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.
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.
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.
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)