This is the 48th season of chamber music concerts promoted by Bromsgrove Concerts.
All concerts are at 8pm and are in Artrix.
Tickets for all concerts cost:
£16 (full price)
£15 (senior citizen 60+ or registered disabled)
£6 (full-time student or registered unemployed)
(see ticket prices)
Click on any photograph to see a larger version of it. Click on an artist name in blue to view their home page or biography.
Friday 8 October 2010 at 8pmRivoli Quartet
Amelia Jones violin
Helen Tonge violin
Amy Wein viola
Helen Downham cello
| Mozart | Quartet in E flat, K.428 |
| Bridge | Quartet No. 2 in G minor |
| Britten | Quartet No. 3, op. 94 |
The Rivoli Quartet was formed at the University of Manchester in 1999 where it was coached by the Lindsay Quartet. It takes its name from the building which (until autumn 2003) housed the music department there - the converted ‘Rivoli’ cinema. They subsequently studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where they were prize-winners in various competitions. They won the Prix-Ravel at the Academie Internationale Maurice Ravel 2006 and have reached the finals of the Royal Over-Seas League Competition.
Friday 29 October 2010 at 8pm
Timothy Orpen clarinet
Gemma Rosefield cello
Simon Lepper piano
| Beethoven | Clarinet Trio, op. 11 |
| James Francis Brown | Prospero’s Isle (for cello and piano) |
| Jörg Widmann | Fantasie (for solo clarinet) |
| Brahms | Clarinet Trio, op. 114 |
| Nino Rota | Clarinet Trio |
Gemma Rosefield and Simon Lepper gave us a delightful duo recital in March 2009, and now return with their regular trio partner Timothy Orpen. As well as the standard works by Beethoven and Brahms for this combination, they will also play the tuneful Trio written towards the end of his life by Oscar winning film composer Nino Rota (The Godfather is one among his many, many scores). Prospero’s Isle was specifically written for Gemma Rosefield, while Jorg Widmann (a virtuoso clarinettist as well as an increasingly well known composer) originally wrote Fantasie to demonstrate his own talents.
Photo by Benjamin Harte
Friday 19 November 2010 at 8pmLeon McCawley piano
| Janáček | In the Mists |
| Brahms | Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel, op. 24 |
| Chopin | Impromptu in A flat, op. 29 |
| Chopin | Impromptu in F sharp, op. 36 |
| Chopin | Impromptu in G flat, op. 51 |
| Chopin | Fantasie Impromptu in C sharp minor, op. post |
| Barber | Nocturne (Homage to John Field), op. 33 |
| Barber | Piano Sonata, op. 26 |
Since 1993, when he won both 2nd prize in the Leeds International piano competition and 1st prize in the 9th Beethoven International piano competition in Vienna, Leon McCawley has been in the top rank of British pianists. He is in constant demand as concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber music player, all over the world. His programme for us has been devised to reflect both the Chopin bicentenary and the Samuel Barber centenary.
Photo by Sheila Rock
Friday 3 December 2010 at 8pmLondon Harpsichord Ensemble
Graham Mayger flute
Frances Mason violin
Sarah Francis oboe
Margaret Powell cello
Ian Clarke harpsichord
| Telemann | Quartet in G (Tafelmusik 1) |
| J S Bach | Sonata in A, BWV 1015 |
| Quantz | Trio in C minor |
| Handel | Concerto a Quattro in D minor |
| J S Bach | Trio Sonata in G, BWV 1038 |
| J C Bach | Quintet in D, op. 22 no. 1 |
The London Harpsichord Ensemble is one of the longest-established instrumental groups in Britain. Since Sarah Francis took over the direction of the Ensemble, it has continued to play at festivals and music clubs and regularly on the South Bank. The players are especially praised for their musical insight, joie de vivre, and stylish interpretation of 18th century music. The Ensemble's recordings of Albinoni, Handel and Telemann concertos, now available on Regis Records, have received international acclaim.
Friday 14 January 2011 at 8pmBrodowski Quartet
with Terry Barfoot presenter
David Brodowski violin
Catrin Win Morgan violin
Felix Tanner viola
Vanessa Lucas-Smith cello
| Schnittke | Quartet No. 3 |
| Schulhoff | Five Pieces for String Quartet |
| Introduction to Shostakovich’s 8th Quartet | |
| Shostakovich | Quartet No. 8, op. 110 |
In a new venture for Bromsgrove Concerts, the second half of this concert will consist of an introduction to Shostakovich’s 8th Quartet by presenter Terry Barfoot, illustrated with live music examples played by the Brodowski Quartet, who will then conclude the concert with a complete performance of it. In the first half, the Brodowskis, winners of the 2008 Royal Over-Seas League Chamber Music Competition, will perform classic 20th Century Quartets by Schnittke and Schulhoff.
Friday 4 February 2011 at 8pmRoyal Quartet
Isabella Szalaj-Zimak violin
Elwira Przbylowska violin
Marek Czech viola
Michal Pepol cello
| Mozart | Quartet in D minor, K.421 |
| Górecki | Quartet No. 1, op. 62 ‘Already it is Dusk’ |
| Schubert | Quartet in D minor, D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’ |
Former BBC Young Generation Artists, the Royal Quartet, from Warsaw, last visited Bromsgrove in October 2006. Since then their international career has continued to blossom – in 2007 they were shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Music Award, and they have a recording contract with Hyperion. On their return to Bromsgrove they are including a quartet by their Polish compatriot Górecki, whose quartets they are scheduled to record.
Photo by Blow Up Agency, Poland
Friday 25 February 2011 at 8pmBoult Quartet
with John Humphreys piano
Christopher Rutland violin
Catalin Chelaru violin
Philippa Lodge viola
Philip Handy cello
| Schubert | Quartet Movement in C minor, D703 |
| Joe Cutler | Slippery Music |
| Shostakovich | Quartet No. 1, op. 49 |
| Brahms | Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34 |
The Boult Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Birmingham Conservatoire, are joined by their Conservatoire colleague Chen Chen in performances of Joe Cutler’s new Piano Quartet, premiered at the 2010 Cheltenham Festival, and Brahms' mighty Piano Quintet. On their own, the Boults give us a performance of Shostakovich’s delightful, but often overlooked, 1st Quartet while Chen Chen, winner of the first Leamington Music prize in 2009, will play one of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux.
(Chen Chen has unfortunately had to withdraw from this concert and his place in the Cutler and Brahms works is being taken by John Humphreys, Tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire. The Messiaen piano piece, which was originally announced, will be replaced by a performance by the Boults of Schubert's well known "Quartettsatz")
Friday 25 March 2011 at 8pmAtrium Quartet
Alexey Naumenko violin
Anton Ilyunin violin
Dmitry Pitulko viola
Anna Gorelova cello
| Arensky | Quartet No. 2 in A minor, op. 35a |
| Shostakovich | Quartet No. 10, op. 118 |
| Beethoven | Quartet in A minor, op. 132 |
The Atrium Quartet from Russia, winners of the 2003 London International String Quartet Competetion, gave us such a wonderful concert when they came to Bromsgrove in March 2009 that we immediately invited them back. The novelty in their programme is Arensky’s 1894 2nd Quartet which was originally written for a combination of violin, viola and 2 cellos, but is being played here in the composer’s own later version for ‘normal’ string quartet.
Bromsgrove Concerts reserves the right to alter dates, programmes or artists without notice