Paul Drayton
Pre Season Talk
Monday, 3rd October at 7 pm. Doors open at 6.30pm
Mylor Theatre
Apologies for inconvenience but due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to change the date of this concert at short notice from 27th September.
Pianist, composer, conductor and teacher Paul Drayton once again returns to comments on the season ahead in his own inimitable style with piano accompaniment and other recorded musical illustrations.
Please note earlier starting time and different date to one previously advertised.
Tickets £5 on the door (non-members)
Free Entry for Members
Sacconi Quartet
Friday 14th October 2022
Haydn: String Quartet in D Op 76 No.2 "Fifths"
Tippett: String Quartet No.2
Beethoven: String Quartet No.14 in C# Minor Op 131
For twenty years, the Sacconi Quartet have been captivating audiences with their unanimous and compelling ensemble, consistently communicating with a fresh and imaginative approach. Performing with style and commitment, the quartet are known throughout the world for their creativity and integrity of interpretation. Formed in 2001, the four founder members continue to demonstrate a shared passion for string quartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. The Sacconi enjoy a busy international career, performing regularly across the world, at Europe's major venues, in recordings and on radio broadcasts.
The Sacconi are Quartet in Association at both the Royal College of Music and in Folkstone. In 2021, the quartet released an exclusive film of Jonathan Dove's Out of Time on Amazon with all proceeds going to Hands Up Foundation, and in November the Sacconi celebrated twenty years of playing together, with a celebration birthday concert at Wigmore Hall
"This stunner from the Sacconi Quartet was all about letting the music speak. Eyes open or closed, it was all you got" (Classic FM)
Paul Harris aka Harry the Piano
Friday 18th November 2022
Various melodies and routines followed by invitation to the audience to choose 'any tune in any style'
Harry the Piano has become the go-to improviser for the BBC with his extraordinary ability to extemporise in any style from any classical composer through to jazz to pop styles at the drop of a hat. He has headlined in festivals all over the world from London to Adelaide and Cairo to Barbados, as well as touring and recording with almost everybody in showbiz from David Bowie and Elvis Costello to Dame Julie Andrews and Andrea Bocelli. Musical director on prime-time BBC TV shows for ten years his solo cabaret YouTube channel now has over three million hits and Harry's private clients include King Charles and her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth.. 'His phenomenal talent, unobtrusive charm and wit are a delight' said Stephen Fry and 'Surprising good' added the legendary Mel Brooks. You have never, ever, heard the piano played like this before!
"Spellbinding" (The Times) "Genius" (Guardian) "Uncanny" (Independent)
Tim Gill (Cello) & Fali Pavri (piano)
Friday 16 December 2022
Debussy: Cello Sonata in D Minor
Poulenc: Cello Sonata
Franck: Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Major
Tim Gill began to play the cello at the age of eight, subsequently studying in Paris, Cambridge and at the Royal Academy. In 1989-90 Tim was resident artist at the Banff Centre, Canada, where he won the Banff concerto competition and was invited to play the Elgar concerto with the Calgary Philharmonic and later to tour Canada as a recitalist. Tim has given recitals and played concertos throughout the UK, Europe, and India. In 1995 he recorded Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano for Dutch radio with Marietta Petkova, and in 1996 he gave his Wigmore Hall debut and released two CDs on the Guild label Fali Pavri.
Fali Pavri enjoys a busy international career as soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Fali had his first piano lessons in his native city of Mumbai, India. This was followed by seven years in Moscow where he graduated with distinction from the Moscow Conservatory. While pursuing postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he was invited by the great Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovitch to be his pianist on an extensive concert of India. This was followed by his London debut at the Purcell Room and concerts in prestigious venues around the world.
"Timothy Gill and Fali Pavri elicit a searing lyricism bringing tremendous sense of direction to the melodic invention which can so easily meander in lesser hands"
(Classic CD)
Pelléas Ensemble
Friday 13 January 2023
Bax: Elegiac Tio
Dowland/Purcell: Songs
Britten: Lachrymae
Bartók: Romanian Dances
The Pelléas Ensemble was formed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2011. Playing with "verve and polish" (The Times), they won the Royal Philharmonic Society's Henderson Chamber Ensemble Award in 2018, and the 2017 Elias Fawcett Award for Outstanding Chamber Ensemble at the Royal Overseas League competition. In 2016 they won both the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition, and were awarded a place on the prestigious Tillett Trust Young Artists' Programme. In 2015 they won first Prize at the British Harp Chamber Music Competition.
They have appeared live on BBC Radio 3's 'In Tune', and have given numerous recitals in London and around the UK. Praised for creating an immediate and intimate connection with their audiences, they perform much of their repertoire from memory. They are dedicated to performing new music, and have had four pieces written for their ensemble. Their debut album was released on Linn Records in June 2021.
"captivating vitality" and "effortlessness and delicacy" (Seen and Heard International)
Hannah Condliffe (oboe) & Mark Rogers (piano)
Friday 10 February 2023
Poulenc: Oboe Sonata
Britten: Six Metamorphoses after Ovid
Silvestrini: Etude No.1 for Solo Oboe
Silvestrini: Aloe
Hannah Condliffe, an oboist from Staffordshire, is a prize-winning graduate of the Royal College of Music. She is the principal oboist for English Touring Opera and has played as guest principal with a number of other prestigious UK orchestras. In her solo career, she had played at the Wigmore Hall and, as a Munster Trust Recital Artist, hosts solo recitals around the country. She also performs as part of the Daphnis Wind Quintet of which she is a founder member.
Dominic Doutney is a recent graduate from the Royal College of Music where he won the prestigious Tagore gold medal. He has achieved success in piano competitions in both Spain and the UK as well as participating in master classes in Colorado and Banff. In 2021, he was invited by Sir Andras Schiff to play at the Oxford Piano Festival. Recent performances include concertos by Brahms, Schumann, Beethoven and Stravinsky. He has played in Radio 3 and CNBC
London Bridge Trio (piano, violin and cello)
Friday 17 March 2023
Fanny Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in D Minor Op 11
Faure: Piano Trio in D Minor Op 120
Beethoven: Archduke trio
The London Bridge Trio is one of Britain's leading chamber ensembles, known for their deeply nuanced and searching interpretations. The trio originally formed in 2002 as the London Bridge Ensemble and they continue to prioritise strong, composer-led programmes and collaborate with regular guests artists. Their name reflects an admiration for English music of the early twentieth century, which forms part of the group's varied repertoire.
Over recent years the trio has appeared frequently in London and Wigmore Hall and Kings Place concerts as well as a residency at St John's Smith Square. Their concerts have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3. The London Bridge Trio has a strong reputation in the recording field.
"..their works inhabit distinctive, highly Romantic sound worlds full of invention and drama" (BBC Music Magazine)
"rendered with a bubbling brilliance", and "heart touchingly eloquent" (Sunday Times