2024 Residencies

17-25 July: The Cleo Piano Trio will be visiting to work on their repertoire - one of their tutors will be joining them for part of their stay.  Their programme will include Beethoven, Ravel and Lily Boulanger.

Concert: Wednesday 24 July.

11-18 August: Saxophonist Huw Wiggin will be working on saxophone duos with with violinist Sara Övinge.  He hopes to be recording these duos on CD later in the month.

Concert: 15 August (to be confirmed)

27-31 August: Pianist Juliette Sabbah and tenor Fabian Hyon will be joining us for a few days to work on a new programme of French songs and lieder.

Concert: Friday 30 August.

Weekend 21/22 September: Pianist Joanna Goodale will return to give a concert having had to cancel last year because of illness.  Actual day of concert to be confirmed shortly.

13-21 October: Graeme Danby will once again be leading a group of young singers - this year they will perform not a whole opera but opera excerpts.  They will be giving a song recital and two performances of opera excerpts performed in cabaret style.

Concerts:  Song recital Thursday 17 October.  Opera cabaret style 18 and 19 October

2023 Residencies

Olivia Warburton and Johan Banoin

Our first visitors to Brel this year were soprano Olivia Warburton and pianist Johan Banoin.  They had visited us in 2019 and this time they worked on material for a new series of recitals scheduled for the autumn including both English and French songs.  They stayed with us from 16-22 May with a concert on Sunday 21 May.

Brel, Roquecor, Sunday 21 May 2023

Olivia Warburton (soprano), Johan Barnoin (piano)

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Josef Haydn (from 12 English canzonettas):

The Wanderer

Fidelity

She never told her Love

Hugo Wolf (Goethe Lieder)

Kennst du das Land?

Claude Debussy:

Nuit d’étoiles

Book 1 of Fêtes Galantes:

En sourdine

Fantoches

Clair de lune

Emmanuel Chabrier

L'île heureuse

Villanelle des petits canards

Gustav Mahler (Rückert Lieder)

Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft 

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder

Liebst du um Schönheit

Um Mitternacht

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

Edward Elgar

Pleading

Frank Bridge

Come to me in my Dreams

Love went a riding

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Brel Song Academy

Once again, Amanda Roocroft, soprano and Joseph Middleton, piano, led a week long course for young singers and accompanists.  They were with us for the first week of July.  Their stay included a masterclass and a concert on 6 July.

Brel, Roquecor, Thursday 6 July 2023

Amanda Roocroft - soprano, Joseph Middleton - piano

Ruth Murphy, Katherine Gregory, Felicitas Wrede - soprano

Mia Serracino-Inglott - mezzo soprano

Deirūnas Jasiulionis - tenor

Charles Cunliffe - baritone

Abhisri Chaudhuri, Daniel Peter Silcock, André Bertoncini - piano

Felicitas Wrede and Abhisri Chaudhuri

Zur Rosenzeit - Edvard Grieg /Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Die Schwan - Edvard Grieg /Henrik Ibsen

Adoration - Frank Bridge /John Keats

Ruth Murphy and André Bertoncini

Hôtel - Poulenc/Apollinaire

Chanson triste - Duparc/Jean Lahor

L’invitation au voyage - Duparc/Baudelaire

Mia Serracino-Inglott and Daniel Silcock

Ständchen - Brahms/Kugler

V tak mnohém srdci mrvto jest - Dvorak/Moravsky

Del cabello más sutil - Obradors/Trad.

Deirūnas Jasiulionis and André Bertoncini

Auf dem grünen Balkon - Hugo Wolf/Anon

Let beauty awake - Vaughan Williams/R. L. Stevenson

Du bist wie eine Blüme - R. Schumann/ Heine

Katherine Gregory and Abhisri Chaudhuri

Die Nacht - Strauss/Gilm

Do not Sing to me, my Beauty - Rachmaninov/Pushkin

Spring Waters - Rachmaninov/Tiotchev

Charles Cunliffe and Daniel Silcock

Auf dem Kirchhofe - Brahms/von Liliencron

La vie antérieure - Duparc/Baudelaire

Who is Silvia? - Finzi/Shakespeare

Vivo Piano Trio

Later in July we welcomed the Vivo Trio which includes two musicians who have already visited Brel - pianist Maksim Stsura and violinist Michael Foyle - who play together as the Foyle Stsura Duo.  They were joined on this visit by cellist Rafael Lang and worked on a programme including Schubert and Beethoven Trios which they played in Austria later in the summer.

Their visit included an outing to the local Marche Gourmand where we enjoyed aperitifs and snacks - including a massive candy floss which caught Rafael’s eye!

Vivo Piano Trio

Brel, Roquecor, Tuesday 18 July 2023

Michael Foyle (violin), Raphael Lang (violoncello), Maksim Štšura (piano)

Franz Schubert

Piano Trio No 1 in B Flat Major, D898

Allegro Moderato

Andante un poco mosso

Scherzo - Allegro

Rondo - Allegro vivace

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Trio in D Major, Op 70 No 1 (“Ghost”)

Allegro vivace e con brio

Largo assai ed espressivo

Presto

Saxophones at Brel August 2023

In August saxophonist Huw Wiggin visited Brel with Spanish saxophonist Jose Banuls and they spend the week coaching a young saxophone quartet - the Astral Quartet from London’s Royal College of Music. It was a boiling hot week and Huw and Jose worked the young players hard but they wanted to improve their performance as they were planning to enter some competitions later in the year. The pool provided somewhere to cool down and another visit to the Marche Gourmand gave an opportunity to meet some of the concertgoers ahead of the concert. More than 100 people came to their concert on 15 August despite the heat.

Brel, Roquecor, Tuesday 15 August 2023

Astral Saxophone Quartet - Leopoldo Mugnai (sop), Oliver Lee (alt),

Annabella Chenevix Trench (ten), Ethan Townsend (bari).

Huw Wiggin (sop), José Bañuls (ten)

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Jean Philippe Rameau - Le Rappel des Oiseaux *

Ferling - Trois duos Concertants pour deux Hautbois  - No 2. Poco Adagio *

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach - Six Duos - No. 1 Allegro*

Gabriel Pierné - Introduction et variations due une ronde populaire  **

Alfred Desenclos - Quatuor pour saxophones **

I Allegro non troppo - II Calmo 

Jean Rivier - Grave et Presto **

J.S Bach - Concerto Italien **

I Allegro - II Andante - III Presto 

Francesco Geminiani (trans. Joe Harper) - Concerto Grosso in D Minor - La Follia ***

Edvard Grieg - Aus Holbergs Zeit - IV Air *** 

Will Gregory - Hoe Down *** 

* Huw Wiggin and José Bañuls   ** Astral Quartet 

*** Huw Wiggin, José Bañuls, and the Astral Saxophone Quartet 

Mikeleiz -Zucchi Duo

The Mikeleiz-Zucchi Duo visited us in August.    Spanish accordion player Inigo Mikeleiz- Berrade and Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi play a huge range of music and their programme ranged from baroque to tango. The audience loved the wide range of different sounds that the two instruments could produce together.

Brel, Roquecor, Saturday 26 August 2023

Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade (accordion), David Zucchi (soprano saxophone)

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Sidney Bechet (1897-1959), arr. Parisien/Peirani - Egyptian Fantasy

Johann Sebastian Bach (attributed) (1685-1750) - Flute Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1020

I Allegro - II Adagio - III Allegro

Chick Corea (1941-2021) - Selections from Children’s Songs

Enrique Granados (1867-1916) - Andaluza from 12 Danzas españolas

George Gershwin (1898-1937) - Selections from Songbook (arr. MZ Duo)

I Fascinating Rhythm - II Oh, Lady Be Good! - III I Got Rhythm

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) - Selections from Terpsichore

I Passameze - II Galliard - III Ballet anglois - IV Bransle de village

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) - Histoire du Tango

I Bordel 1900 - II Cafe 1930 - III Nightclub 1960 - IV Concert d’aujourd’hui

Opera at Brel

For the third year in a row we had a pocket opera at Brel. This year s team of young singers with producer Graham Danby (who also sang the lead role) and pianist and conductor Stephen Higgins as director gave us two performance of Don Pasquale by Donizetti.

The team gave a recital of songs - “Songs of the Countryside’ on the Thursday evening with opera performance on Friday and Saturday.

Fae Evelyn Asher, Alice Johnston (sopranos), Magnus Walker (tenor), Thomas Asher,(baritone), Graeme Danby, (bass), Stephen Higgins (piano)

Rogers & Hammerstein

It’s A Grand Night For Singing

Ivor Gurney

Under the Greenwood Tree

Sleep

Spring

Robert Schumann

Mondnacht

Gilbert & Sullivan

The Sun Whose Rays

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Silent Noon

The Watermill

The Sky Above the Roof

Mozart

Sul’Aria (Figaro)

Soave sia il vento (Cosi)

Flanders & Swann

The Armadillo

The Sloth

Tom Lehrer

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

Ivor Novello

We’ll Gather Lilacs

Opera at Brel: Brel, Roquecor, Friday 22 and Saturday 23 September 2023

Fae Evelyn Asher, Alice Johnston (sopranos), Magnus Walker (tenor), Thomas Asher,(baritone), Graeme Danby, (bass)

Stephen Higgins (piano and musical director)

Don Pasquale Acts 1 and 2

Interval

Don Pasquale Act 3

Cast

Don Pasquale - Graeme Danby

Norina - Fae Evelyn Asher

Ernesto - Magnus Walker

Malatesta - Tom Asher

Notary - Alice Johnston

2022 Residencies

The Brel Song Academy

Our first musical visitors arrived on 1 July.  The Brel Song Academy, under the direction of pianist Joe Middleton and soprano Amanda Roocroft put nine student musicians through their paces. 

They gave a concert on Thursday 7 July.

Amanda Roocroft - soprano, Joseph Middleton - piano

Rose Johnson, Emily Beech - soprano, Hannah Bennett, Daisy Mitchell, Anne-Sofie Søby Jensen - mezzo soprano, Charles Cunliffe, Oscar Simms - baritone, Joseph Cavalli-Price & Daniel Peter Silcock - piano

Hannah Bennett

G. Mahler: from Lieder eines  fahrenden Gesellen 2: Ging heut’ Morgen übers Feld

C. Debussy: from Fêtes Galantes 1: Clair de Lune

Rose Johnson

C. Debussy: Beau soir

R. Strauss: Zueignung

Emily Beech

L. Larsen: from My Ántonia 1. Landscape, from the train

2. Ántonia

R. Strauss: Das Rosenband

Daisy Mitchell

R. Schumann: from Frauenliebe und -leben

I: Seit ich ihn gesehen

II: Er, der Herrlichste von allen

VI: Süsser Freund, du blickest

Oscar Simms

R. Strauss: Allerseelen

L. Laitman: No sad songs please

E. Grieg: Ein Traum

Anne-Sofie Søby Jensen

R. Strauss: Ruhe, meine Seele!

G. Mahler: Urlicht

Charles Cunliffe

J. Brahms: Alte Liebe

W. Charles: The Green-eyed Dragon

Keval Shah, Joseph Shiner and Harriet Burns

On 9 July pianist Keval Shah, clarinettist Joseph Shiner and soprano Harriet Burns arrived at Brel to work on some pieces together and they gave a concert on 14 July.  

Harriet Burns (soprano), Joseph Shiner (clarinet), Keval Shah (piano)

Franz Schubert

Der Totengräbers Heimwehe D842 - Craigher

Das Zügenglöcklein D871 - Seidl

Nachthymne D687 - Novalis

Samuel Barber - Hermit Songs

At St. Patrick's Purgatory

Church Bell at Night

St. Ita's Vision

The Heavenly Banquet

Crucitixion

Sea-Snatch

Promiscuity

The Monk and His Cat

The Praises of God

The Desire for Hermitage

 Franz Schubert - Sonata in D Major D384 (arr. Shiner)

Allegro Molto

Andante

Allegro vivace

Amy Beach - Two Browning Songs

Ah, love, but a day!

The Year's at the Spring

Franz Schubert

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D965

Harriet Burns is a prizewinner of numerous international competitions, including 2nd prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. and the Concours Musical International de Montreal.Her collaborators include Graham Johnson, Imogen Cooper, Joseph Middleton and Malcolm Martineau. Future pertormances include Wigmore Hall, Luxembourg Philharmonie and International Lied Festival Zeist.

Joseph Shiner regularly appears at venues and festivals around the United Kingdom and internationally, with recent engagements at Wigmore Hall, Snape Maltings and Barbican Centre. His collaborators include James Baillieu, Bengt Forsberg, and the Allegri, Endellion and Barbican Quartets. In August, Joseph will commence a Doctoral Fellowship at the Juilliard School in New York City.

Keval Shah's recent engagements include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Heidelberger Frühling and OxfordLieder festivals. He is Head of Lieder at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Future performances include recitals with Karita Mattila and Matthew Rose.

Maksim Stsura, Lea Valiulina and the Trio Kano

At the end of July we were delighted to welcome back pianist Maksim Stura from the Foyle Stsura Duo. Maksim is teaching at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and was joined by pianist Lea Valiulina as well as a young Finnish trio, Trio Kano who have been studying with him in Estonias.

They gave a concert at Brel on Thursday 4 August 2022

Maksim Stsura, Lea Valiulina (pianos) and Trio Kajo - Kaisu Tanskanen (clarinet), Hanna - Viola Miettinen (cello), Eemeli Solehmainen (piano)

Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963)

Excerpts from Ludus Tonalis, for piano

Jeanne - Louise Farrenc  (1804 - 1875)

Trio for piano, clarinet, and cello, first movement

Andante - Allegro moderato

Carita Holmstromn (b 1954)

Dreams, for clarinet, cello, and piano

Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)

Piano Trio in D Minor, 1st movement, Allegro, ma non troppo

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Variations on a theme of Corelli, for piano

Gabriel Faure

Le jardin de Dolly, from the Dolly Suite for piano duet

Maksim Stsura is an Estonian pianist and educator dividing his time between London and Tallinn, and is part of the Foyle-Stsura violin and piano duo, who played at Brel in 2017

Lea Valiulina îs an award winning Estonian pianist currently working at the Estonian Academy as a collaborative pianist for the woodwind and brass faculties.

Trio Kajo was founded in 2020 by the Kaisu Tanskanen, Hanna-Viola Miettinen and Eemeli Solehmainen and is based in Finland and Estonia.

After his stay at Brel, Maksim met up with violinist Michael Foyle - the other half of the Foyle Stsura Duo to tackle the complete cycles of Beethoven sonatas in 3 concerts in Austria.

Ruisi String Quartet

The Ruisi String Quartet made a return visit to Brel in August and brought with them composer Oliver Leith. The Quartet had some major performances due later in the year and spent their time at Brel working on these future programmes. Oliver worked on the final touches of his new opera Last Days due for a world premiere in October in London.

Their concert at Brel was on Friday 12 August 2022

Alessandro Ruisi, Oliver Cave (violins), Luba Tunnicliffe (viola), Max Ruisi (violoncello)

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) - String Quartet in Major 76 No 5

Allegretto; Largo, cantabile e mesto: Menuetto, allegro: Finale, presto

Matthew Locke (d.1677)

Fantasie in F

Oliver Leith (b. 1990)

A different fantasie (after Locke)

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) - String Quartet No 2

Allegro calmo, senza rigore: Vivace: Chacony, sostenuto

Winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society award for Young British String Players, the Ruisi Quartet has established a reputation as a charismatic and expressive ensemble. Founded in 2012 by half-Sicilian brothers Alessandro and Max, the quartet perform regularly throughout the UK and Europe. Highlights for the upcoming season include concerts in Florence and Perugia this September plus a performance at the Wigmore Hall in November, in which they will give the world premiere of a new work by Thomas Adés. 2023 will also see the commercial release of the Ruisi Quartet’s debut album, featuring works by Haydn, Locke, and Leith, including a new work commissioned for the group by Peter and Veronica Lofthouse. They will also appear on an album of French song alongside soprano Mary Bevan.

Oliver Leith  (b.1990) is a British composer, currently composer in residence at the Royal Opera House, which will premiere his opera ‘Last Days’ in October. 2023 will also see premieres and performances of Oliver’s music by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the LA Philharmonic. 

Fabien Hyon and Juliette Sabbah

French musicians Fabien Hyon (tenor) and Juliette Sabbah (piano) made a return visit to Brel to work on some new programmes that had been confirmed in their autumn and winter agendas. They gave a concert at Brel on Saturday 27 August 2022

Jules Massenet - Nuit d’Espagne

Richard Strauss - Du meines herzens Krönelein

Reynaldo Hahn - Néère (extrait des Études Latines)

Reynaldo Hahn - À Chloris

Jules Massenet - Instant charmant… En fermant les yeux (extrait de Manon)

Franz Schubert - Nachtstück

R. Wagner/F. Liszt - Romance à l’étoile (extrait de Tannhaüser) - transcription pour piano solo

Franz Schubert - Der Zwerg

Jules Massenet - Poème du souvenir (extraits)

Hugo Wolf - Gebet

Hugo Wolf - Wo find ich Trost

Reynaldo Hahn - L’énamourée

Richard Strauss - Geduld extrait des Lieder op. 10

After the Paris Conservatoire, Fabien Hyon was resident at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium. He has performed Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don José in Carmen and Énée in Didon et Énée, Fabien has been acclaimed in concerts with repertoire such as The Diary of One who disappeared (Janacek) and Das Lied von der Erde (Mahler). Together with Juliette Sabbah he has won the Grand Prix de la Mélodie Française in the Concours International de Toulouse.

Pianist and vocal coach, Juliette Sabbah graduated from the Royal Academy of Music. A laureate of the Oxford Lieder Mastercourse and the Fondation Royaumont, she has been invited to be a vocal coach at the Opéra de Rennes (Red Waters) and the Opéra de Montpellier (Ariadne auf Naxos). This season, she will be performing recitals both at the Opéra de Lille and Opéra d’Avignon, and will coach Samson et Dalila at the Opéra d’Avignon and La Vie Parisienne at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.

Opera at Brel - La Boheme

After the success of our first pocket opera performances of Semele in 2021 Graeme Danby agreed to put together a team of singers to perform Puccini’s La Boheme which was again directed by pianist Stephanie Gurga.  They gave a concert of songs and two performances of La Boheme.are coming a little earlier this year and will put on two performances - on Friday 23 September and Saturday 24 September.

Songs at Brel

Thursday 22 September 2022

Camilla Jeppeson, Fae Evelyn Asher (sopranos), Valerie Reid (mezzo-soprano),

Andrew Gavin (tenor), Tom Asher, Ben Noble (baritone), Graeme Danby,

Fionn O hAlmhain (bass), Stephanie Gurga (piano)

Donizetti - from Lucia di Lammermoor - Regnava nel silenzio,

Handel - from Tamerlano - Ciel e terra

Schubert - Der Wanderer

Ireland - Sea Fever

Elgar - Sea Pictures: Sea slumber song/In Haven/Sabbath Morning at Sea/Where Corals lie/The Swimmer

Quilter - Now sleeps the Crimson Petal

Lehar - from The Merry Widow - Vilia

Offenbach - The Gendarmes

Flanders and Swann - The Ostrich

Tom Lehrer - The Hunting Song/I hold your hand in mine

Flanders and Swann - The Armadillo/Misalliance

La Boheme

Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October 2021

Camilla Jeppeson, Fae Evelyn Asher (sopranos), Valerie Reid (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Gavin (tenor), Tom Asher (baritone), Ben Noble (baritone), Fionn O hAlmhain, Graeme Danby (bass),

Stephanie Gurga (piano and musical director)

La Bohéme Acts 1 and 2

Interval

La Bohéme Acts 3 and 4

Cast

Mimi - Fae Evelyn Asher: Musetta - Camilla Jeppeson: Rodolfo - Andrew Gavin: Marcello - Tom Asher: Colline - Fionn O hAlmhain: Schaunard - Ben Noble: Benoit, Alcindoro, Male Chorus - Graeme Danby: Female Chorus - Valerie Reid

2021 Residencies

In the dark hours of winter curfew in France we dreamed of the house being filled with music.  We contacted groups who had visited us before and there was a lot of interest, but in the end governments were slow to lift quarantine and no one could visit during the summer except the Alkyona Quartet.  They had visited us before but had changes of players and wanted to have an intensive time of working together in readiness for their autumn programme.

“Saturday evening’s pocket opera was excellent. It was a great pleasure to enjoy a perfect evening in the beautiful setting of Brel.”

Music at Brel’s first pocket opera

Though more familiar with the grandeur of the Coliseum and the Royal Opera House than pocket opera, Peter and I had enjoyed an excellent pocket version of Don Pasquale in a tiny theatre above a London pub with soprano Lauren Libaw, who had stayed at Brel with the Academy of French Song and Opera, singing Norina.  So when Graeme Danby, on hearing about our concert barn at Brel, asked us why we didn’t consider a pocket opera - a seed was planted.  In the end we said - why not?  Graeme, not just a fine character bass, but also a great organiser, brought together a group of singers who arrived at Brel, rehearsed solidly for three days and then performed three nights running - a recital of songs and two performances of Handel’s Semele to the delight of music lovers in the area.

Camilla Jeppeson, Fae Evelyn Asher (sopranos), Valerie Reid (mezzo-soprano), John Porter (tenor), Tom Asher (baritone), Graeme Danby (bass), Stephanie Gurga (piano and musical director)

Cast

Semele - Camilla Jeppeson

Iris - Fae Evelyn Asher

Ino, Juno - Valerie Reid

Jupiter - John Porter

Cadmus - Tom Asher

Somnus - Graeme Danby

Stephanie Gurga

Stephanie Gurga, a versatile musician, performs on piano, harpsichord, and organ, and also conducts.   She studied piano at DePauw University in Indiana (USA) with Claude Cymerman, than at the Ecole Normal de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, finally specialising in early music at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In 2010 Stephanie was engaged as an accompanist at the HEMU Vaud-Valais-Friborg in Lausanne and Sion (Switzerland). In 2012 she was appointed Assistant Musical Director at the Woodhouse Opera (Surrey, UK) annually coaching and leading performance of a number of baroque operas.

 Tom Asher

Yorkshire baritone Tom Asher is an alumnus of ENO’s Opera Works, a graduate of the University of Durham and the Royal Northern College of Music. Tom performed with Opera Holland Park as a Young Artist. On the concert platform Tom performs Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Verdi Requiem and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Bury St. Edmunds Cathedral,and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. Tom is looking forward to future performances of works by Bach, Maunder and Handel.  

Valerie Reid

Valerie was born in Fife, Scotland and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.Whilst there she was twice a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier and Royal Overseas League competitions. Valerie sang various operatic roles with English National Opera and completed a very successful tour as Lady Jane in the ETO production of the Gilbert and Sullivan masterpiece Patience and looks forward to the St John Passion, Vivaldi Gloria and St Matthew Passion in various venues across the UK. She is a highly respected vocal tutor both privately and at the London College of Music.

Graeme Danby

Graeme was born in Consett, County Durham in 1962 and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has sung over 1200 performances as a principal at the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera. 

John Porter

Hailing from Donegal, Ireland, John is a graduate of Royal Academy Opera and the University of Ulster. He currently studies under the tutelage of Rosa Mannion and has been a Young Artist for Garsington Opera and Northern Ireland Opera. This year John became part of Northern Ireland Opera’s Northern Songs project On the concert platform, John has performed works including personal favourites Bach’s St John Passion; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. Lewis Jean Shanks Trust, The Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust, Help Musicians UK, and The International Opera Awards Foundation.

Fae Evelyn

South African soprano Fae studied at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, before moving to the UK to continue her training at the Royal Northern College of Music. Fae is a busy concert and oratorio soloist, singing with many choral societies around the UK and with the Friends of Music and Music Revival concert series’ in South Africa. Operatic favourites usually involve performing fierce and fun characters such as Josephine in HMS Pinafore (Rocket Opera), and the Queen of The Night in The Magic Flute (Opera South East). She also has the pleasure of spending summers performing with either Grange Park Opera Ensemble or the Opera Holland Park Chorus.

Camilla Jeppeson

Camilla initially studied as a pianist before training as a singer. After completing the Associated Studios Opera Course in London, she began studies with renowned bass Graeme Danby. Most recently, she made her role debut as Musetta in La Bohème and her house debuts at Teatro Alighieri, Ravenna and Teatro del Giglio in Puccini's home town, Lucca. Camilla has performed all across the UK including at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Works performed include Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and the Mass in C minor, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Camilla also performs throughout the UK with her voice & harp duo Voce47. Upcoming engagements include Musetta in La Bohème, Bach’s St. John Passion and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor.

“Everybody was buzzing after the performance on Friday, smiling and appreciative of the quality of singing and outstanding piano accompaniment, plus the jovial acting, all very impressed with the whole performance.”

Travelling Songs at Brel

Camilla Jeppeson, Fae Evelyn Asher (sopranos), Valerie Reid (mezzo-soprano), John Porter (tenor), Tom Asher (baritone), Graeme Danby (bass), Stephanie Gurga (piano)

Concert at Brel (Thursday 14 October 2021)

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel - Tom Asher (baritone)

The Vagabond

Let Beauty Awake

The Roadside Fire

Youth and Love

In Dreams

The infinite shining heavens

Whither must I wander

Bright is the ring of words

I have trod the upward and the downward slope

South African Folk Songs - Fae Evelyn Asher (Soprano)

 Blaas op die pampoenstingel

Klein Piedeplooi

Die berggans het ‘n veer laat val

Waarom is die duiwel

Aandblom is ‘n witblom

Doer bo teen die rant

Enrique Granados - Tonadillas - Valerie Reid (Mezzo - soprano)

El tra la la y el punteado

Amor y odio

El majo timido

El majo discreto

 Traditional Irish Song - John Porter (Tenor)

 Star of County Down (text Cathal MacGarvey) 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Camilla Jeppeson (Soprano)

 Concert Aria - Vado, ma dove

 Flanders and Swann/ Tom Lehrer - Graeme Danby (bass) 

The Gnu

The Sloth

The Wienerschnitzel Waltz

When you are old and grey

The Hippopotamus

“Thank you so much for the fabulous concert on Saturday night. Congratulations to you, all your helpers and Graeme and his team. We are incredibly lucky to live here and have such wonderful music available.”

Alkyona Quartet

Emma Purslow, Marike Kruup (violins), Joseph Fisher (viola), Jobine Siekman (violoncello)

The Alkyona Quartet present fresh imaginative interpretations of both well-known and hidden gems of the string quartet repertoire. They are well known for their warm connection to audiences and vivacious performances. They are Tunnell Trust Award Holders 2020/21 and Making Music Selected Artists 2020-2021, and have performed in many leading UK venues. They were New Generation Artists at the Stift International Music Festival 2019 and residents at Music at Brel the same year. The Alkyonas also featured at the Lake District Summer Music Festival 2020, and performed the closing concert for the Huygens Festival 2020 which was broadcast live on Dutch TV channel Midvliet. They look forward to continuing their residencies at Leighton House Museum, Repton School, and Ipswich School, as well as tours of Scotland and the Netherlands, and performing with Anglo-American band Quimantu in 2021. The Alkyona Quartet released their debut album, ‘Intimate Letters’ in June 2020 in collaboration with Cegin Productions, which is available on all major streaming platforms. 

Concert at Brel (Saturday 14 August 2021)

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) - String Quartet in C Major, Op 54 No 2

Vivace - Adagio - Menuetto: allegretto - Adagio - Presto - Adagio

Nicolai Kapustin (1937 - 2020) - String Quartet No 1, Op 88

Allegro - Larghetto - Allegretto - Fuga  

INTERVAL 

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) - String Quartet No 13 in A Minor (“Rosamunde”)

Allegro ma non troppo - Andante - Menuetto : Allegretto - Trio - Allegro moderato

“Thank you so much for a wonderful evening of music on Saturday. It was a very special and rare treat.”

Music at Brel in 2020

Our summer season at Brel had started to be planned when lockdown arrived. We had four or 5 groups pencilled in but once we were locked down we waited to see what would happen. We just did not know whether travel would be allowed, groups would be allowed or indeed whether any possibly musicians would find paid work which would be more attractive after months of not working.

In the end we’ve had two groups - the other groups couldn’t make it. We checked rules and regulations and things are more relaxed for a private house and a private concert. We checked with our audience. While some people admitted that they weren’t going out at all for the time being, others got excited about the possibllity of a concert but asked that everyone should wear masks. We socially distanced the chairs and thought that we could accommodate around 60 - half our normal maximum.

Our audience, spaced out for social distancing and masked.

Keval Shah, Bethan Langford, Joe Shiner and Piran Legg

Bethan Langford (mezzo soprano), Piran Legg (baritone), Joseph Shiner (clarinet), Keval Shah (piano)

Mezzo-soprano Bethan Langford is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio, and made her solo recital debut at Wigmore Hall in March 2020. She has sung roles at the Royal Opera House, and at Verbier and Glyndebourne. Future engagements include English National Opera and the Edinburgh International Festival.

Piran Legg is a bass-baritone from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama: he has performed in concert and opera around the UK and abroad. As a soloist, Piran has performed with Scottish Opera, at Garsington and with the London Symphony Orchestra. Alongside his performance schedule, Piran runs a vocal studio from his home in Shropshire.

Joseph Shiner is an award-winning clarinettist, active in recital internationally. He has given recitals at venues including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, Barbican Centre and KKL Luzern, with artists including the Allegri Quartet, Sholto Kynoch, Keval Shah, and Somi Kim. His debut disc of Brahms’ complete clarinet chamber music was released to critical acclaim in 2019, and he looks forward to recording his second CD this autumn.

Keval Shah is a pianist specialising in song accompaniment and chamber music. He is head of Lieder at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and performs regularly at major concert halls and festivals across Europe. Recent highlights include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival and the Heidelberger Frühling. Keval studied at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, graduating from both institutions with distinction.

The musicians gave a first concert at Brel on Sunday 2 August 2020

First Encounters Paul Jeanjean

Clair matin Franz Schubert

An Sylvia Olivier Messiaen

Vocalise-Étude W. A. Mozart

Requited Love Cecile Chaminade

Viens, mon bien-aimé! Maurice Ravel

Pièce en forme de Habañera Arr. Hamilton Harty

My Lagan Love Gabriel Fauré

Clair de lune Johannes Brahms

Heartbreak and Remembrance arr. Benjamin Britten

The trees they grow so high Tom Bowling

Let it be forgotten George Crumb

Wind Elegy Franz Schubert

A second concert was held at Brel on Monday 3 August 2020

From Arianna a Naxos - Joseph Haydn Recitativo: Teseo, mio ben!…Aria: Dove sei, mio bel tesoro Recitativo: Ma, a chi parlo? Aria: Ah, che morir vorrei… Misera abbandonata

Sea Fever - John Ireland

Tom Bowling - arr. Benjamin Britten

O Waly Waly - arr. Benjamin Britten

The trees they grow so high - arr. Benjamin Britten

My Lagan Love - arr. Hamilton Harty

Sonata for clarinet and piano - Francis Poulenc Allegro tristamente/Romanza/Allegro con fuoco

Juliette Sabbah and Fabien Hyon

Fabien Hyon (tenor), Juliette Sabbah (piano)

After the Paris Conservatoire, Fabien Hyon was resident at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium. He has performed in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Chorégies d'Orange, Wigmore Hall and Snape Maltings. He will soon make his debuts as Dickson in Boieldieu's La Dame Blanche on tour in many opera houses in France, and Normanno in Donizetti's Lucia di Lamermoor at Angers-Nantes Opéra.

Pianist and vocal coach Juliette Sabbah graduated from the Royal Academy of Music. A laureate of the Oxford Lieder Mastercourse and the Fondation Royaumont, she has performed at the Limoges Opéra, the Abbaye de Royaumont, and Salle Wagram. She has been the vocal coach for Pelléas et Mélisande, Die Zauberflöte, and Le Nozze di Figaro. This season, she will be working with the Orchestre Régional de Normandie on Philip Glass's La Belle et la Bête at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris. Fabien and Juliette will be recording their first CD with the program Paris Vagabond in collaboration with the label Passavant in September 2020.

Juliette and Fabien gave two concerts at Brel on Saturday 29 August 2020 and Monday 31 August 2020

Paris Vagabonde Joseph Kosma - Chanson de la Seine /Le Cancre (Jacques Prévert)

Reynaldo Hahn - Le marchand de marrons

Francis Poulenc - Ce doux petit visage (Paul Éluard)

Kosma - Chasse à l’enfant (Prévert)/Les enfants qui s'aiment (Prévert)/Jardin (Prévert)/ Paris at night (Prévert)

Albert Roussel - Jazz dans la nuit

Poulenc - Banalités (Guillaume Apollinaire)

Hahn - Encore sur le pavé

Kosma - À la belle étoile (Prévert)

Poulenc - Cinq poèmes de Paul Éluard

Kosma - La Grasse matinée (Prévert)

Déodat de Séverac - Le ciel est par-dessus le toit Kosma - Les oiseaux du soucis (Prévert) - Compagnons des mauvais jours (Prévert)

2019 Residencies

Academy of French Song and Opera

28 June - 6 July 2019

Pianists: Caroline Dowdle, Christopher Glynn, Matthew Gemmill Course Leaders: Florence Daguerre de Hureaux, Caroline Dowdle, Christopher Glynn

British mezzo Hannah Bennett is on the Preparatory Opera MA studying with Yvonne Howard and Matthew Fletcher at the Royal Academy of Music as a Nan Copeland Scholar. Recent roles include: The Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen, RAM), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, RAO), Charlotte (Werther, RAM), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Italian Summer School) and Flora (The Enchanted Pig, Dove/HGO). Hannah, a 2019 Leeds Lieder Young Artist, has performed at the Wigmore Hall and the Oxford Lieder Festival with the RAM Song Circle.

Fleuranne Brockway is an Australian lyric mezzo. She recently completed an Artist Diploma in Opera at the Royal College of Music International Opera School, London. Before moving to Europe, Fleuranne was a young artist with West Australian Opera and the Melba Trust Scholars. This August, Fleuranne joins Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden as a member of their principal ensemble for their 2019-2020 season. Upcoming roles include: Mercédès (Carmen), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Dritte Magd (Elektra), Rosette (Manon), Blossom (Anna Nicole).

Johanna Harrison is a British soprano currently studying at the Guildhall School under the tutelage of Marcus van den Akker and Janice Chapman. Past roles include Zweite Dame and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, (Westminster Opera, Château de Panloys) and Mercédès (Carmen) for Dartington Festival, amongst many others. Future projects include the role of First Harvester in McNeff’s The Burning Boy for the Three Choirs Festival, Tewkesbury Abbey, and the role of Flora (La traviata) for Hampstead Garden Opera, Sicily.

Clare Hood is a coloratura soprano from New Zealand studying with Jane Irwin at the Royal Northern College of Music, supported by the Waverly Fund, the Anne Reid Memorial Trust, an Anne Bellam Scholarship, and a Graduate Women NZ Fellowship. Roles include Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Le Feu (L’enfant et les sortilèges), and Israelitish Woman (Judas Maccabeus). Clare has also been a member of NZ Opera’s Freemason’s Chorus, most recently for their productions of Aida, Manon Lescaut, and L’elisir d’amore.

The Irish baritone Matthew Mannion is a final year undergraduate at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where he studies with Owen Gilhooly and Dearbhla Collins. In 2018-19 he sang the role of Surgeon in the Irish Premiere of Banished (RIAM), toured with Irish National Opera’s Orfeo ed Euridice, sang First Priest in The Magic Flute with Irish National Opera, and created the role of Liam in Tom Lane’s BackStage (Cork Midsummer Festival). Other roles include: Samuel (Pirates of Penzance), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Marchese (La traviata), Moralès (Carmen), Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly), Masetto (Don Giovanni), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) and Second Elder in Handel’s Susanna.

Matthew Gemmill studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where his teachers are Eugene Asti, Iain Burnside, and Julius Drake. Before moving to London, Matthew was based in Chicago, where he enjoyed a varied career as a pianist, accompanist, vocal coach, and educator. Mr. Gemmill’s mentors and teachers include Martin Katz, Daniel Paul Horn, and Carolyn Hart. He has participated in masterclasses with Elly Ameling, Stephanie Blythe, Jane Eaglen, Håkan Hagegård, Warren Jones, and Dawn Upshaw.

Concert at Brel Friday 5 July 2019

Chacun le sait (La Fille du Régiment - Donizetti) Clare Hood

Voi che sapete (Le Nozze di Figaro - Mozart) Hannah Bennett

La Mort des amants(Baudelaire - Debussy) Hannah Bennett

Les Berceaux (Prudhomme - Fauré) Matthew Mannion

Papageno’s suicide aria (Die Zauberflöte - Mozart) Matthew Mannion

Papageno/Papagena duet (Die Zauberflöte - Mozart) Johanna Harrison, Matthew Mannion

Berceuse and Kitty Valse (Dolly Suite - Fauré) Caroline Dowdle, Christopher Glynn

Ein Traum (von Bodenstadt - Grieg) Johanna Harrison

Cantique (Maeterlinck - Nadia Boulanger) Johanna Harrison

Barcarolle (Les Contes d’Hoffmann - Offenbach) Fleuranne Brockway, Clare Hood

Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte (Runeberg - Sibelius) Amor (Wieinstein - Bolcom) Fleuranne Brockway

Brel Song School

8-15 July 2019

Course Leaders Amanda Roocroft - soprano, Joseph Middleton - piano

Naoki Toyomura (Piano, New Zealand) is pursuing an MPhil in Performance Studies at Hughes Hall, Cambridge having graduated from the Eastman School of Music and University of Rochester. At Cambridge, he is participating in the Pembroke College Lieder Scheme and Instrumental Award Scheme and conducts the Hughes Hall choir and Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra.

Merce Bruguera (mezzo-soprano, Barcelona) studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Joseph Middleton. Her time at Academy has included operatic experience (Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare a Fairy in Dvorak’s Rusalka). In 2018 she won the Elena Gerhardt Lieder Prize; she is a current member of the Academy’s ‘Song Circle’ and the ‘Bach the European’ series.

Danish mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie Jensen is a Royal Academy of Music Scholar where she studies with professors Giles Underwood and James Baillieu. Recent performances include Bach’s ‘Matthew Passion’ with Trevor Pinnock and his B minor Mass with The Instruments of Time and Truth. In May, Anne-Sofie received critical acclaim for her London operatic debut as Rosmira in Handel’s ‘Partenope’ with Hampstead Garden Opera.

Stephen Whitford is a baritone, who grew up in Cheltenham (UK). He studied Classics at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was also a choral scholar. He has spent the last year living and working in Berlin, where he just performed ‘Die Fledermaus’ and ‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia’. In September he will start studying at the Royal Academy of Music.

Claire Ward is a soprano from West Sussex (UK) who has just completed an MA at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She previously studied at the Conservatoire de Toulouse and Durham University. Claire sings regularly in Bach Cantatas, and has recently covered Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Grange Festival.

Chloe Allison is in her second year of her PhD in Cambridge University’s Music Faculty, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She is a Making Music Selected Artist, together with Adam. Her recent on-stage performances include Ottavia (‘L’incorronazione di Poppea’), Maurya in Vaughan Williams’ ‘Riders to the Sea’, the Princess (Puccini’s ‘Suor Angelica’) and the title role in ‘Carmen’.

Dublin-born pianist Adam McDonagh is a Samling Artist, a Making Music Selected Artist and a graduate of the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and Queens’ College, University of Cambridge. Adam has received many awards and grants in Ireland and has acted as accompanist in masterclasses of Patricia Bardon, Dame Emma Kirkby, Ailish Tynan, Dame Ann Murray and Maxim Vengerov.

Humphrey Thompson is the Prince Hohenzollern Scholar at the Royal College of Music, where he studies with Russell Smythe. This November, he will make his London operatic debut as Schaunard in Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’ with Hampstead Garden Opera. Recently, he made his international concert debut in Spain, singing the arias in Bach’s ‘John Passion’. He gives regular recitals around London with So Far Sounds.

Annabel Kennedy is a Mezzo-Soprano from Devon, studying at the Royal College of Music under the tutelage of Amanda Roocroft and Caroline Dowdle. Recent prizes include: 1st Prize in the RCM Concerto Competition, 1st Prize for the AESS Courtney Kenny Award for English Song and the Undergraduate Prize in the 2018 Brooks van der Pump English Song Competition. Recent performances include singing in the chorus for the RCMIOS production of ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ directed by Sir Thomas Allen and Nevill Holt Opera’s production of ‘Cosi fan tutte’ directed by Adele Thomas.

The course participants gave a Concert on Sunday 14 July 2019

Claire Ward

C. Debussy: from Fetes Galantes 1: Clair de Lune; Fantoches

F. Poulenc: from Fiançailles pour Rire: Fleurs

Stephen Whitford

J. Ibert: from Chansons de Don Quichotte: Chanson du Duc; Chanson de la Mort

R. Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon

Anne-Sofie Søby Jensen

I.P.E. Lange-Müller: from ‘Sulamith & Salomon: Sulamiths Sang i Skovduelunden

F. Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade

J. Brahms: Auf dem Kirchhofe

Annabel Kennedy

G. Mahler: from ‘Rückert-Lieder’: Liebst du um Schönheit; Um Mitternacht

* INTERVAL *

Mercè Bruguera Abelló

H. Duparc: Chanson triste

R. Strauss: Mein Herz ist stumm Allerseelen

Chloe Allison

C. Debussy: from Trois Chansons de Bilitis: La Chevelure

H. Howells: King David

P. Viardot: Madrid

Humphrey Thompson

Beethoven: from An die ferne Geliebte: Nimm sie hin

M. A. Turnage: from Three Animal Songs: Last Words

M. Ravel: from Don Quichotte a Dulcinée: Chanson à boire

Ruisi Quartet

29 July - 4 August 2019

Alessandro Ruisi, Oliver Cave (violins), Luba Tunnicliffe (viola), Max Ruisi (violoncello)

Winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society award for Young British String Players, the critically- acclaimed Ruisi Quartet has established a reputation as a charismatic and expressive young ensemble that is emerging as one of the leading British string quartets of its generation. Founded by British/Sicilian brothers Alessandro and Max, the quartet perform regularly throughout the UK and Europe and were winners of the Kirckman Concert Society Artists award for 2018/19. They are one of ten quartets worldwide to have been selected for the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2019. Based in London, and dedicated to continually exploring and developing, the group have studied with a wide-range of leading musicians. In 2018, they were selected for an Aldeburgh Chamber Music Residency (working with cellist/conductor David Watkin), and for the IMS Prussia Cove masterclasses with Thomas Adés.

The Ruisi quartet was also invited on to the Artist Diploma in Chamber Music course at the Royal College of Music, working closely with Simon Rowland-Jones, whilst also receiving masterclasses from some of the world’s most eminent chamber musicians. Most recently, the group has also been working with Krzysztof Chorzelski, violist of the Belcea Quartet, as part of the Belcea Quartet Young Artists Scheme. Recent highlights have included their Wigmore debut, a tour of Scotland and live performances on BBC Radio 3. They look forward to making their Russian debut in Moscow in early 2020.

The Quartet gave a concert at Brel on Saturday 3 August 2019.

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) - String Quartet in F Minor, Op 20 No 5 Allegro moderat Minuetto Adagio Finale - Fuga a due Soggetti

Matthew Whittall (b. 1975) - Bright Ferment

Interval

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) — String Quartet No 14 in D Minor D810 (“Death and the Maiden”) — 1st Movement Allegro

Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945) — String Quartet No 2 Sz 67 Moderato Allegro molto capriccioso Lento

Trio Rouge

18 - 23 August 2019

Sophie Phillips (violin), Meera Priyanka Raja (violoncello), Leyla Cemiloglu (piano)

Trio Rouge was formed in 2014 at the Royal College of Music. Since then they have enjoyed performing in venues across London as well as receiving numerous masterclasses from many distinguished musicians, including the Sacconi Quartet, Trio Apaches, Mats Zetterqvist, Alina Ibragimova, and Alexander Chaushian. They were semi-finalists in the 2017 Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition.

Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) — Adagio and Allegro Op 70 (1849)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) — Sonata No 5 in F for violin and piano (“Spring” ), Op 24 (1801) Allegro Adagio molto espressivo Scherzo: Allegro mol Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) — Piano Sonata No 3 in A Minor , Op 28 (1917)

Interval

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) - Piano Trio No 1 in D Minor Op 49 (1838) Molto allegro ed agitato Andante con moto tranquillo Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace Finale: Allegro assai appassionato

Alkyonas Quartet

26 - 31 August 2019

Emma Pursloow, Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux (violins, Henrietta Hill (viola), Jobine Siekman (violoncello)

The Alkyonas Quartet was formed in Januarya 2018, as a collaboration between follows, graduates and current students of the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. They recently won the RCM String Quartet of the Year 2019, and look forward to releasing their debut album later in 2019 for Cegin Productions, featuring Janacek’s ‘Intimate Letters’ paired with new work by Cecilia Damstrom. They especially enjoy cross-collaborative project, including working with film makers; Indian Tabla player Kuljit Bhamra MBE; actress Saskia Reeves; composer Caroline Heslop; and an exciting project with actor Willian Marquez in 2020. They played at the Stift International Festival in Holland in August 2019 and will be at the Lake District Summer Music International Festival in 2020. They are working on an innovative collaboration with ballet choreographer Richard Bermange on a film of Janacek’s ‘Intimate Letters’.

The Quartet gave a concert at Brel on Friday 30 August 2019

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - String Quartet no 63 in B float major Op 76 No 4 (Sunrise) Allegro con spirito/Adagio/Menuet-Allegro/Finale-Allegro ma non troppo

Bela Bartok (1881-1945) String Quartet No 5 Sz102 1st Movement Allegro

Interval

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - from the Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 1

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) String Quartet in F Major, 1st Movement Allegro moderato - tres doux

Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) -String Quartet No 13 (Quartetto Corte) Allegro moderato/Lento/Allegro Risoluto

Olivia Warburton, Kieran Rayner, Johan Barnoin and Gamal Khamis

31 August - 5 Sept 2019

Olivia Warburton and pianist Johan Barnoin Olivia Warburton and pianist Johan Barnoin Olivia Warburton (mezzo-soprano), Kieran Rayner (baritone), Johan Barnoin, Gamal Khamis (piano)

Olivia Warburton studied on the Opera Course at the Royal Academy of Music as the Norman Ayrton Scholar. Recent operatic roles include the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Ino in Handel’s Semele, Stewardess in Dove’s Flight and the title role in Dido and Aeneas for Royal Academy Opera and The Grange Festival. Earlier this year she made her operatic debut at both the London and Halle Handel Festivals. A passionate recitalist, Olivia has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Oxford Lieder Festival, Buckingham Palace and the Aldeburgh Festival. She is a Samling Artist, a Britten-Pears Young Artist, and a graduate of the Georg Solti Accademia, the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Köln and the Internationale Sommerakademie at the Mozarteum, Salzburg. She was a recent prize winner at the 1st International Haydn Competition in Vienna.

New Zealand baritone Kieran Rayner studied at the RCM Opera School with Russell Smythe. Young Artist with Garsington Opera, Verbier Festival, Samling Arts, Britten Pears Foundation, and winner of Royal Over-Seas League Crashaw Prize for Outstanding Overseas Musician 2018. Has performed principal roles with Garsington Opera, English Touring Opera, NAFA Singapore, Eternity Opera NZ, British Youth Opera, and Euphonia Opera, plus eight roles at RCMIOS. Concert highlights include the Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace with John Wilson, and an Oxford Lieder Festival recital. Upcoming performances include Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Devon Opera), Mozart and Faure Requiems (St-Martin-in-the-Fields).

Johan Barnoin was born and raised in Nice. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2016 where he studied with Tatiana Sarkissova, James Bailieu, Michael Dussek and Ian Brown. During his studies, Johan won the Jean Shanks accompaniment award, the Ludmilla Andrews Russian Song Prize, the Schumann Song Prize, the Marjorie Thomas Prize and the Jacob Barnes Scholarship. He is an Oxford Lieder Young Artist, a Britten Pears Young Artist and has taken part in masterclasses with Roger Vignoles, Andrew West, Wolfgang Holzmair and Imogen Cooper. He is delighted to have gained a place to study a Master’s degree at the Paris conservatoire under Professor Anne Le Bozec, which will commence in September 2019. After gaining a degree in Mathematics at Imperial College London, pianist Gamal Khamis completed his formal musical education at the Royal College of Music.

Born in London in 1988, Gamal was introduced to the piano at the age of four, and six years later performed at the Wigmore Hall. Gamal is an Artist with the Concordia Foundation, Royal Over-Seas League, Park Lane Group and Samling, and is a member of the Lipatti Piano Quartet. Upcoming plans include recitals in Denmark and the USA, and a tour of his second show with the actor Christopher Kent “Odyssey - Words and Music of Finding Home.”

The singers and accompanists gave a concert at Brel on Wednesday 4 September 2019

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Chloë

Joseph Haydn She never told her love

Franz Schubert Der Jüngling an der Quelle Gretchen am Spinnrade Abendstern

Franz Schubert Willkommen und Abschied

François Poulenc Montparnasse

George Butterworth Is my team ploughing?

Hugo Wolf Abschied

Hugo Wolf Auch Kleine Dinge Nein, junger Herr Anakreons Grab

Erich Korngold Alt-Spanisch Gefasster Abschied

Claude Debussy Nuit d’étoiles Fantoches

Maurice Ravel Le Paon Chanson Romanesque

Petr Eben Rozhovor Jdu za tabou

Gustav Mahler Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld Ich hab ein glühend Messer

Gerald Finzi The Clock of the Years

Douglas Milburn Reverie

Robert Schumann Der Contrabandiste

Huw Wiggin and Timothy End

21-28 October 2019

Huw is professor of saxophone at the Royal Academy of Music in London and has given master classes at the Royal Northern College of Music, Chetham’s School of Music, NAFA in Singapore and the Universities of Calgary and Lethbridge in Canada. A keen chamber musician, he is also a member of the Ferio Saxophone Quartet. The quartet signed with Chandos Records in 2016 and has released two highly successful discs for the label: ‘Flux’ in July 2017 and ‘Revive’ in November 2018.

Timothy End, ARAM, graduated from King’s College, London before entering the Royal Academy of Music. gaining the DipRAM award for an outstanding recital. A multiple first-prize winner, Timothy was awarded both the Pianist Prize and Jean Meikle Duo Prize with the baritone Jonathan McGovern at the Wigmore Hall Song Competition. Further prizes include the Acccompanists’ Prize at the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards, the Parnell Award for an Accompanist at the ROSL Annual Music Competition, the Gerald Moore Award and the MBF Accompanist Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Competition.

Huw and Tim gave a concert at Brel on Sunday 27 October 2019

François Borne — Fantaisie Brillante sur des airs de Carmen

Astor Piazzolla — Oblivion

Johann Sebastian Bach — Concerto in G Minor BWV 1056R (arr Wiggin) 1. Moderato 2. Largo 3. Presto

Charles Koechlin — Etude No 2

Robert Schumann —Arabeske Op 18

Darius Milhaud — Scaramouche 1. Vif 2. Modéré 3. Brasileira

John Williams — Escapades 1. Closing in 2. Reflections 3. Joy Ride

2018 Residencies

Aleksey Semenenko and Friends

Aleksey Semenenko, violin; Octavie Dosaler-Lalonde, violoncello; Artem Belogurov, piano; Inna Firsova, piano

Aleksey Grigorievich Semenenko (violin), is a Ukrainian violinist and has been praised for performances replete with "verve, wit, delicatesse, and beautiful phrasing" (The Boston Musical Intelligencer). First Prize Winner of the 2012 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions, he joined the elite YCA roster and debuted in New York at Merkin Hall, in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center, and in Boston at theIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He will perform shortly in Boston and at the Harvard Musical Association.

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde (violoncello) is a versatile musician, whose primary focus is historically informed performance practice. She researches and uses techniques and instruments according to the time of the music she plays. After studying modern cello she went on to study baroque cello in Montreal and Amsterdam, the city where she has lived since 2014. In September 2016, Octavie won the second Prize at the Concours Corneille, International Competition for baroque soloists in Rouen.

Artëm Belogurov (piano) Highly aclaimed in the Boston Musical Intelligencer and praised for his“infinite tenderness” (Evening Odessa), Artëm Belogurov has a particular affinity for the Viennese classical style, in which he is distinguished by his use of improvisatory ornamentation. His critically acclaimed album of solo piano works by the late nineteenth century American Romantic composers, recorded on a 1873 Chickering, was released by the London based label Piano Classics in 2015. He is also a discerning advocate of contemporary music, and collaborates with a number of composers.

Inna Firsova (piano) is a young pianist who is quickly gaining the attention of audiences and the press for her solo performances, as well as for her concerts with violinist Aleksey Semenenko. She and Semenenko have given numerous duo-concerts throughout the United States and Europe. During 2017-2018, Inna’s busy performance calendar will include concerts throughout Europe and the United States. Notably, she performs Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto with the Warsaw Symphony Ochestra.

Tony Schemmer‘s rock opera, Phaust, was produced at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater in 1980. His works have been performed in St. Petersburg and Moscow, in that part of Europe lying to their south and west, and in the more discerning of The Lower 48, USA.

Concert 7 July 2018

André Previn (1929 - ): Sonata No. 2 (2012)

Tony Schemmer (1946 - ): Sonata for Reed and Piano,1981 (Adapted for violin by the composer)

Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843–1900) - Andante from Sonata for piano and ‘cello, Op. 64

Anton Rubinstein (1829–1894) - Melody in F, arranged for ‘cello and piano by Léopold Auer

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) - Abendlied op. 85 no 12, arranged for ‘cello and piano by Léopold Auer

Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) Movements from Sonata for Violin and Piano, in C minor, Opus 45

Brel Song School

Amanda Roocroft - soprano, Joseph Middleton - piano Annabel Kennedy - mezzo soprano, Elizabeth Searle, Angharad Davies, Nina Kanter - soprano Martin Enger Holm - tenor, Charles Cunliffe - baritone, Gary Beecher, Richard Gowers - piano

Annabel Kennedy is a mezzo soprano going into her fourth year of vocal studies at the Royal College of Music. She studies with Amanda Roocroft and Gary Matthewman. She recently won second prize in AESS Courtney Kenny English Song Competition and first prize for the Undergraduate Brooks van der Pump English Song Competition at RCM. She is looking forward to performing in the Chorus for RCM’s upcoming production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Sir Thomas Allen.

Charles Mathieson Cunliffe, 22, is an English baritone who has recently completed his second year as an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music. He studies with Giles Underwood and Joseph Middleton. Previously, he was bass choral-scholar at Peterborough Cathedral under the direction of Steven Grahl. Recently, Charles toured as a soloist with the Ionian University of Greece, performing Allegri’s Miserere, including concerts in Rome, Assisi and Corfu.

Elizabeth Searle graduated from Oxford University with a First in Music last year. Whilst there, she enjoyed exploring both solo and choral singing; performing with her own College Choir as well as in the Magdalen Consort. During her undergraduate degree, she studies with Carys Lane and now continues her studies with John Upperton.

Welsh soprano Angharad Davies graduated with Distinction for her Vocal Performance Postrgraduate Diploma from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2017 where she studied with Suzanne Murphy and Michael Pollock. During her time there she was awarded the Mansel Thomas Memorial Award and the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales Music Scholarship. Angharad is currently studying privately with Amanda Roocroft and Michael Pollock, and performs both as a freelance soloist and with her chamber music ensembles.

Norwegian tenor Martin Enger Holm studies his Bachelor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music with Neil Mackie and Matthew Fletcher. He started his singing career as a soloist in the Norwegian boys’ choir Solvguttene, one of Norway’s most sought-after choirs and the Norwegian Opera’s Children’s Choir. He receives an entrance scholarship from RAM every year and is also generously supported by Tom Wilhelmsen Foundation, Astrup-Fearnley Foundation, Sammenslaingsstiftelsens Foundation for Young Musicians and Andersen Sveaas’ Foundation in Norway.

British soprano Nina Kanter recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with Distinction and the Grabowsky Connell Prize, having studied with Kate Paterson and Joseph Middleton. During her studies Nina was a prizewinner in the Joan Chissell Schumann Lieder Prize and was a Josephine Baker Trust Artist. Nina is a Britten-Pears Young Artist, an Opera Prelude Artist and was an ENOA Artist at Polish National Opera. In concert, highlights include appearances at the Aldeburgh Festival and Oxford Lieder Festival. Previously Nina studied at Cambridge University and with English National Opera and Glyndebourne Opera. Future plans include performing as part of the first Rachmaninov Song Festival.

Gary Beecher was winner of the ‘Irish Freemason’s Young Musician of the Year’ and graduated as ‘Highest Placed Student’ and ‘Best Overall Student’ from the Bachelor of Music Degree at the Cork School of Music, Ireland. Now based in London, Gary is an Artist Masters scholarship student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studies with the song accompanist Julius Drake and chamber music specialist Caroline Palmer. Most recently, Gary was the winner of the Franz Schubert Lieder Accompanist Prize in the Guildhall School. British pianist Richard Gowers studies with Michael Dussek and Joseph Middleton at the Royal Academy of Music. He previously studied at the Mendelssohn Conservatoire in Leipzig, and then read Music at Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar at King’s College. He has an active schedule of concerts around Europe, occasionally venturing beyond for concerts in Australia, the USA and Japan. In September his debut CD, a disc of Messiaen, will be released. www.richardgowers.com

Concert 14 July 2018

Annabel Kennedy - mezzo soprano, Gary Beecher - piano

Dvorak: ‘Gipsy Songs’ Op. 55, I - IV

Wolf : ‘Verborgenheit’ Op.131

Charles Mathieson Cunliffe - baritone, Richard Gowers - piano

Bridge: ‘Isobel’

Jeffreys: ‘Full fathom five’

Gurney: ‘Thou didst delight my eyes’

Finzi: ‘Who is Silvia?’ from Let us garlands bring

Strauss: ‘Nachtgang’

Elizabeth Searle - soprano, Richard Gowers - piano

Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben

Angharad Davies - soprano, Gary Beecher - piano

Poulenc: Banalites

Martin Enger Holm - tenor, Gary Beecher - piano

Schubert: ‘Nachtstuck’; Die Schone Mullerin: 3. ‘Halt!’ 4. ‘Danksagung an den Bach’

Duparc: ‘Extase’; ‘Le manoir de Rosemonde’

Nina Kanter - soprano, Richard Gowers - piano

Wagner: ‘Wesendonck’ Lieder, ‘Schmerzen’ & ‘Träume’

Dvorak: ‘Gypsy Songs’, op. 55, nos. IV - VII

Daphnis Piano Trio

Maria Gîlicel (violin), Jobine Siekman (violoncello), Maria Kustas (piano)

The Daphnis Piano Trio was formed by talented emerging musicians at the Royal College of Music, London, in 2017. The trio has performed across the UK, including London venues and Champs Hill Concert Hall in Sussex. In April 2018 the trio was nominated by the RCM for the Birmingham Intercollegiate Piano Trio Competition and won the Third Prize. The repertoire of the trio ranges from Baroque and Classical periods to the modern and newly commissioned music. The ensemble has received tuition from such high profile musicians as Mark Messenger, Simon Lepper, Suzie Meszaros, Leonid Kerbel, Ben Hancox and others.

Concert at Brel, Roquecor, Monday 13 August 2018

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) - Sonata for piano and violoncello, L144 (1915)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) - Piano Trio in C, K548 (1788)

Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918) - D’un matin de printemps (1918)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) - Piano Trio No 2 in C Minor, Op 66 (1845)

Academy of French Song and Opera

16-25 August 2018

Pianist: Katie Wong Course Leaders: Florence Daguerre de Hureaux, Caroline Dowdle, Jean-Paul Pruna

The Norwegian mezzo-soprano Marcela Randem has studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Norwegian Opera Academy. While studying she has sung parts such as the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Cherubino (Le Nozze de Figaro) and Prince Charmant (Cendrillon). She has been a soloist in the Norwegian Concert Hall, with the Oslo Camerata.

The Norwegian soprano Victoria Randem, one of the youngest entrants in the history of the Opera Academy. She has already performed roles such as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Cendrillon in Cendrillon and Drusilla in L’Incoronazione di Poppea. Forthcoming engagements include Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel at the Norwegian National Opera. In 2017 she won the Ruud-Wallenberg scholarship for young singers, and in 2018 she won the First Prize in the “Friends of the Opera Academy Competition”.

Often praised for her unique timbre and expression, the young Norwegian mezzo-soprano Eira Sjaastad Huse divides her time equally between opera and lieder. Her forthcoming engagements include Lady Capulet with Opéra de Lyon's Opera Studio in France, a recital at the Oxford Lieder Festival in England and the title role in Dido and Æneas at Ramme Gård Opera in Norway.

American-Norwegian soprano Martina Starr-Lassen graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in June 2017. She continued her studies this year under Stephen Robertson and Elizabeth McCormack, and will begin a masters course at the RNCM this autumn. Martina is an expressive singer with a passion for languages, art song, opera and ensemble singing, and has been a member of the Bergen National Opera’s Young Voices programme since 2013.

The mezzo-soprano Reut Ventorero was born in Israel and is currently living in Rome. She has recently finished the opera studio of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma where she has sung various roles on the main stage. Recently she sang Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in Switzerland, and Teresa (La Sonnambula), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) in Rome. Reut has a vast concert repertoire as soloist in major halls in Europe and Israel. She has been selected to participate in the academy of Aix-en-Provence and the Luzern and Ambronay festivals.

British mezzo-soprano Olivia Warburton is currently studying on the Opera Course at the Royal Academy of Music, London. She is a Britten Pears Young Artist, a Samling Artist and a member of the Academy's prestigious Song Circle. A keen recitalist, Olivia has made debuts at the Aldeburgh and Oxford Lieder Festivals. Recent operatic roles include the title role in Dido and Aeneas for The Grange Festival, the title role in Teseo for the London Handel Festival and the Stewardess in Flight for RAO.

Katie Wong is a versatile pianist who specialises in accompaniment and répétiteur work. She is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where she is also a member of the prestigious Academy Song Circle. Before that she read music at Queens’ College, Cambridge, where she received the Beament Prize. She most recently worked as a répétiteur in the production of Così fan Tutte at the Ryedale Festival, in the UK.

Concert 25 August 2018

Faites-lui mes aveux (Faust, Gounod) - Reut Ventorero

Rêverie; Pêcheur de Lune (Rosenthal) - Martina Starr-Lassen

Dans les ruines d’une abbaye (Fauré) - Olivia Warburton

Voi che sapete (Le nozze de Figaro, Mozart) - Reut Ventorero

An Chloé (Mozart) - Olivia Warburton

Près des remparts de Séville (Carmen, Bizet) - Marcela Randem

La Flûte Enchantée (Ravel) - Eira Sjaastad Huse

L’Indifférent (Ravel) - Eira Sjaastad Huse

Auch kleine dinge (Wolf) - Olivia Warburton

Si le bonheur (Faust, Gounod) - Reut Ventorero

Zdes harasho (Rachmaninov) - Martina Starr-Lassen

Sommernatt ved fjorden (Bjørnstad) - Marcela Randem Møte (Haugtussa, Grieg/Garborg) - Eira Sjaastad Huse

Jade Moffat, Jonathan Radford, and Gamal Khamis

27 August - 2 September 2018

Jade Moffat - mezzo-soprano, Jonathan Radford - saxophones, Gamal Khamis - piano

Mezzo-Soprano Jade Moffat was born in Toowoomba, Australia, and relocated to the UK in 2015 to take up a place on the Guildhall School’s Opera Course. Jade recently made her Wigmore Hall recital debut with Independent Opera, and is a Samling Artist. She recently won the IFAC Australian Singing Competition, the Joan Sutherland Award, and is an Australian Music Foundation awardee for 2017/2018. Operatic roles include: Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), Zenobia (Radamisto), Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle), Fenena (Nabucco), Carmen (Carmen), Mother (Mavra), Marta (Iolanta), Fatima/Puck (Oberon), Diane (The Perfect American), Mrs Nolan (The Medium), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterly), and Tisbe (Cenerentola).

Saxophonist Jonathan Radford is the 2018 Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition Gold Medalist. Born in 1990 in Suffolk, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) and at the Royal College of Music. He is currently a young artist with Making Music (PDGYA), Park Lane Group, and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. He is featured as a Rising Star in the August 2018 BBC Music Magazine. Jonathan has given recitals at major venues in Europe including Wigmore Hall, Grieg Hall in Bergen and Philharmonie in Paris.

After gaining a degree in Mathematics at Imperial College London, pianist Gamal Khamis completed his formal musical education at the Royal College of Music. Born in London in 1988, Gamal was introduced to the piano at the age of four, and six years later performed at the Wigmore Hall. Gamal is an Artist with the Concordia Foundation, Royal Over-Seas League, Park Lane Group and Samling, and is a member of the Lipatti Piano Quartet. Upcoming plans include recitals in Australia and New Zealand, a performance of Beethoven’s Emperor concerto, and a tour of his WW1 show Never Such Innocence.

Concert at Brel, Roquecor, Saturday 1 September 2018

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) - Von ewiger liebe, Op 43 No 1 -Mädchenfluch Op 69 No 9

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) - From Songs Without Words Op 30, arranged for saxophone and piano (No 9 in E Major - Adagio non troppo - No 7 in E Flat Major - Andante espressivo)

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) - Tarantella, from Venezia e Napoli S159

Mark Anthony Turnage (1960 - ) - Sarabande

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) - Corpus Christi Carol

Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912) - Va! laisse couler mes larmes! from Werther

Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974) - Scaramouche Op 165

Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924) - En sourdine

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921) - Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix, from Samson et Dalila

Isaac Albéniz (1860 - 1909) - From Suite Española Op 47, arranged for saxophone and piano (2.Cataluña 3.Sevilla)

Xavier Montsalvatge (1912 - 2002) From Cinco Canciones Negras (4.Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito 5.Canto Negro)

Ruisi String Quartet

29 September - 6 October 2018

Alessandro Ruisi, Oliver Cave (violins), Luba Tunnicliffe (viola), Max Ruisi (violoncello)

Winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society award for Young British String Players, the Ruisi Quartet has established a reputation as a charismatic and expressive ensemble. Founded in 2012 by half-Sicilian brothers Alessandro and Max, the quartet perform regularly throughout the UK and Europe. They have been selected as Kirckman Concert Society Artists for 2018/19, and have also been awarded a place on the prestigious Belcea quartet scheme for 2018/19. Based in London, the group have given concerts at many leading venues, including the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, Brighton Dome and Conway Hall, plus appearances in Scotland, Spain, Germany and Austria. Dedicated to continually exploring and developing, the group have studied with a wide-range of leading musicians. In 2018, they were selected for an Aldeburgh Chamber Music Residency, and for the IMS Prussia Cove masterclasses with Thomas Adès, which allowed the quartet to work closely with mentor Simon Rowland-Jones.

For 2018/19 the quartet look forward to multiple concerts throughout the UK, including Holkham Hall this November and a performance at St John’s Smith Square in February 2019. Recent highlights include live performances on BBC Radio 3 and the use of the Vuillaume 'Evangelist' instruments that were on short-term loan to the quartet. The quartet are grateful for the long-term loan of a specially made set of matching instruments by Harris & Sheldon of London.

Concert at Brel, Roquecor, Friday 5 October 2018

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) - String Quartet in E Flat Major, Op 71 No 3

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) - String Quartet No 2 in A Minor, Op 13

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) — String Quartet No 8 in E Minor Op 59 No 2

2017 Residencies

Foyle - Štšura Duo

Michael Foyle (violin) and Makshim Štšura (piano)

Praised for 'playing of compelling conviction' (The Daily Telegraph) and 'astonishing mutual feeling, understanding and responsiveness' (Seen and Heard International), the duo won the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Duo Competition and the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in 2015. Since then, they have given recitals in Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, Bridgewater Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and for the New York Chamber Music Festival. They have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, NPO Radio 4 and Estonian Klassikaraadio.

Michael was BBC Young Musician of the in Year 2008, won the Royal Overseas League String Competition in 2013 and the Netherlands Violin Competition in 2016. He recently completed his studies at Vienna Konservatorium and this season is Guest-Leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé. Maksim won the Steinway-Klavierspiel-Wettbewerb in 2004, the Estonian Piano Competition in 2008, and the Intercollegiate Beethoven Piano Competition in 2013. He is currently completing his doctoral studies at the Royal College of Music in London.

www.foylestsuraduo.com

Concert 8 July 2017

Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Sonata for Violin and Piano in E flat major Op. 1

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Sonata for violin and piano FP119

Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953): Five Melodies for violin and piano Op. 35a

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992): Le Grand Tango for violin and piano, arr. Sofia Gubaidulina (born 1931)

Brel Song Academy

Amanda Roocroft - soprano, Joseph Middleton - piano Beatriz Santos, Elizabeth Reeves, Beatrice Acland, Issy Bridgeman - sopranos Charles Cunliffe - baritone Ella O’Neill, Keval Shah - piano

Welsh Soprano Issy Bridgeman has just completed her second year at the Royal College of Music, under Amanda Roocroft and Andrew Robinson. She has previously studied for a year at the Royal Welsh junior conservatoire in Cardiff, and looks forward to continuing her studies at the Royal College of Music.

Charles Mathieson Cunliffe, 21 years of age, is an English baritone who has recently completed his first year as an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music. He studies with Giles Underwood and Joseph Middleton. Previously, he was bass choral-scholar at Peterborough Cathedral under the direction of Steven Grahl.

British soprano Beatrice Acland has just graduated from the Masters in Opera Performance course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she studied with Lorna Anderson and Ingrid Surgenor. In September Beatrice is looking forward to covering the role of Donna Elvira in British Youth Opera’s Don Giovanni.

Portuguese soprano Beatriz Santos, 20 years old, is currently studying English Literature at Clare College, Cambridge. In the academic year 2016-17 she sang in Clare College Choir, touring in the USA and South East Asia, and recently took part in the Pembroke Lieder Scheme, a programme coached by Joseph Middleton.

American soprano Elizabeth Reeves recently graduated with a Master’s in Performance from the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied with Amanda Roocroft, David Rendall, and Simon Lepper. In the autumn, she looks forward to continuing her studies at the Welsh International Academy of Voice under the tutelage of Dennis O’Neill.

Ella O’Neill has just graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with first class honours, and will continue her studies in September at the Royal College of Music. There she will be doing her Masters in piano accompaniment with Simon Lepper and Kathryn Sturrock. Upcoming highlights for the summer include an opera gala at St-Martin-in-the-Field’s, a concert of Butterworth songs to remember veterans of the Battle of the Somme in collaboration with the Halle orchestra, and a production of La Boheme with Barefoot Opera.

Keval Shah has just graduated from the Royal Academy of Musyic, where he studied with Michael Dussek, Malcolm Martineau, and Audrey Hyland, and he will begin a Fellowship there in September. He is an Oxford Lieder Young Artist, a Britten Pears Young Artist, and a member of the Academy’s Song Circle, with whom he will make his debut at the Wigmore Hall next season.

Concert Saturday 15 July 2017

Issy Bridgeman - soprano, Ella O’Neill - piano

Mozart: Als Luise die Briefe, K. 520

Wolf: Lebe wohl, No.36 from Mörike Lieder

Wolf: O wär’ dein Haus, No.40 from Italienisches Liederbuch

Quilter: Dream Valley, Op.20, No.2 from 3 Songs of William Blake

Charles Mathieson Cunliffe - baritone, Keval Shah - piano

Quilter: Go Lovely Rose from 5 English Love Lyrics

Butterworth: Loveliest of Trees from Shropshire Lad

Somervell: Into My Heart from Shropshire Lad

Vaughan-Williams: Silent Noon from House of Life

Finzi: Who is Silvia? from Let Us Garlands Bring

Beatriz Santos - soprano, Ella O’Neill - piano

Granados: La Maja Dolorosa I, II, III

Dring: Song of a Nightclub Proprietess

Elizabeth Reeves - soprano, Keval Shah - piano

Debussy: C’est l’extase from Ariettes oubliées

Hahn: L’heure exquise

Rimsky-Korsakov: Vostochnïy romans (The Nightingale and the Rose)

Grieg: Jeg elsker dig!

Sibelius: Var det en dröm

Grieg: Ein Traum

Beatrice Acland - soprano, Ella O’Neill - piano

Strauss: Ständchen

Strauss: Allerseelen

Rachmaninoff: Harvest of Sorrow

Rachmaninoff: Before my window

Bridge: Love went a riding

Academy of French Song and Opera

Course Leaders: Florence Daguerre de Hureaux, Caroline Dowdle, Jean-Paul Pruna Pianist: Jâms Coleman

AFSO held their fourth summer course at Brel in August and gave a concert on Friday 25 August 2017.

Therese Ahlbeck is a soprano currently studying at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. She first trained as a pianist but decided to switch to opera and classical singing at the age of 19. She has sung Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at Vadstenas old theater, Emmie in Albert Herring at the University College of Opera. Therese loves opera but her heart belongs to lieder and mélodies, especially the Swedish ones.

Alejandra Gomez, mezzo,studied at Sociedad Internacional de Valores de Arte Mexicano, 2013 where she earned the "Placido Domingo Scholarship" for three years. She recently sang the roles Carmen by Bizet and Charlotte from Werther by Massenet with Artescenica Opera at Saltillo, Mexico. She is now a resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Betty Makharinsky, a British-Russian soprano, is currently studying for an Artist Masters at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. She trained as a violinist before becoming a singer. She has recently sung 2nd Lady and 2nd Spirit in the Magic Flute as well as Belinda in Purcell's Dido & Aeneas. Betty is a keen recitalist and consort singer.

Elspeth Marrow (mezzo) recently graduated from the Royal College of Music in London. Operatic roles include Dorinda, Acis and Galatea (RCM Aldeburgh Residency), Mrs Grose The Turn of the Screw (Euphonia Opera), Getrud Hansel and Gretel(RCMIOS), Polinesso Ariodante (LHF & RCMIOS), Florence Pike Albert Herring (RCMIOS), Hansel Hansel and Gretel, Madame de la Haltière Cendrillon, and Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly. Elspeth will be singing the role of Prudentia in Haydn’s Applausus with Classical Opera in 2018.

Alexandra Nowakowski, a Polish-American soprano, is a resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia where she has performed the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Musetta in La bohème. Alexandra won 1st Prizes in the Gerda Lissner Vocal Foundation Competition in New York city, the Violetta DuPont Opera Florham Competition and the American Council for PolishCulture's Marcella Sembrich Competition.

Alys Roberts is a Welsh soprano who recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music Opera school. Alys started singing in the Welsh folk tradition. At RAO, Alys has performed the roles of Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers, Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Pannochka in Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and Amore and Damigella in Monteverdi’s Poppea. She has also sung with WNO in their Welsh Language opera Gair ar Gnawd by Pwyll ap Sion.

Born in North Wales, Jâms Coleman (pianist) is an Oxford Lieder Young Artist and a Samling Artist. He has performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Oxford and Leeds Lieder Festivals, and Three Choirs Festival with artists including Sir John Tomlinson, James Gilchrist, Andrew Kennedy and Nicholas Mulroy. He has performed concertos by Mozart, Chopin, Brahms and Beethoven. He was a Choral Scholar and read Music at Girton College Cambridge and studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Concert Friday 25 August 2017

Noble Seigneurs, salut! (Les Huguenots, Meyerbeer) - Alejandra Gomez

Le sommeil; Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu; Les anges musiciens (La Courte Paille, Poulenc) - Alys Roberts

Sa main depuis hier (Hamlet, Thomas) - Therese Ahlbeck

Mandoline; Green (Fauré) - Betty Makharinsky

Villanelle (Dell’Acqua) - Alexandra Nowakowski

Letter Scene (Werther, Massenet) - Elspeth Marrow

Romance (Rachmaninov) - Jean-Paul Pruna, Caroline Dowdle, Jâms Coleman

Jungfru Blond och Jungfru Brunett (Stenhammar) - Therese Ahlbeck

Gweddi Pechadur (Morfydd Llwyn Owen) - Alys Roberts

Bell Song (Lakmé, Delibes) - Alexandra Nowakowski

Flower Duet (Lakmé, Delibes) - Alys Roberts, Elspeth Marrow

Johnny (Cabaret Songs, Britten) - Elspeth Marrow

Country Gardens (arr. Grainger) - Jâms Coleman, Jean-Paul Pruna, Caroline Dowdle

Granada (Lara) - Alejandra Gomez

Zelkova String Quartet and friends

Caroline Pether, Ed Pether (violins), Alex Mitchell (viola), Jonathan Pether (violoncello) Hattie Mitchell (viola), Petr Prause (violoncello)

The Zelkova Quartet made a second visit to Brel in late August 2017 with new members and 'friends' allowing them to play sextets as well. After a week of hard work with their tutor Petr Prause they gave a concert at Brel on Saturday 2 September 2017. Winners of the 2017 St Martin's Chamber Music Competition, the Manchester-based Zelkova Quartet was formed at the Royal Northern College of Music under the guidance of Petr Prause, cellist of the Talich Quartet. The original quartet were the first musicians to perform at Brel, in September 2011.

Recent performances include recitals at St Martin in the Fields, St John's Smith Square, Moscow's Rachmaninov Hall and the Bridgewater Hall for the Manchester Midday Concert Society. The group was selected for the Chamber Studio Study Programme 2016/2017, which enabled them to work with the highly esteemed chamber musician Simon Rowland-Jones. The quartet were delighted to have been selected to attend the prestigious International Musician's Seminar at Prussia Cove April 2017. The quartet takes its name from the beautiful Zelkova tree, which varies enormously in appearance depending on its species.

Concert Saturday 2 September 2017

Josef Haydn (1732 - 1809): String Quartet in E Flat Op 20 No 1

Franz Schubert: Quartettsatz in C Minor, D703

Mark-Anthony Turnage (1960 - ): Returning, for string sextet

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): String Sextet No 2 in G

Arcos String Quartet

Laia Braun, David Lopez (violins), Ana Alves (viola), Kristiana Ignatjeva (violoncello)

The Arcos Quartet is a young string quartet based in London. Formed in 2014 the quartet has regular coaching with the Head of Strings at the Royal College of Music, Mark Messenger, and masterclasses with other renowned musicians such as Andras Keller, Christoph Richter, Jan Talich, Pavel Fischer, Raphael Todes, Nicholas Jones, and Graham Oppenheimer. As first-prize winners of the annual RCM String Quartet Competition in 2015, the Arcos Quartet has been praised in recent concerts in Europe such as the Chipping Camden Music Festival, the Manchester String Quartet weekend, the Lucca Classica Festival in Italy and the Ipswich School Festival of Music. In 2015, the Arcos Quartet was awarded the Boconnoc Music Award and travelled to Cornwall for a quartet residency. The four members hail from different countries in Europe and are recipients of many scholarships, awards and numerous prizes in international competitions.

Concert Friday 22 September 2017

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): String Quartet in G, Op 76 No 1

Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): Three pieces for string quartet

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): String Quartet in G Minor, Op 10

Helen Sherman, Alexandra Lomeiko and Gamal Khamis

Helen Sherman (mezzo-soprano), Alex Lomeiko (violin), Gamal Khamis (piano)

Helen Sherman studied in Sydney and at the Royal Northern College of Music. She represented Australia at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. Helen is a Samling Scholar, associate artist for Classical Opera and YCAT alumnus. Recent engagements include Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) and Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte) for Opera North. Her concert appearances have included performances at Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and St. John’s Smith Square.

Born in 1991 in New Zealand, Alexandra Lomeiko moved to London where she has been very active both as a soloist and a chamber musician. She has most recently studied at the Royal College of Music.where she was an RCM Lark Scholar, supported by a Leverhulme Studentship and by awards from the Countess of Munster Trust, Hattori Foundation, Drake Calleja Foundation, Help Musicians UK Foundation and the Martin Music Scholarship Fund.

Gamal Khamis studied mathematics at Imperial College London, and then music at the Royal College of Music. He first performed at the Wigmore Hall aged 10, and now pursues a varied career as a soloist, accompanist, and chamber musician, winning the pianists’ prize at this year's Ferrier competition. He is a member of the Lipatti Piano Quartet.

Concert Friday 29 September 2017

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) A Charm of Lullabies, Op 41

Cradle Song (Sleep, sleep, beauty bright)

The Highland Balou (Hee Balou, my sweet wee Donald)

Sephestia’s Lullaby (Weep not my wanton)

A charm (Quietly Sleep Or I will make Erinnys whip thee with a snake)

The Nurse’s song (Lullaby baby)

Johnny (from Cabaret Songs)

Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945) Violin Sonata No 2 in C Major, Sz 76 Molto moderato - Allegretto

W. A. Mozart (1756 - 1791) Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio; from La Clemenza di Tito

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) Zigeunerlieder, Op 103 He, Zigeuner, greife in die Saiten (Hey Gypsy, strike the string) Hochgetürmte Limaflut (High and towering river Rima) Wißt ihr, wann mein Kindchen (Know ye, when my love is fairest of all) Lieber Gott, du weißt (Dear God you know how often I have rued this) Brauner Bursche führt zum Tanze (Brown the lad, blue-eyed the lass) Röslein dreie in der Reihe (Rosebuds three) Kommt dir manchmal in den Sinn (Art thou thinking often now, my love) Rote Abendwolken ziehn (Rosy evening clouds)

William Walton (1902 - 1983) At the haunted end of the day, from Troilus and Cressida

Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971) Divertimento, from Le Baiser de la Fée, transcribed by Stravinsky and Dushkin Sinfonia: Andante - Allegro sostenuto - Andante - Vivace Danses suisses: Tempo giusto Scherzo: Allegro grazioso Pas des deux - Adagio; Variation: Allegretto grazioso; Coda: Presto

2016 Residencies

Behn Quartet

Kate Oswin and Alicia Berendse – violins, Lydia Abell – viola, Ghislaine McMullin – violoncello

The Behn Quartet stayed with us just before Easter in March 2016. "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” (Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own) The Behn Quartet is a newly-founded string quartet made of four players from England, Wales, The Netherlands, and New Zealand. Their commitment to each other extends far beyond the practice room, creating highly engaging and emotionally-involved performances. The quartet wanted to take the name of an inspiring and strong female figure, and for them Aphra Behn, the seventeenth-century playwright and poet, philanthropist of the arts, feminist, spy and political activist, was the perfect choice. Currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, 2015/16, the Behn Quartet combines an intense passion for chamber music with a love of exploring new perspectives across centuries of music.

Recent engagements include working with Oliver Knussen on a CD of works centred around Stravinsky, to be released on Linn Records early next year. They have filmed for the NHK World (Japan) lecture series on Mozart, working with Professor Timothy Jones, and have taken part in masterclasses with the Fine Arts Quartet, Doric Quartet, Levon Chilingirian, and their principal mentor Martin Outram of the Maggini Quartet. They were also part of the official 40th Anniversary celebrations of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, featured on the BBC and in other news outlets worldwide, including a glowing review in Rolling Stone magazine. Upcoming performances include recitals at the Guiting Music Festival, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, and West Cork Chamber Music Festival, as well as for the Freemasons Guild, and an ongoing partnership with Christ Church Library, Oxford.

Concert Friday 25 March 2016

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento in F KV138

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 74 ‘Harp’

Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F major

The Brel Song Academy

Amanda Roocroft (soprano), Joseph Middleton (piano)

In 2016 pianist Joe Middleton teamed with soprano Amanda Roocroft to run a Lieder Course for young singers and pianists at Brel. For this pilot project three sopranos and two pianists attended daily one-to-one sessions to improve technique and build repertoire.

Belgian soprano Charlotte Schoeters just finished at the Royal Academy Opera in London with Lillian Watson and James Baillieu. In September (2016) she sang the role of Ms. Julian in the 2016 British Youth Opera production of Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave at the Peacock Theatre in London.

After finishing her diplomas in piano performance (Conservatoire de Strasbourg) and musicology (CNSMDP), Juliette Sabbah completed her masters in accompanying at the Royal Academy of Music in London with James Baillieu and Malcolm Martineau. Last summer she was the répétiteur for a production of Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole and Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel.

Regina Gössel studied singing in Leipzig at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdi Hochschule für Musik, and then sang for many years at the opera chorus in Zwickau Gewandhaus. In the UK she has performed principal roles in operas with semi-professional organisations, and a number of concerts in churches.

Lucinda Scott is from the Wirral in England and grew up learning the violin, piano, oboe and eventually singing. She has recently graduated with a first class honours degree from Birmingham Conservatoire and is now continuing her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Concert Saturday 9 July 2016

Britten: Tell me the truth about love

Schumann: Widmung, Erstes Grün, Melancholie, Die Spinnerin, Singet nicht in Trauertönen

Strauss: Allerseelen

Poulenc: Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant, Violon, Fleurs

Fauré: Clair de lune

Schubert: Liane, Ellens Zweiter Gesang

Mompou: Damunt de tu nomes les flors

Schumann: Zigeunerliedchen I & 11, Kennst du das Land

Grieg: Solveigs Lied

Walton: Three Edith Sitwell Songs - Daphne, Through Gilded Trellises, Old Sir Faulk

Ravel: Cinq melodies populaires grecques, Chanson de la mariee, Là-bas, vers l’église, Quel galant m’est comparable, Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisque, Tout gai!

Emily Garland, Julien van Mellaerts & Gamal Khamis

Emily Garland (soprano), Julien Van Mellaerts (baritone), Gamal Khamis (piano)

English soprano Emily Garland is from Somerset and has studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and Royal Academy Opera, where she has sung the roles of Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), and the Countess (Le Nozze Di Figaro). She was a Ferrier semi-finalist this year. Most recently, she appeared on Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ singing Liszt songs and promoting the Richard Lewis Song Circle recital at Wigmore Hall, in which she performed.

New Zealand baritone, Julien Van Mellaerts is in his first year of the Royal College of Music International Opera School. Before moving to London, Julien studied music and languages at the University of Otago. This summer he performed the role of Schaunard in La Boheme at Opera Holland Park.

Gamal Khamis studied mathematics at Imperial College London, and then music at the Royal College of Music. He first performed at the Wigmore Hall at the age of 10, and now pursues a varied career as a soloist and chamber musician. He is a member of the Lipatti Piano Quartet.

Concert Tuesday 2 August 2016

Fauré: Nell, Automne

Ravel: Le Paon

Debussy: Ballade de Villon à s’amye, Ballade des Femmes de Paris

Strauss: Four songs op 27

Chopin: Ballade No 3 op 4

Mahler: Two songs from Das Knaben Wunderhorn

Britten: On this Island

Korngold: Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen, from Die Tote Stadt

Verdi: Pace mio dio, from La Forza del Destino

Brel Opera House Party

Kate Valentine (soprano), Jonathan Gunthorpe, Damian Thantrey (baritones), Caroline Dowdle (piano)

Kate studied singing in Glasgow and at the National Opera Studio. She has performed regularly at English National Opera, Glyndebourne, and Opera North. It is her birthday today (as well as her fourth appearance at Brel), so she will be giving a euphonium recital during drinks.

Jonathan studied English and Russian at Leeds, and then music at the Royal College and the National Opera Studio, before singing roles at Covent Garden, La Scala, and La Monnaie in Brussels. He is a dab hand in the kitchen and is partial to a Negroni.

Damian read Law at Cambridge before seeing the light and studying at the Royal College of Music. He has a wide repertoire, performing at Covent Garden, the Chatelet in Paris, and for Opera North. He supports Liverpool Football Club, but this has no bearing on the final item tonight.

Caroline was born in South Africa, but studied music in the UK at the Royal Northern College. She is much in demand as an accompanist and vocal coach, working at the Royal Opera House, the Royal College, the Verbier Festival, and the Samling Foundation. Again, this is her fourth appearance at Brel, having co-founded the Academy of French Song and Opera, which has held a course here in each of the last 3 years. She is an accomplished knitter.

Concert Friday 12 August 2016

Ravel: Réveille-toi

Dvorak: The Cuckoo

Butterworth: When I was one and twenty, Is my team ploughing?

Finzi: Fear no more the heat o’ the sun

Musgrave: Man in the mune, Bairn’s prayer at nicht

Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon

Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée

Puccini: O mio babbino caro

Kern: The way you look tonight

Lehar: I’m off to chez Maxime, Love unspoken

Novello: And her mother came too

Lerner: I could have danced all night

Offenbach: The bold gendarmes

Mozart: Ah taci ingiusto core, from Don Giovanni

Emma Stannard and Keval Shah

Emma Stannard (mezzo soprano), Keval Shah (piano)

Cumbrian mezzo-soprano Emma Stannard, after studying at The Royal Northern College and spending two years in the Glyndebourne chorus, is now with Royal Academy Opera. This year she has sung Poppea in L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi), and next year will perform in Alcina (Handel) and Orfee aux Enfers (Offenbach). She also looks forward to Minerva in performances of Il ritorno d'Ulisse (Monteverdi) at the Grange Festival.

Keval Shah is a pianist from London. He was awarded a first class degree at Cambridge, and now studies with Michael Dussek and Audrey Hyland at the Royal Academy of Music. He was a finalist in the 2016 Royal Overseas League Competition, and won the Accompanist Prize at the 2016 Elena Gerhardt Lieder Competition. This autumn Keval will make his debuts at St Martin in the Fields and at the Oxford Lieder Festival.

Concert Thursday 25 August 2016

Maurice Ravel: Kaddisch

Eduard Grieg: Sechs Lieder

Robert Schumann: 5 Gedichte von Königin Maria Stuart, op 135

Manuel de Falla: Siete Canciones populares Españolas

Copland: Old American Songs (Long Time Ago, Ching-a-ring Chaw)

The Ferio Saxophone Quartet

Huw Wiggin (sop), Ellie McMurray (alt), José Bañuls (ten), Shevaughan Beere (bar)

The award-winning Ferio Saxophone Quartet is emerging as one of the leading British saxophone quartets among the new generation, receiving enthusiastic reactions from audiences and critics. Winners of the 2015 Royal Over-Seas League’s Ensemble Competition, the Quartet has been awarded several other awards, including the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Musical Scholarship Ensemble Award 2015, Tunnell Trust 2014, Park Lane Group Artists 2016, and St John’s Smith Square Young Artists 2017. In 2016 Ferio will be making appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe, Brighton, Newbury and Petworth Festivals and debuts at Wigmore Hall and St John's Smith Square, London. Next year they will be at Lichfield and Church Stretton festivals. The quartet have been working closely with composer Guillermo Lago on his collection of 'Ciudades' pieces and are the first quartet to record his new compositions “Köln” and “Tokyo".

Ferio released their debut album in January 2016 featuring the music of Lago, Bach, Elgar, Français, Grieg and Tchaikovsky. This first recording from Ferio brings together original works for saxophone quartet and transcriptions of familiar works by prominent classical composers.

Concert Friday 2 September 2016

J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in G Minor (arr. Ferio)

Gabriel Pierné: Introduction and Variations

Michael Nyman: Two movements from String Quartet No 2 (arr. Roach)

Isaac Albéniz: Cádiz (arr. Ferio)

Jean Rivier: Grave et Presto

Ferenc Farkas: Old Hungarian Dances

Jean Françaix: Petit Quatuor

Willem van Merwijk (Guillermo Lago): Three movements from Ciudades

Maxwell Quartet

Colin Scobie, George Smith (violins), Elliott Perks (viola), Duncan Strachan (cello)

Hailed as “one of the front-runners” in young UK ensembles (Classical Music Magazine, 2013) the Maxwell Quartet are rapidly emerging as a dynamic and exciting force in the chamber music world. The quartet, comprised of British musicians, was formed in 2010 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where its founding members met as postgraduate students. Upon winning the major chamber music prizes, in 2011 they were selected as the Royal Conservatoire's first ever Young Artists in Residence/Junior Fellows in Chamber Music. They have since been selected as Park Lane Group Young Artists, Tunnell Trust Artists, and Quartet in Residence at St. Anne's College, Oxford. Their busy concert diary has included performances at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, St.Martin-in-the-Fields, and a series of the late Schubert Quartets at Perth Concert Hall in Scotland.

Recent collaborations have included working with the acclaimed Canadian cinematographer, Herman Kolgen and a producing a co-choreographed performance with the Royal Ballet School and the London Studio Centre Ballet, culminating in performances at Sadler's Wells in June 2016.

Concert Wednesday 21 September 2016

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in B flat, Op.76 no.4, "Sunrise"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet in D major K575 "Prussian"

Ludwig Van Beethoven: String Quartet in E Flat Op.127 Maestoso - Allegro

2015 Residencies

Alauda Quartet

Cristina Prats - Costa (violin), Milan Berginc (violin), Rhoslyn Lawton (viola), Elena Cappelletti (violoncello)

The Alauda Quartet stayed with us 23-29 July 2015. Unfortunately Cristina, the first violinist, had broken her arm the week before enabling the others in the quartet to learn, practise and play different and interesting repertoire. The Alauda Quartet was formed at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2011. An internationally diverse ensemble, the quartet hails from four different corners of Europe but shares a unifying passion for chamber music. Selected as Park Lane Group artists for 2015 the Alauda Quartet has studied regularly with Jon Thorne of the Badke Quartet and they recently finished their Masters in Chamber Music at Hochschule fur Musik, Theater und Medien, Hannover, with Oliver Wille of the Kuss Quartet. In 2013 the Quartet was awarded a Junior Fellowship in Chamber Music from the Royal Academy of Music and were involved many performances at the Academy including a celebration of British composer Sir Michael Tippett.

As well as their concerts in the UK the Alauda Quartet have enjoyed performing in various music festivals across Europe holding tours in Spain and Italy in 2012 and Germany in 2013. In March 2014 the quartet embarked on their inaugural tour of China, performing in many cities across the country including at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. As Park Lane Group artists they gave their debut at the Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall in January 2015.

alaudaquartet.com

Concert Tuesday 28 July 2015

Johann Sebastian Bach: Ciaconna from Partita in D Minor for solo violin (ca 1717)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Duet requiring two pairs of spectacles for viola and violoncello (ca 1798)

Johan Halvorsen: Passacaglia in G Minor on a theme of Handel for violin and viola (1897)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude, Sarabande, and Gigue, from Suite No 2 for solo violoncello in D Minor (ca 1720)

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Trio No 5 in C Minor, Op 9 No 3 (1798)

Academy of French Song and Opera

Course Directors: Florence Daguerre de Hureaux, Caroline Dowdle

For a third year the Academy of French Song and Opera held its summer course at Brel. With additional bedrooms we managed a houseful of a dozen people. Course members came from the UK, the US, Sweden and South Africa, and pianist Ian Tindale joined the course leaders.

Victoria Stephens (soprano)

South African soprano Victoria Stevens is currently on the opera course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She won the University of Cape Town's Ruth Ormond Award for Most Promising Singer as well as the class medal, First Prize in the prestigious Schock Foundation Singing Competition and the opportunity to perform as soloist with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and the UCT Symphony Orchestra. In recital, she has performed for the Richard Wagner Society, the Lindbergh Foundation and Oxford Lieder, where she was selected as a finalist in the Young Artist Performance Platform. Operatic roles include Musetta (UCT), 1st Knabe (Cape Town Opera), Donna Elvira (Darling Opera), Anne Truelove, Adina and Mélisande (RCS Opera Scenes), as well as 'Woman' in the world première of 'Top 4', a chamber opera for soprano, counter tenor and electronic tape (RCS Plug Festival).

Lauren Libaw (soprano)

Italian-American soprano Lauren Libaw has been praised for her sparkling, “bright-toned” voice (New York Times) as well as her “warmth of tone and intensity of expression” (The New Yorker). She is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the Royal College of Music, London, where she has sung Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, scenes as Susanna, Zerlina, Martha and Handel’s Rosmene, and songs by Messiaen and Prokofiev in concert at the invitation of Roger Vignoles. Other recent engagements include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi for Lidal North at the Norwegian National Opera, The Messiah for the Paris Choral Society and recitals in Aix-en-Provence, Brussels, Florence, London, New York and Paris. She made her professional debut at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and has sung at the Opéra Royal de Versailles and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Raised in Pasadena, California, Lauren is a graduate of Yale University.

Rebecca Hardwick (soprano)

Rebecca studied at the Royal College of Music as an RCM Scholar supported by a Marjorie Tonks award, and previously at the University of York. Operatic roles include the title role in Rodelinda (Handel), Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc), Una Conversa in Suor Angelica (Puccini) and the Raver in False Perspectives (Josephine Stephenson) as part of the Hogarth project at the RCM. In opera scenes she has appeared as Madame Silberklang in Die Schauspieldirektor (Mozart), Semele in L'Egisto (Cavalli) and The Governess in Turn of the Screw (Britten). She recently played a Victorian in Alice in Wonderland (Will Todd) at Opera Holland Park, having been a Christine Collins Young Artist there in 2013. Rebecca also sings with the Monteverdi Choir.

Ian Tindale (pianist)

Ian read Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and graduated in 2011 with a Double First. Subsequently he completed the Master of Performance course in Piano Accompaniment at the Royal College of Music (RCM) with Distinction, where he was then Junior Fellow in Piano Accompaniment. Ian has won Accompanist’s Prizes in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, the Royal Overseas League Competition, and the Maggie Teyte Competition. Ian is also a Samling Artist and Britten-Pears Young Artist. As a répétiteur Ian has worked with British Youth Opera, Cambridge Handel Opera, Ryedale Festival Opera and Samling Academy Opera. He has also performed as an orchestral pianist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia.

Concert Friday 21 August 2015

Myself I shall adore (Semele, Handel) Lauren Libaw

Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante (Carmen, Bizet) Victoria Alice Stevens

L’empio rigor del fato (Rodelinda, Handel) Rebecca Hardwick

Les chemins de l’amour (Poulenc) Lauren Libaw

Soupir (Ravel) Rebecca Hardwick

Je te veux (Satie) Victoria Alice Stevens

Berceuse and Le pas espagnol (Suite de Dolly, Fauré) Jean-Paul Pruna, Ian Tindale, Caroline Dowdle

Apparition (Debussy) Rebecca Hardwick

Fêtes Galantes (Poulenc) Victoria Alice Stevens

Menuet (Petite Suite, Debussy) Jean-Paul Pruna, Ian Tindale

Quando m’en vo (La Bohème, Puccini) Victoria Alice Stevens

Je marche sur tous les chemins (Manon, Massenet) Lauren Libaw

Sous le dôme épais (Lakmé, Delibes) Rebecca Hardwick, Victoria Alice Stevens

Pianists: Caroline Dowdle, Jean-Paul Pruna, Ian Tindale

Mary Bevan, Tim Connor, Joseph Middleton and Nicky Spence

Nicky Spence (tenor), Mary Bevan (soprano), Joseph Middleton (piano) and Tim Connor (baritone)

Mary Bevan trained at the Royal Academy Opera, and is currently a Harewood Artist at ENO and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. On the concert platform she recently performed Mozart Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestra, Faure Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Handel Messiah with the English Concert. Recent operatic engagements include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at ENO, Music & Euridice in Monteverdi L’Orfeo with ROH at the Roundhouse, Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro at the ROH, Despina in Così fan tutte, Papagena in The Magic Flute and Second Niece in Peter Grimes at ENO, and David Bruce’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter with The Opera Group, Opera North and ROH2. In the 2015/16 season Mary will sing the title role in Rossi Orfeo for the Royal Opera House at Shakespeare’s Globe, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado at English National Opera.

Nicky Spence studied at the Guildhall School and the National Opera Studio. In opera, Nicky created the leading role in the World Premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys, a role he later reprised for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York last season. Other highlights include his recent role debut as David in the multi-award winning Die Meistersingers von Nürnberg at the ENO, a Rossini double at Welsh National Opera, Števa in Jenůfa at La Monnaie, Tristan und Isolde with the BBCSSO, the Steersman in Der Fliegender Holländer in concert with the CBSO, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Scottish Opera and Francesco in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini at De Nederlandse Opera. Highlights this season include an appearance at the BBC Proms, his debut at the Bastille in Paris, Leoncavallo's Zazá with the BBCSO at the Barbican, The Makropoulos Case at Frankfurt Oper, Gurrelieder with Hallé Orchestra, Števa in David Alden's Jenůfa at ENO and a disc of French Mélodie with Malcolm Martineau to follow-up their critically acclaimed recital disc debut 'As you like it: Shakespeare Songs'.

Pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been highly acclaimed within this field. Joseph enjoys recitals with internationally established singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Ian Bostridge, Sarah Connolly, Iestyn Davies, Wolfgang Holzmair, Christiane Karg, Katarina Karnéus, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, John Mark Ainsley, Ann Murray, Mark Padmore, Joan Rodgers, Amanda Roocroft, Kate Royal, Carolyn Sampson, Toby Spence and Roderick Williams. Joseph appears at major music centres including London’s Wigmore Hall, Royal Opera House and Royal Festival Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Zürick Tonhalle, Luxembourg Philharmonie and Dublin National Concert Hall.

Concert 24 August 2015

Purcell: Sound the Trumpet (arr. Britten)/ Sweeter than Roses (arr. Britten)/An Epithalalium (arr. Tippett)

Schumann: Liebesgarten/ Liebhabers Ständchen

Duparc: L'Invitation au Voyage/ Chanson Triste

Chabrier: L'Invitation au Voyage

Schumann: Unter'm Fenster/Familien-Gemälde

Boulanger: Vous m'avez regardé avec toute votre âme/ Les lilas qui avaient fleuri/ Les Clairieres dans le Ciel

Schumann: In der Nacht Schubert: Licht und Liebe/ An Sylvia

Britten: Be kind and courteous

Dankworth: Sonnet 18

Horder: Under the Greenwood Tree

Poulenc: Hôtel

Gershwin: Summertime

Puccini: O Mimi, tu più non torni/ Quando men vo/ O soave fanciulla

Lipatti Piano Quartet

Amy Tress (violin), Felicity Matthews (viola), Auriol Evans (violoncello), Gamal Khamis (piano)

The Lipatti Piano Quartet was formed in 2013 by four young award winning instrumentalists. Dedicated to exploring and sharing the piano quartet repertoire, the Lipattis have a repertoire which ranges from Viennese Classics to contemporary composers. They have recently been selected as Park Lane Group Artists 2015-16 and have been invited to perform at St John's Smith Square in April 2016, as part of the PLG's 60th anniversary season. Since their inception, the group have been fortunate to work with a number of distinguished professors and performers, including Krysia Osostowicz, Maxim Rysanov, Simon Roland-Jones, Garfield Jackson, Richard Ireland and the Maggini String Quartet, whose chamber course they were awarded a scholarship to attend at Wellington College.

Recent venues have included St Martin-in-the-Fields, King's Place, Royal Albert Hall Elgar Room, The Bath Pump Room, Old Theatre Royal Bath, The Forge Camden, Windsor Castle and Blackheath Halls. Upcoming engagements include the quartet's biannual series at the Vera Fletcher Hall, and recitals at St-Martin-in-the-Fields and St James's Piccadilly as part of the Orpheus Foundation Series.

lipattiquartet.com

Concert 29 September 2015

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Quartet in E Flat Major (1796)

Arnold Bax: Piano Quartet in one movement (1922)

Gabriel Fauré: Piano Quartet No 2 in G Minor Op 45 (1887)

Kowalczyk-Kim Duo

Marta Kowalczyk (violin) Somi Kim (piano)

The Kowalczyk-Kim Duo was formed in 2013 at the Royal Academy of Music, when Marta Kowalczyk and Somi Kim first collaborated together in a class for the legendary violinist, György Pauk. They are now continuing their studies with an Advanced Diploma in Performance. Marta was awarded the Oetker Scholarship, Stephen Bell Trust Award and the Bach Solo Violin Prize. Somi is a Samling scholar and was the winner of the 2014 Gerald Moore Award for Accompanists, and other awards. In recital, Kowalczyk-Kim duo’s recent and future appearances include concerts at the Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, Purcell Room, St. James’ Piccadilly, St. Martin in-the-Fields, Royal Over-Seas League and the Royal Academy of Music. They were selected as artists for the Park Lane Group, Kirckman Concert Society, Concordia Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Musicians for the 2015/16 seasons. Kowalczyk-Kim Duo will be making their European debut next year at the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam as part of The New Masters on Tour Concert Series.

somikim.com

martakowalczyk.com

Concert Thursday 22 October 2015

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No 4 in A Minor (1801)

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonata No 2 in A Major (1886)

Franz Schubert: Fantasie in C Major for violin and piano (1827)

2014 Residencies

Cataleya Wind Quintet

Alasdair Hill (Oboe), Javier Leon (Flute), Sophie Robertshaw (Bassoon), Adrian Somogyi (Clarinet), Pablo Urbina (French Horn)

The Cataleya Wind Quintet stayed at Brel between 19 and 25 July 2014. Having met originally as Masters Scholars at the Royal College of Music the Cataleya Quintet was formed in 2011. Their international and diverse musical education from the UK, Europe and their USA produces a musical connection which creates a unique and ambitiously driven wind quintet. From the start of their career at the College, they frequently performed within the RCM in a variety of public performances which included showcases of Quintets by Francaix, and of Poulenc’s Sextet in RCM’s Britten Theatre. Soon after forming, they were invited to perform at the Southbank Centre and in the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall, and had their debut performance and interview on Spanish National Radio (RNE).

Cataleya was awarded the 2013 Boconnoc Music Award from the Royal College of Music where they thoroughly enjoyed their residency at the Boconnoc Estate, and shortly after were announced as Park Lane Group Finalists for 2013-2014. They have performed recitals in venues such as The Purcell Room, St-Martins-in-the-Fields and St John’s Smith Square, Regent Hall and Lincoln’s Inn.

cataleyaquintet.com

Concert: Thursday 24 July 2014

Jacques Ibert: from Trois pièces breves

Jean Francaix: Quintette No 1 Eugene Bozza: from Trois pièces

Carl Nielsen: from Kvintet Op 43

Francis Poulence: Novelette in C

Paul Patterson: Westerly Winds

Academy of French Song and Opera

Course leaders: Florence Daguerre de Hureaux, Caroline Dowdle, Jean-Paul Pruna

For a second year AFSO made Brel their summer course venue attracting course members from around the world.

Concert Saturday 23 August 2014

Asie (Shéhérazade, Ravel) Jessica Dandy

Un poète disait (Clairières dans le ciel, L. Boulanger)/Au pied de mon lit (Clairières dans le ciel, L. Boulanger) Anna Sideris

Villanelle de petits canards (Chabrier)/Les Gros Dindons (Chabrier) Tara Austin

Prendero il brunettino (Cosi fan tutte, Mozart) Anna Sideris and Harriet Kirk

Nuit sans fin (Nuits Blanches, Debussy)/Lorsqu’elle est entrée (Nuits Blanches, Debussy) Bradley Smith

Au bord de l’eau (Fauré)/Mandolin (Fauré) Harriet Kirk

Chant d’adieu de Jeanne d’Arc (La Pucelle d’Orléans, Tchaïkovsky) Tara Austin

Una voce poco fa (Il barbiere de Sevilla, Rossini) Harriet Kirk

À Chloris (Hahn)/ La Diva de l’Empire (Satie) Victoria Wilkie

L’air des bijoux (Faust, Gounod) Anna Sideris

Pianists: Caroline Dowdle, Jean-Paul Pruna, Yu Su

Lawson Trio

Annabelle Lawson (piano), Clara Biss (violin), Rebecca Knight (violoncello)

The Lawson Trio stayed with us from 28 August to 4 September 2014.

Gaining recognition for powerful interpretations of both new and established repertoire, the Lawson Trio appears at major venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, and Southbank Centre. The ensemble has been selected as a featured artist by the Park Lane Group, Making Music’s Concert Promoters’ Group, Music in the Round, Concordia Foundation and CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust, giving season highlight concerts recently at the Wigmore Hall for Park Lane Group and CAVATINA. They also reached the final rounds of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2011. Their concerts have been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and ABC Classic FM. Their debut CD, ‘The Long Way Home’, released on the Prima Facie label, has met with critical acclaim.

lawsontrio.com

Concert Wednesday 3 September 2014

John Ireland: Piano Trio No. 2 in E Major (1917)

David Knotts: ‘The Long Way Home' (2010)

Lili Boulanger: D'un matin de printemps (1918)

Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A Minor (1914)

Solem Quartet

Michael Jones (violin), Catherine Landen (violin), Alistair Vennart (viola), Stephanie Tress (violoncello)

The Solem Quartet stayed with us from 18-25 September 2014. Winners of the 2014 Royal Overseas League Ensemble Competition, the Solem Quartet were brought together in 2011 by their studies at the University of Manchester, where they take their name from the University motto “arduus ad solem”, meaning “striving towards the sun”. Having all moved on to the Royal Northern College of Music, the quartet has won the RNCM Nossek Prize, the RNCM Barbirolli Prize for String Quartets, and the Britten Centenary Intercollegiate String Quartet Competition. They enjoy an increasingly busy concert schedule performing at venues across the UK including the Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls and the Holywell Music Room. The quartet look forward to a two-week chamber music residency at Aldeburgh in January, and are delighted to have been selected for a 2014/2015 ChamberStudio Mentorship, which allows them to study intensively with their mentor Christoph Richter over the coming year at Kings Place.

Individually the members of the Solem Quartet freelance with orchestras including the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Opera North, and Scottish Ballet.

solemquartet.co.uk

Concert Wednesday 24 September 2014

Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E flat major Op 20 No 1 (1772)

Anton Webern: Langsamer Satz (slow movement) for string quartet (1905)

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor Op 10 (1893)

2013 Residencies

Bartholdy String Quartet & Catarina Passos

Marisol Lee and Tessa Ho (violins), Ricardo Gaspar (viola), Catarina Passos (flute)

The Bartholdy Quartet, unfortunately without their cellist, who had injured her wrist, spent a week at Brel in the colder time of the year – so the concert was given in the salon of the house – but were fortunately joined by Catarina Passos, giving us the opportunity to hear a varied recital. Formed at the Royal Academy of Music in September 2012 by four postgraduates from South Korea, Australia, Portugal, and Iceland, the Bartholdy quartet has performed frequently at the Academy and outside, including works by Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Schumann.

Catarina Passos is a Portuguese flautist, also at the Academy, who joins members of the quartet today. The quartet is currently working on works by Shostakovich, and will be appearing at the Norwich Festival in May.

Concert Sunday 3 March 2013

Ludwig van Beethoven: Serenade for flute, violin, and viola op 25

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:1st movement from Duo in G for violin and viola

Franz Anton Hoffmeister: Duo for flute and viola

Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904): Terzetto for two violins and viola

Academy of French Song and Opera

Course leaders: Florence Daguerre de Hureaux, Caroline Dowdle, Jean Paul Pruna

A new venture, founded by Florence Daguerre de Hureaux and Caroline Dowdle and dedicated to helping young singers with specifically French repertoire, with an emphasis on the correct singing of the French language held their first course at Brel 10-17 August 2013. Six singers from around the world attended. Public masterclasses took place on Wednesday 14 August as well as the concert on 16 August.

Carolyn Dobbin, a mezzo soprano from Carrickfergus, studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She has appeared in operas across the UK and Europe. Future engagements include Tisbe (Cenerentola), Bradamante (Alcina) and the title role of Carmen, all in Switzerland.

Joanna Foote (soprano) graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has appeared recently at Garsington Opera, Le Chatelet in Paris, the Liceu in Barcelona and with the BBC concert orchestra. She performed in Seattle Opera’s Young Artist production of Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss). Joanna is a Samling scholar.

Clara Lisle (soprano) grew up in California. She studied music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London, where she graduated with first class honours. She has appeared with such companies as Classical Opera, Opera de Baugé and Aylesbury Opera Group. Future plans include Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915

Marika Machitidze (soprano) studied in Kutaisi and Tbilisi Conservatories, and in the Georgia Rodolfo Celletti Academy of Bel Canto in Italy. Marika is a soloist with the Tbilisi National Opera and Ballet House. She is a winner of the 4th National Music Competition of and the Lado Ataneli Competition.

Annie Rago (mezzo soprano) studied at the Royal Academy of Music, before graduating Bachelor of Music, (Vocal Repertoire & Languages) from Northwestern University. Recently, she appeared in Spitalfields Music Festival and the world-premier of Kommilitonen! (Young Blood) by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

Kate Valentine (soprano) studied at the RSAMD and National Opera Studio. She is currently an English National Opera Harewood Artist. Forthcoming engagements include Last Night of the Proms (Glasgow), Female Chorus (Rape of Lucretia - Glyndebourne) and Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte - ENO)

Concert Friday 16 August 2013

This concert is dedicated to the memory of Wendy Ferguson, who died yesterday. Her son, Marc Bowditch, painted the three watercolours in the Music Barn.

Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante (Carmen, Bizet) Kate Valentine

Deh’ vieni, non tardar (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart) Clara Lisle

El paño moruno (Falla) Annie Rago

Séguedille (Carmen, Bizet) Carolyn Dobbin

Regnava nel silenzio (Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti) Marika Machitidze

Rusalka’s Song to the Moon (Rusalka, Dvorak) Kate Valentine

Sull’ aria (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart) Kate Valentine and Joanna Foote

Pantomime & Apparition (Debussy) Joanna Foote

Chanson d’Automne & Tous Deux (Hahn) Annie Rago

Clair de lune (Fauré) Clara Lisle

L’air des cartes (Carmen, Bizet) Carolyn Dobbin

If I loved you (Carousel, Rodgers and Hammerstein) Joanna Foote

Gavotte (Manon, Massenet) Marika Machitidz

Jubilee Quartet

Tereza Privratska (violin), Alanna Tonetti-Tieppo (violin), Stephanie Edmundson (viola), Lauren Steel (violoncello)

The Jubilee Quartet came to stay with us 1-8 September 2013 before their participation in the Trondheim International Competition. Formed in 2006 at the Royal Academy of Music, the Jubilee Quartet has performed extensively in the UK and abroad. They held a Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Academy from 2012/13, and have been awarded the Richard Carne Junior Fellowship for String Quartet at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance for 2013/14.

Future engagements include concerts around the UK and Italy, and recitals in the Purcell room in January 2014, and the Wigmore Hall in November 2013 and July 2014. The quartet currently play on fine instruments kindly on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.

jubileequartet.co.uk

Concert, Saturday 7 September 2013

Ludwig Van Beethoven: String Quartet in C Minor Op 18 No 4 (1801)

Trygve Brøske:The old song that got stuck in my head - variations on the tune Leirfivellandet (2013)

Felix Mendelssohn: String quartet in F Minor Op 80 (1847)

2012 Residencies

Eblana String Trio

Jonathan Martindale (violin), Lucy Nolan (viola), Peggy Nolan (‘cello)

The Eblana String Trio stayed from 28 May to 4 June 2012. Eblana is said to be the Roman name for Dublin, where the trio gave its first performance, although some believe that the name refers only to a part of the modern city. Formed in 2006, the Eblana String Trio consists of three committed chamber musicians, interested in performing the often neglected string trio repertoire. During their time at the Royal Northern College of Music the trio won all the major chamber music prizes, notably the 2010 RNCM chamber music award and audience prize for their performance of Britten’s Phantasy Quartet, together with oboist David Curington. The trio regularly give concerts for music societies and festivals throughout the UK. They have also performed as part of the RNCM Chamber Music Festivals since 2007. 2010 saw the trio perform works by Finzi, Britten, Moeran, and Bliss in a celebration of British chamber music.

Away from the trio, Jonathan, Lucy, and Peggy fulfil busy freelance schedules, working with some of the UK’s finest orchestras, including the Halle, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Manchester Camerata, and BBC Philharmonic. Members of the trio also regularly teach for, amongst others, the RNCM Centre for Young Musicians, Yorkshire young Musicians, Manchester, Leeds, Hull and Keele Universities, and at the Pro Corda Centre for Chamber music.

www.eblanastringtrio.com

Concert Sunday 3 June 2012

J.S. Bach: Two Sinfonias (three part inventions) (1723)

Ernst von Dohnanyi: String Trio in C Major, Op 10 (1903)

W.A. Mozart (1756 - 1791): Divertimento in E flat major, K 563 (1788)

Mivos String Quartet

Olivia De Prato and Joshua Modney (violins), Victor Lowrie (viola), Mariel Roberts (violoncello)

The Mivos Quartet, an "accomplished, admirably broad-minded young string quartet" (New York Times), is devoted to performing the works of contemporary composers, presenting new music to diverse audiences. Since the quartet’s inception in 2008 they have performed and closely collaborated with an ever-expanding cadre of international composers who represent multiple aesthetics of contemporary classical composition. Commissioning and premiering new music for string quartet is essential to the quartet's mission; Mivos has performed works by emerging and established composers including Anna Clyne, Wolfgang Rihm, Alex Mincek, Samson Young, Luke DuBois, Philip Glass, Huang Ruo, Tristan Perich and Kirsten Broberg.

Mivos was one of five groups selected for the Young Ensembles Fellowship at the 2012 Darmstadt Internationalen Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, and was invited to work with the Arditti Quartet and Helmut Lachenmen at the 2012 Aldeburgh Festival.

mivosquartet.com

Concert 29 June 2012

Guillaume de Machaut: Kyrie

Wolfgang Rihm: Quartettestudie

Ludwig van Beethoven: 1st movement from String Quartet in A Minor, Op 132

Olivia De Prato: Mura

Guillaume de Machaut: Agnus Dei

Felipe Lara: Cora Vocale

Kate Valentine and Joseph Middleton

Kate Valentine (soprano) and Joseph Middleton (piano)

Briefly, before Joe went to Chicago for a summer school, he and Kate spent four days with us, preparing a number of songs including some of Copland’s Emily Dickinson settings.

Kate Valentine studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. Recent highlights include Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with English National Opera, and Konstanze The Abduction from the Seraglio for Opera North. Future engagements include Mimi in La Bohème for English National Opera, and Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia for Glyndebourne.

Pianist Joseph Middleton specializes in the art of chamber music and song accompaniment. He regularly partners the world’s finest singers, including Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Felicity Lott, Ann Murray, Joan Rodgers, Mark Padmore and Wolfgang Holzmair, at major music centres including the Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Ravinia, Toronto, and Vancouver Festivals.

josephmiddleton.com

katevalentine.com

Concert Thursday 19 July, 2012

Maurice Ravel: Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Aria: Dove Sono, from Le Nozze di Figaro

Aaron Copland: From 12 poems of Emily Dickinson

Claude Debussy: Ariettes Oubliées

Pierre Bachelet: Chère Nuit

2011 Residencies

Zelkova Quartet

Caroline Pether (violin), Simran Singh (violin,) Rhiannon James (viola), Rachel Shakespeare (violoncello)

Formed in 2010 under the guidance of Petr Prause of the Talich Quartet, the Zelkova Quartet brings together four young musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. They recently won the Nossek prize and were finalists in the Weil Prize.

www.zelkovaquartet.co.uk

Concert Thursday 8 September 2011

Josef Haydn: String Quartet in C Op 54 No 2

Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F