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.
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.
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.
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