on your impressions of music for harpsichord and recorder! Japanese violinist Fumi Otsuki returns on July 20 th and Slovak pianist Bohuslav Sosna, who was unfortunately unable to play at the end of last season, will thrill us on August 24 th with works by Rachmaninoff and Brahms. This year we have again produced all the concert programmes in one easy to manage handy booklet, so you can see who is appearing each week and what they are performing. Please bring it with you each week (although there will be spares available if you forget!). A strong team at St. Mary s make these concerts possible and I would like to thank Revd Ian, the churchwardens and our administrative team for their support in presenting these concerts, the volunteers in the tea room who provide such wonderful refreshments and especially to you for your support for these performances. It is all greatly appreciated. David Cain Director of Music St. Mary s Portchester

3 Thursday, 6 th July The Grenestede Duo Ivor Humphreys (flute) and Hilary Needham (piano) Hilary Needham studied piano from the age of four and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. She was a concert pianist in the north of England until her marriage, then for 50 years she concentrated on teaching. Hilary was a founder member of the East Grinstead Music & Arts Festival in 1967 and after running the piano section for 30 years, she was made an honorary vice president. She served for 20 years on the Central Board of the British & International Federation of Festivals, representing the London & Home Counties Area and later the Music Teachers Association. It was in this capacity that she had the honour of being presented to the Queen at St. James s Palace in 1991 on the occasion of the federation s 70th Anniversary. Ivor Humphreys was hugely fortunate to be a class pupil of Reginald Wassell at the Technical High School, Hilsea in the 1960s and to study the flute locally with Rosamond Saunders (herself a pupil of English flautist Gareth Morris). He was also greatly influenced and encouraged by his father, Carey, who was a wellknown musician in the Portsmouth area. Ivor has a BA in music from Southampton University and an MA in Analysis of Twentieth Century Music from University College, Cardiff. He worked for G. Schirmer music publishers in the 1970s before switching to music-related journalism, becoming deputy editor of Hi-Fi News & Record Review magazine in the early 1980s and later audio editor of Gramophone. He went freelance in 2000, focusing on journalism, audio CD mastering and later web design. He has given many recitals with Hilary since they were introduced in Sonata in D Major Leonardo Vinci ( ) i. Adagio ii. Allegro iii. Largo iv. Presto v. Pastorella Musette; Gigue Jean-Marie Le Clair ( ) Eight Caprices for solo flute: No.8 Allemande Anton Stamitz ( ) Serenade No.4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( ) i. Allegro ii. Larghetto iii. Menuetto iv. Adagio v. Rondo Romance (Opus 94 No.1) in A minor (originally for oboe) Robert Schumann ( ) Dance de la Chèvre for solo flute Arthur Honegger ( ) Suite de Trois Morceaux: No.2 Idylle Benjamin Godard ( ) Suite in A Cecil Armstrong Gibbs ( ) i. Prelude ii. Minuet iii. Sarabande iv. Gavotte v. Quick Dance

4 Thursday, 13 th July Grace Yeo Piano Since winning first prize at the Beethoven Society of Europe s Piano Competition in 2009, Grace Yeo has emerged as one of the outstanding pianists of her generation. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Grace began the piano at the age of four, and pursued her studies both in Seoul, and in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal Academy of Music, where she has received the highest performance awards and many prestigious prizes. In recital appearances, throughout the UK (Southbank Centre, Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall ), France, Italy, Germany, Finland and South Korea, Grace s outstanding talent has been widely recognised. Following her two most recent Wigmore Hall recitals, the Independent celebrated her sparkling authority and Musical Opinion, declared her a fine artist, with phrasing and a sense of structure that were exceptional...captivating...admirable. Internationally Grace has been awarded first prize and other significant awards in many prestigious piano competitions. As a broadcaster Grace has been highly appreciated in her live recitals on BBC Radio 3 and KBS FM (Korean Broadcast). Alongside her growing performing career she now teaches at King s College London. She has performed many times with the All Souls Orchestra at their Prom Praise Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, most recently this April playing Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto. Her DVD recordings, featuring the Grieg and Beethoven Emperor Concertos in live performances at the RAH, were recently released on Kingsway Music. Piano Sonata No.7 in D major (Opus 10 No.3) Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) i. Presto ii. Largo e mesto iii. Menuetto: Allegro iv. Rondo: Allegro 'Ondine' from Gaspard de la nuit Maurice Ravel ( ) Sonata No.2 in G minor (Opus 22) Robert Schumann ( ) i. So rasch wie möglich ii.andantino: Getragen iii.scherzo: Sehr rasch und markiert iv. Rondo. Presto

5 Thursday, 20 th July Fumi Otsuki (violin) with Alessandro Vale (piano) Fumi Otsuki is a Japanese violinist and composer who began playing the violin at the age of six. He moved to the UK in 1992 where he studied at both the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music. He started giving concerts in 2007 and has performed extensively in London and the South of England. Alessandro Viale holds four Master's Degrees, in piano, composition, conducting and harpsichord. He has been awarded a Junior Fellowship in Piano Accompaniment at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire for 2016/2017. Alessandro has recently moved to UK where he is now the assistant conductor and accompanist to the Peterborough Male Voice Choir and Peterborough Voices. While completing his musical studies, Alessandro obtained a Bachelor Degree with honours in physics. Partita for Violin No.2 (BWV 1004) iv. Gigue Johann Sebastian Bach ( ) Violin Sonata (Opus 31 No.1) iv. Lied Paul Hindermith ( ) Theme and three variations Fumi Otsuki (b. 1974) Sonatina for Violin and Piano (Opus 100) Antonin Dvořák ( ) i. Allegro Resoluto ii. Larghetto iii. Scherzo and Trio iv. Allegro. After the Tryst James MacMillan (b. 1959) Elegy Gerald Finzi ( )

6 Thursday, 27 th July Eunice Pike (piano), Cathy Mathews (violin) and Mikhail Lezdkan (cello) Cathy Mathews has had a long and very enjoyable orchestral career, holding positions in the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, BBC Radio Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra. She has freelanced extensively in and around London. Her aim is to spend as much time as possible playing chamber music. Mikhail Lezdkan studied at the Leningrad Conservatoire and while still a student won second prize in the Belgrade International Cello Competition. In 1991 Mikhail moved to France where he led the cello section of the Lyon Opera Orchestra and later toured Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe with the violinist Vanessa Mae. He has performed as a soloist with various orchestras, including the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Berlin Radio Orchestra, the Belgrade Radio Orchestra, several chamber orchestras in France and the St Petersburg Hermitage Orchestra. Eunice Pike studied piano, violin and piano accompaniment at The Royal Academy of Music and was a visiting teacher at Portsmouth High School. She has acted as official accompanist at music festivals in the south of England and as house pianist on several courses for violin and cello in Gloucester. Besides working with several choirs and opera groups she has an extensive piano duet repertoire and regularly performs chamber music with local musicians. Also, working with talented young musicians has enabled her to play at prestigious events around the country. More recent performances include lunchtime concerts in Chichester and Winchester Cathedrals, Romsey Abbey, and St Peter's in Bournemouth. Phantasie Trio in C Minor (H79) Frank Bridge ( ) i. Allegro moderato ma con fuoco ii. Andante con molta espressione iii. Allegro Scherzoso iv. Andante v. Allegro moderato vi. Con anima Piano Trio No.1 in D Minor (Opus 32) Anton Arensky ( ) i. Allegro moderato ii. Scherso: Allegro molto, meno mosso, allegro molto iii. Elegia: Adagio iv. Finale: Allegro non troppo

7 Thursday, 3 rd August - The Anemos Trio Karen Kingsley (piano), Robert Blanken (clarinet) and Richard Moore (bassoon) Anemos, formed in 2007, is a wind chamber ensemble who endeavour to perform original music for wind instruments though occasionally resorting to arrangements and adaptations. Robert Blanken was born in Rotterdam and came to England as a youngster. He was principal clarinettist for the Hampshire Youth Orchestra before pursuing his musical studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. Robert was a founder member of the Scirocco Quintet and is one of the most sought-after players in Hampshire. He has appeared on many occasions as soloist with the Solent Symphony Orchestra, the Havant Chamber and Symphony Orchestras and also performs regularly with his recital duo partner, Karen Kingsley. Richard Moore read mathematics at Hull University and studied the bassoon with John Orford and William Waterhouse. Richard enjoyed a long association with the Hull Philharmonic as principal bassoonist before moving to Hampshire, where he played regularly for many of the local orchestras and the Scirocco Quintet. In 1985 he formed a recital duo with Karen Kingsley performing at many concert clubs throughout the South of England. For a while Richard held the principal bassoon position with the Regency Opera Company. He is now a Chartered Engineer and seeks his living from engineering. Karen Kingsley studied with Jean Harvey at the Royal Academy of Music, gaining prizes and commendations for solo and ensemble performances. She is a regular concerto soloist, her repertoire including works by Beethoven, Chopin, Gerhardt, Gershwin, Grieg, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Rubinstein, and Shostakovich. Karen is a member of the Monington Duo with Robert Blanken, their repertoire numbering over 170 works, several of which have been composed specially for them. Trio in E b (Opus 43) Conradin Kreutzer ( ) Variations in G Minor William Hurlstone ( ) Trio Pathétique Mikhail Glinka ( ) Der Wettstreit Georg Junge ( )

8 Thursday, 10 th August Baroque Ad Hoc (music for harpsichord and recorder) Portia & John Kitcher, and Gil & Gordon Uphill have known each other for well over twenty years through a mutual enjoyment of singing in church and chamber choirs. It was only by chance, some years ago, following an SOS when a recorder player was ill, that they discovered that they also shared a mutual enjoyment of recorder and harpsichord music. From this Baroque Ad Hoc came into being, reflecting their particular enjoyment of music from this period. Amongst their other musical interests, Portia and John play with the Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia and sing with Southampton Philharmonic Choir. Gordon is the organist & choir director at Holy Trinity Fareham and sings with Portsmouth Baroque Choir and the Wyndcliffe Singers. Most of the programme today comes from the baroque period although the players have taken the opportunity of enjoying some later period music at the end which they hope you will enjoy as well. Sonata in F Major Anonymous (c 1700) i. Andante ii. Largo iii. Allegro arranged Angelo Zaniol Concerto in G Minor Antonio Vivaldi ( ) i. Allegro ii. Largo iii. Allegro) arranged Wolfgang Kostujak Sonata in G Minor George Frederick Handel ( ) i. Largo ii. Allegro iii. Largo iv. Allegro arranged Paul Clark Sonata in F Major Alessandro Scarlatti ( ) i. Adagio ii. Minuet iii. Allegro arranged Christine Gevert The Strenuous Life Scott Joplin ( ) arranged Franz Beyer

9 Thursday, 17 th August Peter Gould (organ) Born in Portsmouth, Peter Gould s musical education was at the Royal Academy of Music where he studied organ, piano and cello. Whilst there he gained prizes for choir training, organ accompaniment and harmony, and attained many music diplomas. He later moved to Bretton Hall to study for a Diploma in Education. In 1974 he was appointed Assistant Organist at Wakefield Cathedral and music teacher at Honley High School, Huddersfield. He was also assistant chorus master to the Wakefield Festival Chorus and conductor of the Cawthorne Choral Society. In 1983 he became Master of the Music at Derby Cathedral. This involved recruiting and training the choirs together with playing the organ in services and concerts. The choir sang at least five services every week in the cathedral, made several recordings and sang regularly on BBC radio and television. Peter made a first recording of the cathedral s Compton organ and gave at least one organ recital there in each of the 32 years that he was organist. Further afield, he has given organ recitals in St Paul s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and Birmingham Town Hall. Peter retired from Derby Cathedral in 2015 after a total of 40 years of working in English Cathedrals. He is pleased to know that no less than four of his Derby Choristers currently have professional organist positions in English Cathedrals. Peter was accompanist to the Derby Bach Choir from and has been an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music since He is married to Dorothy and has one daughter, Anna, who is a professional singer. Peter now lives near Portsmouth and continues to enjoy playing the organ. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565) Johann Sebastian Bach ( Suite Gothic (Opus 25) Léon Boëllmann ( ) i. Introduction ii. Minute iii. Prière à Notre-Dame iv Toccata Prelude, Fugue and Variation César Franck ( ) Carillon de Westminster Louis Vierne ( ) Saints on a Spree Nigel Ogden (b. 1954) Coronation Scot (transcribed Gould) Vivian Ellis ( )

10 Thursday 24 th August Bohuslav Sosna (piano) Slovak pianist Bohuslav Sosna was born into a musical family and studied at the Music Conservatory in Topolcany, Slovakia. He graduated with a Master s degree in Music at the University of Nitra in 2006 under the tutelage of Martina Ciefova. During his studies he was one of the most successful students in the Department of Music, representing it as a pianist in arts events, seminars and competitions. For his work he was awarded the Dean s prize for successful university representation. In 2005 Bohuslav won first prize in the student competition organised by the University of Nitra. His concert repertoire includes works from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Brahms and Liszt and beyond. He was particularly active in performing and promoting new piano works by prominent Slovak composers, such as Juraj Hatrik s Toccata, which gained him the Likavka Municipality Mayor s Prize in the Ruzomberok International Competition in April He also became the winner of this competition in the category of former students of music conservatoires. Sosna s performance of Ivan Parík s work Three songs for the piano was also broadcast on Slovak national radio. Since February 2007 Bohuslav Sosna has been based in the UK, where he gained his LTCL performing diploma under the eminent British pianist and teacher Julian Jacobson. As well as performing widely he is currently preparing for his FTCL with the pianist and teacher Béla Hartmann. He has participated in masterclasses with James Lisney, Simon Nicholls, William Fong and Julian Jacobson. Prelude & Fugue in B Minor (BWV 893) Johann Sebastian Bach ( ) Chaconne in G Major (HWV 435) George Frederick Handel ( ) Piano Sonata No.31 in A b Major (Opus 110) Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) Prelude in D Major (Opus 23 No.4) Sergei Rachmaninoff ( ) Scherzo in E b Minor (Opus 4) Johannes Brahms ( )

11 Thursday, 31 st August Judith Wolpe (violin) with Karen Kingsley (piano) Judith Wolpe began learning the violin at the age of six and was awarded the Hampshire Music Scholarship for Excellence in both 2004 & At the age of 16 she was awarded a place to study on the Hampshire Specialist Music Course at Peter Symonds College in Winchester, where she was offered solo recitals at Winchester Cathedral, Winchester Guildhall and was later invited to perform Mozart s Sinfonia Concertante with Winchester Symphony Orchestra. Performances in 2017 have included solo recitals in London, Hampshire and the North-West. As an avid chamber musician, she made her Wigmore Hall debut performing Bainbridge s Piano Trio, as part of the Bainbridge Festival. Her piano trio also performed as part of the European Chamber Music Academy. In 2016 she played in masterclasses with the Skampa Quartet as part of the Lake District International Music Festival. She has also previously enjoyed playing in masterclasses with Pavlo Besnosiuk, Johannes Meissl and Richard Ireland. She was invited to take part in the London String Quartet Symposium at the Royal Academy of Music with tuition by Seppo Kimanen and Roger Tapping. She has recently completed postgraduate study at the Royal Northern College of Music, after graduating from her undergraduate degree at the college with honours. She has been a student of Maciej Rakowski for five years after studying with him at the Lake District International Music Festival. She is now continuing her studies with Yossi Zivoni. Salut d'amour Edward Elgar ( ) Romanian Folk Dances Béla Bartok ( ) Sonata for Violin and Piano Leoš Janáček ( ) i. Con moto ii. Ballada: Con moto iii. Allegretto iv. Adagio Liebesleid Fritz Kreisler ( ) Malagueña Pablo de Sarasate ( ) Méditation from Thaïs Jules Massenet ( )

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