Monday October 10th 2011 Sam Haywood, piano and Arisa Fujita, violin
Sam Haywood
Pianist Sam Haywood has played for us before, with clarinettist Katherine Spencer in 1997, and it is more than time for him to visit us again. He has performed to critical acclaim all over the world as concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, and his status can be judged from the fact that he is a regular sonata partner for Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. On his website, www.samhaywood.comhe writes about his recent US tour with Joshua Bell, and his tour of Japan. You can also listen on a short video, to Sam aged 13 playing in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition!
Arisa Fujita
Violinist Arisa Fujita with whom Sam plays duos regularly, is the youngest of three sisters who make up the Fujita Piano Trio, which delighted us with their performance (played entirely from memory!) in Aberdeen in 2005. This promises to be a memorable opening to our season, with a programme of the three Bs - Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.
Monday November 7th 2011 The Elias String Quartet
The members of the Elias Quartet all live in England now, but come from Scotland, France and Sweden, and the first violinist and the cellist are sisters. The Quartet was formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studied with the late Dr Christopher Rowlands, and subsequently spent a year studying with the Alban Berg Quartet in Cologne. They have performed extensively in many different countries, including recently at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and Carnegie Hall, New York. They were finalists in the famous Paolo Borciani Competition in 2005.
Elias String Quartet Photograph by Benjamin Ealovega
The great potential of the Quartet was recognised when they were selected to join BBC Radio 3′s New Generation Artists scheme in 2009, and you can watch an interview with them on the BBC’s website. This concert will be part of the SOUND festival, and will feature a new commission from Sally Beamish which will have its world premiere at this year’s Proms. Their website is www.eliasstringquartet.com.
Monday December 5th 2011 Clarion 3
Clarion 3
This rather unusual trio comprises Sarah Beth Briggs on piano, with Janet Hilton, clarinet and Laurence Perkins, bassoon. Sarah rose to international attention when she was the joint winner in the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1988. Since then she has been in demand as a concerto soloist with numerous European and US orchestras, and at many festivals. She relishes new challenges and recently gave the world premiere of three short pieces by Benjamin Britten which have been newly discovered, and which will be part of our programme. Janet Hilton, who has been with us before but many years ago, has been Head of Woodwind at the Royal College of Music in London since 1998. She was Principal Clarinet of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at one time, and is recognised as one of the leading clarinettists in the UK, performing at many festivals including Edinburgh, City of London and the BBC Proms. Laurence Perkins has recorded and performed much of the bassoon repertoire, travelling widely with leading orchestras, and recently recording Mozart and Weber concertos with the Manchester Camerata in which he has held the post of Principle Bassoon since 1974. You can read more about all three of these distinguished musicians on Sarah’s website www.sarahbethbriggs.co.uk
The Committee invite you to wine and mince pies after the concert on December the 5th.
Monday January 16th 2012 The Royal String Quartet
Photo of The Royal String Quartet by Agencja
This quartet, formed in 1998 in Warsaw, was among BBC Radio 3′s New Generation Artists back in 2004-2006, and has won many international prizes. The quartet has participated in many festivals including the Proms, Aldeburgh, and recently the East Neuk Festival in Fife. They organise and run their own festival in Warsaw, earning media recognition as “the cultural highlight of the year” there. Many of their performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and on Polish Radio, and their CDs, including a recent release of the quartets of Górecki, have received high critical praise. This will be their first visit to Aberdeen. Their programme will include a work by Pawel Szymanski, one of Poland’s foremost living composers. Read more about them on their website www.royalstringquartet.pl/index.php?lng=en January Programme Notes
Monday February 20th 2012 The Fournier Piano Trio
The Fournier Piano Trio
It is always exciting to hear talented young groups near to the start of their careers – who knows whether they will be the next equivalent of the Amadeus Quartet! This Trio, formed in 2009, is a winner of a Tunnell Trust award, and will be playing for us under the Trust’s auspices. It is comprised of a Taiwanese-British pianist, a Korean violinist and an Australian cellist, all of whom have already performed with many orchestras as soloists. As a Trio they have already gained a high reputation and they currently hold the Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academy in London. Among many other engagements, they will play this year in the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival with renowned viola player, Lawrence Power. See their website at: www.fourniertrio.com
Monday March 19th 2012 The Badke String Quartet
Formed in 2002, the Badke were established as one of our finest young quartets after winning the 1st prize and audience prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2007. This will be a welcome return visit to us, as you may remember they played for us a couple of seasons ago. Their original leader, Heather Badke, has withdrawn from the quartet for family reasons, and they now have a new first violinist, Lana Trotovsek originally from Slovenia, whose previous chamber music experience includes the international prize-winning Greenwich Piano Trio. A recent review of a concert at Aldeburgh with the quartet’s new membership concluded: “The Badke’s playing was perfectly matched, intonation and ensemble were excellent, and the dazzling finale set the seal on this most enjoyable music making.”
Photograph of the Badke String Quartet by Tas Kyprianou
The quartet members believe strongly in the importance of education work, and on their previous visit, enthralled Primaries 4 and 5 at St Joseph’s school with their playing and by involving the small violinists in the Primary 5 group. They will again do workshops in Aberdeen as part of ACMC’s outreach work. Listen to them on www.badkequartet.co.uk.
