Winchester Chamber Music 2011

Winchester’s very own festival of chamber music and song, 28 April – 1 May 2011
presented and performed by the London Bridge Ensemble
at Winchester’s Discovery Centre and elsewhere in Winchester
www.winchesterchambermusic.com     Box office: 01962 873603

“ (this) sensitive and stylish outfit… the poetry, flexibility and ardour displayed by these gifted players held me captive from first note to last” Gramophone, December 2010


Winchester Chamber Music Festival is back for its fourth year of chamber music and song and this time it’s bigger and better than ever. The Festival is presented by the London Bridge Ensemble, one of Britain’s most vibrant and versatile chamber groups and various guest artists.

Although the Ensemble is based in London, there are strong Winchester links: Kate Gould, the Ensemble’s highly acclaimed cellist and the Festival’s Co-director, received her early music training in Winchester and has shown her commitment to her home town by setting up the festival in 2008.  This year Kate\s husband, renowned cellist Richard Lester, is a guest artis5. The Winchester connections don’t end here - Ivan Ludlow, the Ensemble’s baritone, was once lay clerk at Winchester Cathedral, whilst Co-director of the Festival, pianist Daniel Tong, gives frequent concerts in Winchester.

Various themes thread through our programming – in particular, we explore works by lions of the chamber music repertoire, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, juxtaposing these with the colourful Romantic world of Samuel Barber. This includes the famously elegiac Adagio movement from his op. 11 string quartet. Amongst many highlights, there is a Saturday Schubertiade which includes the sublime and haunting song cycle Die Winterreise. The festival culminates on Sunday in Brahms’s mighty String Sextet in G. And we are delighted to include Voyages, originally written for the Ensemble by David Matthews for our Wigmore debut back in 2005.

There are free tickets for 8-25 year olds (check out www.winchesterchambermusic.com for details), workshops with a local school and a masterclass featuring budding young Hampshire performers. The educational elements are inspired by Kate’s early training in Winchester: “ I started to play the cello solely due to the headmaster at St. Bede Primary School encouraging me and I continued with the support of the Hampshire Music Service. So it’s really fantastic that St Bede is joining us again this year as they did in 2010, and they’ll show the results of their work at lunchtime on Thursday 28 April at the Discovery Centre. Also, we musicians are looking forward to coaching the stars of tomorrow in our masterclass. And it’s wonderful that Hampshire Music Service has supported our Festival so actively ”.
Loch Fyne hosts the Festival Club whilst Brasserie Blanc also offers special promotions for Festival-goers, so there are plenty of opportunities for convivial wining and dining in between events – and to meet the artists!

London Bridge Ensemble’s members are: Daniel Tong piano/Festival Co-director; Laura Samuel violin; Tom Dunn viola; Kate Gould cello/Festival Co-director; Ivan Ludlow baritone. The Ensemble is joined by Sara Bitlloch, violin, Krsysia Osostowicz, violin and viola and Richard Lester, cello.

Ticket prices: various including Festival Pass and usual concessions. Box office 01962 873603.

Media contact: Sharon Kivity, festival manager,  programme; ticket & booking info; ensemble biography
programme  07980 694429  sharonarts@btinternet.com
continues below with event-by-event Thursday 28 April, 12.15 lunchtime
Informal musical sharing with schoolchildren from St Bede Primary School, facilitated by Sam Glazer and Jack Ross.

Thursday 28 April, 7.30pm
Beethoven:  Piano Trio in E flat, op. 1 no 1
Clara Schumann: Three Romances for violin and piano, op. 22
Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat, op. 47

Friday 29 April, 7.30pm (St Paul’s Church)
Beethoven:  String quartet in C minor, op. 18 no 4
Barber: Dover Beach
Mozart: String Quintet in C, K.515

Saturday 30 April, 11.30am – 1.15pm
Masterclass – drop in or out at any time during the class.

Saturday 30 April, 6pm
Schubert: Sonata in A for Violin and piano, D. 574
Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911

Saturday 30 April, 9.45pm (St Lawrence Church)
Schubert: String Quintet in C, D. 956

Sunday 1 May Coffee Concert, 11.30am
Barber: String Quartet, op.11
Beethoven: String Quintet in C, op. 29

Tickets include coffee, available from 10.45am

Sunday 1 May, 6pm
Schubert: Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor, D. 408
Barber: Three Songs, op.45
David Matthews: Voyages for baritone and piano quartet, op. 96
Brahms: String Sextet in G, op. 36 

Venue and how to book:
Winchester Discovery Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester SO23 8SB
By phone: 01962 873603; Online: discoverycentres.co.uk/winchester
In person: the Express Desk, at the Café end of the Discovery Centre. If you prefer to purchase tickets on the day rather than in advance, we strongly recommend that you leave enough time to do so at the Discovery Centre’s box office before your selected concert(s).
Subject to availability, tickets for St Paul’s Church (29 April) available on the door from 6.45pm and St Lawrence Church (30 April) from 9.15pm.

Concessions: Proof of eligibility required.
Credit/debit cards: £1 booking fee per transaction.
Postage: 50p per transaction.
Opening times: Mon to Fri 9am – 7pm; Sat 9am – 5pm; Sun 10am – 4pm; also before performances. Closed 29 April.

Tickets
If you’re aged 8-25, take advantage of our FREE ticket allocation supported by the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust (first come, first served!) Details: winchesterchambermusic.com; otherwise £5 students/under 18s rate applies.
Festival Pass: all concerts and masterclass:  £75: full price; £60: senior citizens.

Day Pass: SAT 29 APR, 2 concerts and masterclass; SUN 30 APR, 2 concerts:
For each day - £24: full price; £18: senior citizens. 

THURS 28 APR schools sharing: FREE – no reservation necessary.

THURS 28 APR and FRI 29 APR 7.30PM; SAT 30 APR and SUN 1 MAY 6PM:
£16.50: full price; £14: senior citizens; £5: disabled/jobseekers.

SAT 30 APR, 11.30AM Masterclass:
£5, or FREE on presentation of any Festival concert ticket.
FREE: senior citizens and other concessions.

SAT 30 APR, 9.45PM and SUN 1 MAY, 11.30AM
£12.50: full price;  £10: senior citizens; £5: other concessions.

Please note: Doors open 20 minutes before performances, all venues. Unreserved seating.

Note to editors: about The London Bridge Ensemble

Since making its Wigmore Hall debut in 2005, the London Bridge Ensemble has rapidly established itself as one of Britain’s most exciting and brilliant chamber groups. The Wigmore concert included the premiere of a work written for the group by David Matthews, which is performed again at the 2011 Festival.

The Ensemble’s engagements have included St John’s Smith Square, the City of London Festival, Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival, St George’s Bristol, Leicester International Music Festival’s lunchtime series, St David’s Hall Cardiff, Sheffield Music in the Round, the Kerry Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Midday Concert Series, a residency at the Ponte de Lima Festival, Portugal and a return visit to Wigmore Hall. Future engagements  include St John’s Smith Square once more and a Wigmore Coffee Concert.

A CD of works by Frank Bridge, from whom the Ensemble takes its name, was released in spring 2008 to critical acclaim, including recommendations by both Gramophone and International Record Review. The disc is part of the Epoch series for the Dutton label. In July 2010, the Ensemble continued its exploration of Bridge’s early works with a second CD release on Dutton, which has again received very favourable reviews. A Schumann recording for Sonimage was also released in autumn 2010 and like the Bridge CDs, is winning over the critics.  Works by Fauré follow shortly on the same label.

The Ensemble’s name represents the group’s special ability to bring together different musical genres and styles from the fields of both chamber music and song, much to the enjoyment of audiences at the past three Festivals and the current programme continues to develop this. The name also reflects, through Frank Bridge, an admiration for English music of the early twentieth century, which has from the outset formed an important part of the group’s varied repertoire. Last but not least, the name is an affectionate homage to the bridge and station of that name in the City of London.

www.winchesterchambermusic.com

Media contact: Sharon Kivity 07980 694429          sharonarts@btinternet.com