Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for December 2017

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF DECEMBER’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

Celebrate, rejoice, rise up and praise –  the festive season has arrived!

This month is full of music celebrating Christmas with a cornucopia of concerts – some crammed full with carols.

Here Comes Christmas is the popular annual concert of music for voices, brass quintet and organ held in the Edwardian splendour of Colchester’s Town Hall. Colchester Choral Society, conducted by Ian Ray, will be joined by children from both Birch Primary and Heathlands Primary Schools and accompanied by organist Dr Gillian Ward-Russell. After the concert there is a chance to pop to the Mayor’s Parlour for some mulled wine and festive treats. Sunday December 10 at 4pm in Colchester’s Moot Hall.

Tickets: £8 from Manns Music, Colchester.

Next Saturday (16 December), Gillian Ward-Russell will be conducting the Maldon Choral Society in a Christmas Carol Concert featuring the choir of Elm Green School.  Saturday December 16 at 7.30pm in All Saints’ Church, Maldon.

Tickets: £7 on the door.

Often considered to be the music for Christmas, Handel’s popular oratorio, Messiah, is sung in full or part at this time year. On Saturday 9 December, the Choir of St Mary’s Maldon will be joined by its favourite orchestra, Pegasus Baroque, in a full performance of the famous oratorio conducted by Colin Baldy. The performance is on Saturday 9 December at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church, Church Street, Maldon. CM9 5HP.

Tickets are available from the Maldon Tourist Board (01621 856503) and on Eventbrite.

Also on Saturday 9 December Philip Smith will be directing the St Botolph’s Music Society Orchestra from the keyboard in music by J S Bach. Scarlatti’s Christmas Cantata and the world premiere of Nativity Thoughts, composed by the Society’s founder Colin Nicholson, will be performed by the society’s choir and orchestra.  Saturday December 9 at St Botolph’s Church, Colchester from 7.30pm.

Tickets: £12 www.sbms.org.uk

Conductor Patrick McCarthy and his orchestra, the Colchester Philharmonic, will be accompanying Christmas concerts on the next two Saturdays.  On December 9 they will be at Witham Public Hall with Witham Choral presenting Sing Christmas! at 7.30 p.m. including excerpts from Messiah, audience carols and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols with baritone soloist Alastair Merry.

Tickets £12 and £5 (full-time education) at the door or phone 0345 017 8717.

On 16 December the Harwich & Dovercourt Choral Society will perform Messiah Part One with mezzo Elaine Henson and famous carols by Holst and Rutter plus carols for audience. The concert starts at 7.00 p.m. in St Nicholas’ Church, Harwich.

Tickets are £12 and £3 (full-time education) at the door.

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

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Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for September 2017

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF SEPTEMBER’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

It’s all happening in Colchester this month!

If, like me, you thoroughly enjoyed the Film Music of John Williams at the BBC Proms on July 20, here is your chance to hear some of these iconic film scores again. On September 9 our excellent Colchester Symphony Orchestra under its strong and stable conductor Chris Phelps, kickstarts its 2017/2018 season with some well-known movie music such as Star Wars and Schindler’s List by John Williams, Walton’s Spitfire Prelude & Fugue, Shostakovich’s The Gadfly and much other popular movie music.

This concert is on Saturday September 9 at 7.30pm in St Botolph’s Church, Colchester and tickets are already available (01206 271128)

Colchester Classics is delighted to be hosting a CD stand crammed full of Film Music and some bargains too! Freephone 0800 999 6994 to find out the type of CDs we will have on offer.

In the early nineteenth century, the guitar enjoyed remarkable popularity among upper and middle-class society throughout Europe. British award-winning mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley with guitarist Jens Franks will be performing many works written in this era by Schubert for voice and guitar in the intimate setting of Colchester’s Headgate Theatre.

Anna has been described as a rising star and presents recitals in the UK and internationally and has recently appeared  in a variety of roles for  English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and English Touring Opera. Her recent CD with Jens, Schubert: Songs for Voice and Guitar has received much praise from music magazines and broadsheet newspapers.

Saturday 9 September at 7.30pm Headgate Theatre. Tickets: £14 (01206 366000). This concert forms part of the Virtuoso Guitar Series at the Headgate.

The next concert in this series is on Friday 17 November at 7.30pm with Tim Pells.

Many Colchester musicians play in  Essex Chamber Orchestra (ECHO) will be meeting for  intensive rehearsals leading to a concert on Sunday evening taking place in Felsted School. It will include Kodaly’s Peacock Variations and Elgar’s Symphony No.1. Sunday 3 September,  Grignon Hall, Felsted School at 7.30pm.

Tickets £10 on the door.

Following last month’s exhilarating concert of Music for Brass and Organ, this month there is a chance for you to pull-out all the stops in a Meet (and Play) the Organ which is housed in Colchester’s beautiful Moot Hall.

The event takes place during this year’s Heritage Open Day from 12 – 2pm on Sunday 10 September in Colchester’s Town Hall in the High Street. Further details (01206 272908).

Colchester’s Roman River Music Autumn Festival brings music to the heart of our town. Outstanding international classical musicians returning to the Festival include pianist Benjamin Grosvenor who will play at All Saints’ Church in Fordham on Saturday 23 September and Natalie Clein will give a cello recital including compositions by women composers in the Colchester Arts Centre on September 17.

Another Festival highlight for me is The King’s Singers making their festival debut on 28 September in Stoke by Nayland Church. For full information please visit www.romanrivermusic.org.uk  Colchester Classics is delighted to be hosting a CD signing with The King’s Singers after its concert on 28 September.

If you subscribe to our e-database we will keep you up-to-date this concert and signing. (Simply email liz@colchesterclassics.co.uk to join our exclusive service.)

The Kingfisher Ensemble launches its Sunday afternoon 2017/2018 concert series on 24 September in the Lion Walk United Reformed Church in Colchester with a performance of a Piano Quintet by the 19th century Hungarian composer, Dohnanyi.

Further details from www.kingfishersinfonietta.co.uk

If singing is your thing – why not join a choir and find out for yourself the benefits of singing? The great Ella Fitzgerald once said “The only thing better than singing is more singing.” Only recently a broadsheet newspaper said that choir practice is healthier than yoga so here are a couple of ideas to get you singing.

First up, Clacton Choral Society is offering an informal ‘Sing-In’ introducing music for its Autumn concert such as Puccini’s sparkling Messa di Gloria. This choir is most welcoming and friendly, with singers being particularly attentive throughout to Gilli Dulieu’s rehearsal requests.

The ‘Sing-In’ takes place on Saturday 2 September and more details are available (01255 427691).

Handel’s Zadok the Priest is the most famous and popular of Handel’s Coronation Anthems. It was composed for King George II in 1727 and has been performed at every Coronation since then and is heard regularly on radio and TV. Next month there is a chance to rehearse this all-time choral favourite and other music at a ‘Come & Sing’ event on Sunday 10 September in the Old House Barn in Great Horkesley.  The choir members on this day will perform in the Roman River Festival’s finale concert on Sunday 1 October.

Further information email info@romanrivermusic.org.uk

Handel’s most famous oratorio, Messiah, tells the story of Jesus’ life from birth to resurrection.  It includes many rousing choruses including the most famous Baroque chorus – Hallelujah! Over in Ipswich its Choral Society will present a ‘Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah’.  The day includes a rehearsal and an evening performance of this great oratorio with young soloists from the Royal Academy of Music, accompanied by the professional period instrument ensemble, Vivace!

Further details on the choral workshop on Sunday September 17 (01473 738324).

There are many other opportunities to sing with local choirs and a good source of information is www.makingmusic.org.uk and www.MusicInEssex.info

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

 

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for August 2017

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF AUGUST’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

This month offers more opportunities to explore Classical Music through the BBC Proms with a diverse season of live concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, on BBC TV and BBC Radio 3. With your appetite now whetted for Classical Music, feast your ears and eyes on just a few of the concerts in our musically rich region.

If, like me, you thoroughly enjoyed the Film Music of John Williams at the BBC Proms on July 20, here is your chance to hear some of these iconic film scores again. On September 9 the Colchester Symphony Orchestra under its strong and stable conductor Chris Phelps, kickstarts its 2017/2018 season with some well-known movie music such as Star Wars and Schindler’s List by John Williams, Walton’s Spitfire Prelude & Fugue, Shostakovich’s The Gadfly and much other popular movie music.

This concert is on Saturday September 9 at 7.30pm in St Botolph’s Church, Colchester and tickets are already available (01206 271128)

If you have ever fancied getting up close and personal with Colchester’s magnificent Moot Hall organ and would like the chance to pull out all of the stops, then read on!

First up, tomorrow (Tuesday August 1) the Borough Organist, Ian Ray, will show you how to play the Edwardian organ in a lunchtime recital with music by J S Bach, Vivaldi and Richard Strauss. Ian will be joined by the Seckford Brass Ensemble, led by John Jermy (recently heard as the trumpet soloist with the Colchester Symphony Orchestra). Tuesday August 1 at 1pm in Colchester’s Town Hall.

Free concert with a Retiring collection. Further details (01206 272908).

The Moot Hall’s majestic organ was first installed in 1902 and the Heritage Lottery Fund-sponsored restoration was completed in 2015. On this year’s Heritage Open Day you have the chance to pull-out all the stops in a Meet (and Play) the Organ from 12 – 2pm on Sunday 10 September.

More information coming soon!

With recent reports continuing to extol the beneficial effects of singing in choirs, I thought it would be appropriate to introduce a day of singing, exercise, socialising and learning some new music

Last month I had the privilege of featuring Colchester’s Roman River Summer Music Festival in the beautiful setting of St Peter ad Vincula in Coggeshall. This month I would like to highlight an opportunity for all our many local choral singers to treat themselves to work with the young conductor Ben Vonberg-Clark in a varied programme from the all-time choral favourite, Handel’s Zadok the Priest through to new repertoire by Eric Whitacre. The choral works will be accompanied by an orchestra and be part of the Roman River Festival Finale concert on Sunday 1 October.

For further information click  http://romanrivermusic.org.uk/events/event/come-sing-2017 or email info@romanrivermusic.org.uk

If you can’t get to the above singing day, other opportunities are available! It may interest you to know that The Telegraph has recently been quoted as saying Choir practice is healthier than yoga”After the summer break many choirs and choral societies open their rehearsal doors to new members, so don’t miss your chance to improve your well-being by singing and socialising in your local choir.

A good source of information is www.makingmusic.org.uk and www.MusicInEssex.info

Next month the Roman River Music Autumn Festival brings music to the heart of Colchester. Outstanding international classical musicians returning to the Festival include pianist Benjamin Grosvenor who will play at All Saints’ Church in Fordham on Saturday 23 September and Natalie Clein will give a cello recital including compositions by woman composers in the Colchester Arts Centre on September 17. Another Festival highlight for me is The King’s Singers making their festival debut on 28 September in Stoke by Nayland Church.

For full information please visit www.romanrivermusic.org.uk

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

 

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for July 2017

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF JULY’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

Colchester’s Roman River Music presents two annual international festivals in North Essex and this month there is a treasure trove of French music chosen by pianist Tom Poster for its Summer Festival. Tom will be joined by internationally acclaimed tenor Karim Sulayman making his Festival debut, violinist Elena Urioste, the Navarra Quartet and soprano Raphaela Papadakis.

The first concert is on Friday 14 July at 8pm with music including Debussy’s Violin Sonata and Faure’s Piano Quintet and the festival closes on Sunday with a selection of songs by Poulenc. All four festival concerts will be recorded for future broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and take place in Coggeshall’s parish church, St Peter-ad-Vincula.

Further information about each concert and also news on the Autumn Festival can be found here romanrivermusic.org.uk

The Chelmsford Singers have been making music since in 1927 and this month celebrate its 90th anniversary with a Gala Concert in Chelmsford Cathedral including Carl Orff’s secular cantata Carmina Burana.  If like me, you are a child of the 1970s, you will know the famous ‘O Fortuna’ that opens Orff’s work through its use in the Old Spice TV advert. ‘O Fortuna’ is only a few minutes of the work but has been used countless times on TV shows and in films.  The choir will be joined by soloists Colin Baldy, Paul Smy and Elizabeth Roberts, the Cathedral Girls’ Choir, the Cathedral Choristers and Choral Scholars on Saturday 1 July in Chelmsford Cathedral.

Tickets from £15 from www.chelmsfordsingers.co.uk.

It is in association with the Maldon Festival which takes place from 24 June – 8 July visit www.maldonfestival.org.uk

On the same evening in Chelmsford the Essex Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tom Hammond will be performing music by Dvorak and its leader, Philippa Barton, will be the soloist in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.  This concert takes place at 7.30pm on Saturday 1 July at 7.30pm at Christ Church, London Road, Chelmsford. Tickets: £15 (01245 601418).

Philippa Barton is also leader of the Colchester Symphony Orchestra and the following weekend it performs music by Weber and Brahms with Fenella Humphreys as soloist in Bruch’s beautiful First Violin Concerto.  At this concert the prize draw to win two CDs signed by Fenella will take place and she will be available to sign her CDs purchased at Colchester Classics’s CD stand.

More details on the competition here http://colchesterclassics.co.uk/competition-time/

“It’s love that makes the world go round” wrote W.S. Gilbert and this weekend Clacton Choral conducted by Gilli Dulieu will be doing just that by sharing their love of the songs from the  various operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan and giving a full concert performance of  ‘Trial by Jury’. This comic operetta is almost unique as the entire libretto is sung with no spoken dialogue. As always with G&S, the plot is ludicrous, with light-hearted satire sprinkled with toe-tapping tunes. This concert is in aid of Parkinson’s UK and tickets are £6. Saturday 1 July at 5pm in  St James’ Church is in Tower Road, Clacton CO15 1DA.

In complete choral contrast, the highly-acclaimed Colchester Chamber Choir are on a four church tour this weekend and raising money for good causes at the same time.

Click www.colchesterchamberchoir.org

The Last Night of the Harwich Festival Proms takes place this Sunday evening at 7pm in St Nicholas’ Church with the joint choirs of  Witham Choral and the Harwich & Dovercourt Choral Society accompanied by the Colchester Philharmonic conducted by Patrick McCarthy. This concert includes choral favourites such as Handel’s Zadok the Priest, orchestral favourites such as Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs plus Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the brilliant pianist Mengyang Pan.

Further details www.harwichfestival.co.uk

Three talented young local musicians, sponsored by the Hervey Benham Trust, will be accompanied by the St Botolph’s Music Society Orchestra in Baston’s Second Recorder Concerto (soloist Pippa Tallowin), Coates’ Saxophone Rhapsody  (soloist Harriet Maxwell) and Charlie Price will be the soloist in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.

Saturday 1 July at 7.30pm at St Botolph’s Church, Colchester. Tickets: £12 (01206 823662).

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

Liz Leatherdale

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for May 2017

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF MAY’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

Many of the concerts featured here are in and around Colchester, or, involves local musicians performing at events further afield. Hope you find this information useful.

It is not every day that a choral society celebrates an important anniversary with its founder still actively involved in the music-making.  Saturday 6 May the Lexden Choral Society will be doing just that at its 25th Anniversary concert with many much-loved choral works and a few new ones too.

Lexden Choral Society was formed by Sarah Blake in 1992 from a few members of the Lexden Church Choir, augmented by a number of friends. Sarah is still actively involved and tomorrow evening John Chillingworth will conduct the choir accompanied by the Kingfisher Sinfonietta in a programme of music by Verdi, Jenkins, Handel, Tavener, Fauré, Borodin and Rutter.

Tickets: £13 (01206 766906) Saturday May 6, 7.30pm in St Botolph’s Church, Colchester.

At the same venue on Sunday 7 May at 3pm Samantha Christopher (clarinet) will be accompanied by pianist Ian Ray and on Saturday 20 May the Colchester Symphony Orchestra returns with a concert including Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto with soloist Andrew Cory.

Further information next week.

Back to this weekend and this Sunday there is an opportunity to hear Puccini’s one-act comic opera, Gianni Schicchi. As you may know, this opera includes one of Puccini’s best known and most popular aria, O mio Babbino Caro. This beautiful aria is often sung as a stand-alone piece and used commercially, such as in the opening to the film A Room With a View. Sunday’s production, sung in Italian with English surtitles, was first staged at the 2016 Summer Opera Course in Scheggino in Umbria just before the series of earthquakes in the area.

Tickets are £8 in aid of the Italian Red Cross Earthquakes Appeal. Sunday 7 May at 5pm in Chelmsford Cathedral

If you are near Chelmsford Cathedral on 20 May, there is a performance of Handel’s most popular oratorio, Messiah, with James Davy, the Cathedral’s Organist and Master of the Choristers, conducting the Choirs of Chelmsford Cathedral, Canzona and soloists including Colin Baldy.

Tickets from £10 (0333 666 3366)

Based at the Colchester-based University of Essex, its choir continues its 40th birthday celebrations with a concert of beautiful British music. Founded in 1977, choristers are drawn from University staff and students and also from the local community. Since 1981 the Music Director has been Richard Cooke and at this concert he will be conducting Vaughan Williams’ haunting first symphony entitled ‘A Sea Symphony’ based on the poetry of American Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. This symphony was one of the first where a choir was used throughout and was an integral part of the musical texture.

Colchester Classics was delighted to offer the choristers a highly regarded CD of ‘A Sea Symphony’ with soloists Susan Gritton, Gerald Finley, the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, under the late Richard Hickox. For further details on this CD please telephone 0800 999 6994.

The University choir will be accompanied by the Essex Sinfonia who will also perform Elgar’s internationally-loved Variations, Op.35 popularly known as the Enigma Variations, which had its first performance a decade before the Sea Symphony.

Saturday 6 May at 7pm in Snape Maltings Concert Hall. Tickets from £12 (01728 687110).

Also on Saturday, May 6 but at 7.30pm pianist and composer Matyas Bacso presents ‘Hungarian Rhapsody’ including Gershwin’s popular Rhapsody in Blue plus music by Scott Joplin and Debussy along with some Hungarian Rhapsodies. Matyas was recently heard performing in Tubular Bells Live! at the Mercury Theatre. This concert is the fifth and final evening event for this years’ Lexden Arts Festival in St Leonard’s Church, Lexden Road, Colchester.

Tickets £10 each on the door.

The fourth annual Frinton Festival presents music performed in and around this charming small seaside town. Alongside the five festival concerts (26 – 29 May, 2017) there are special free events such as the string quartet, Gut Reaction playing at The Red Lion Pub in Kirby-le-Soken on Sunday 7 May at 8pm.

Free Festival tickets for those aged 8 – 25 years old are available for some concerts including Friday 26 May at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Parish Church, Frinton when The Barbican Piano Trio, the Festival’s resident artists, is joined by violist Adam Newman to perform Piano Quartets by Dvorak, Mozart and contemporary composers.  Free pre-concert Wine Tasting courtesy of Mr Wheeler for Ticket holders.

The Festival has a Choral Evensong service on Sunday 28 May with an open invitation to singers to perform music by Mozart, Stanford and John Rutter.

To find out more about rehearsals and the service please email Duncan Archard duncan@amusicltd.co.uk or click links here www.frintonfestival.com

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

Liz Leatherdale

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for March 2017

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF MARCH’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

Music-making in March has most certainly sprung into action. Here are just a few of the concerts this month.

In February the Colchester Bach Choir presented An Evening of Mozart in St Botolph’s Church in aid of the Colchester Mayor’s Charities, raising £1,000. Later this month the Mayor, Julie Young, will be hosting a St Patrick’s Day concert. The Children of Lir, an Irish fairytale Cantata by world renowned Irish film composer Patrick Cassidy, will be performed by The Blessington Millennium choir from County Wicklow accompanied by Charles Pearson on the Moot Hall organ on 17 March at 7.30pm in the Colchester Town Hall.

Tickets are £10.00 (01206 282206).

By the way, Patrick Cassidy has composed some beautiful music including the enchanting Vide Cor Meum (See my Heart) first heard during the outdoor opera scene in the film Hannibal.

One of the excellent soloists at An Evening of Mozart was the soprano Gill Wilson.  Gill can also be heard on Wednesday 8 March at 1pm at her recital accompanied by pianist Ian Ray in Lion walk United Reformed Church, Colchester.

On March 11 Gill and also Roderic Knott will be the soloists with Witham Choral and the Colchester Philharmonic in the Last Night of the Proms concert full of favourites such as the Henry Wood Sea Songs Fantasia, opera choruses, Land of Hope and Glory and much more. This concert is on Saturday 11 March at 7.30 pm in the Witham Town Hall.

Tickets £12 (0345 017 8717)

J S Bach’s St John Passion tells the Biblical story of Jesus’ Crucifixion and was first performed on Good Friday in 1724. Rather than expecting the congregation, or, audience to sit back and take in the music, Bach included a number of hymn-like chorales so all could participate in the worship.

If you like your Bach oratorio sung in its original language, this month Colin Baldy will be the bass soloist with the Colchester Choral Society in the St John Passion sung in German accompanied by the John Jenkins Consort with Peter Holman (continuo) conducted by Ian Ray.  Saturday 18 March 2017 in St Botolph’s Church, Colchester (www.colchesterchoralsociety.co.uk)

Next month Colin Baldy will be conducting St Mary’s Church Choir in a performance of the same work in German but this time with five chorales sung in English by the choir with the congregation invited to sing too. This takes place on Good Friday, 14 April at 7.30pm with free entry at St Mary’s Church, Church Street, Maldon CM9 5 JG

By the way, Bach’s St John Passion is often sung in English in the UK and next month’s column will include details of a concert in Clacton and, after a forty-five year wait, information on a new CD of the work sung in English recorded by a Colchester-based international company

Sunday 19 March offers several musical treats such as the Colchester Chamber Choir at St Peter ad Vincula Church, Coggeshall with a programme of 16th and 17th century choral masterpieces including Palestrina and Monteverdi, interwoven with modern jazz improvisations from the internationally-acclaimed jazz guitarist Chris Allard.

Tickets:  £16, under 30s £10 and the concert starts at 7pm www.colchesterchamberchoir.org

Earlier that same day, Anglia Singers under Chris Green will be performing Handel’s much-loved oratorio, Messiah at Our Lady Queen of Peach Church, Braintree at 4pm. Tickets: £8 (01245 350988)

Also at 4pm on that same Sunday, Kammer Philharmonie Europa will be performing at St Mary’s Church in East Bergholt as part of the Stour Valley Arts Music concert series.

For ticket availability and more information please telephone 01206 298426

At 5pm on Sunday 19 March The Pimlott Foundation is hosting a concert in its recently refurbished Barn with a programme of Elizabethan Music by John Cooper, John Dowland and William Lawes and French music for the court  of Louis XIV, The Sun King.  This concert is at 5pm at Old House, Great Horkesley CO6 4EQ. Entry £11 includes refreshments.

Children and students free Tickets and further details; www.pimlottfoundation.org or phone 01206 271291.

World-famous harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock makes a welcome return to Suffolk Village Festival as part of his 70th birthday celebrations. He is joined by his long-term recital partner Jonathan Manson in a programme that brings together some of the greatest Baroque music for viola da gamba and harpsichord with two extraordinary pieces for solo harpsichord. J.S. Bach’s astonishingly bold Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue has been a favourite with virtuoso keyboard players ever since it was written, while Handel’s monumental Chaconne in G is one of his greatest keyboard works.

For further details contact Suffolk Villages Festival, 119 Maldon Road, Colchester, Essex CO3 3AX telephone: 01206 366603, email louise@suffolkvillagesfestival.com  Guess what date this concert is on? Yes, that is right Sunday 19 March at 6pm in St Peter’s Church, Sudbury. Tickets £18 (reserved), £12 (unreserved), reserved seats for two concerts £34.

Colchester Symphony Orchestra returns to St Botolph’s Church on Saturday 25 March, 7.30pm with soloist John Jermy. This concert includes Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto and Beethoven: Symphony No 6 in F major op 68 -The Pastoral. Tickets are £14 and can be reserved via telephone (01206 271128) or more info www.colchestersymphonyorchestra.org.uk

In contrast with the above, if you enjoy choral works the Tiptree Choral Society will be singing Mendelssohn’s Elijah in English– a work for large-scale chorus, soloists including numbers for an octet and women’s trio. The work depicts events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah and was composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn’s baroque predecessors Bach and Handel, composers he so admired.

Saturday 25 March at St Luke’s Church, Church Road, Tiptree. Tickets from £10 on the door.

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

 

 

 

 

 

Liz Leatherdale

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for February

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF FEBRUARY’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

On Wednesday 1 February at 1pm the The Marenzio Singers will be performing at the first lunchtime concert in 2017 at Lion Walk United Reformed Church in Colchester. The Marenzio Singers are a five-part vocal ensemble and specialise in music from the 16th and 17th centuries plus music from more modern times.

Free entry with a retiring collection.

Last January the University of Essex Choir under the direction of Richard Cooke performed Mozart’s Requiem and other works to a packed audience at the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall in the university.  Early next month, the choir will be back at the same venue with an intriguing selection of pieces.

The choir’s next concert does not feature one major choral work but instead Richard has chosen a wide selection of music.  I understand that the choir has been thoroughly enjoying rehearsing Holst’s hauntingly beautiful Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda (group 3), for female voices only, and Britten’s The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard, for the male voices.  The concert also includes works for the whole choir in Brahms’ 4 Quartets (Op 92), contrasting with Folksong arrangements by Percy Grainger such as I’m Seventeen Come Sunday and music  by the sadly neglected 20th century Swedish composer, Stenhammar.  The choir will be accompanied by pianists Richard Pearce and Jonathan Beatty who will also perform music by Brahms, Debussy and Grieg.

This concert takes place on Saturday 4 February at 7pm.  Tickets: £22 (www.universityofessexchoir.org) By the way, a short walk from the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, Wivenhoe House Hotel is offering pre- or post-concert dining (01206 863666).

On Sunday February 5 at 2.45pm the Kingfisher Ensemble returns to Lion Walk United Reformed Church in Colchester performing Piano Quartets by Schumann and Beethoven.

Tickets: £12 and available on the door.

Colin Nicholson will be joining Ian Ray in Two’s Company in the second concert in the series of three lunchtime Organ Recitals given on the magnificent Moot Hall. A variety of organ duos will be performed on Tuesday 7 February at the Colchester Town Hall .

Free entry with a retiring collection.

Over in Chelmsford, Jeffrey Wilson’s Environ Music promotes creative musical initiatives including a regular Wednesday lunchtime recital series at the Cramphorn Theatre in Chelmsford. This month on Wednesday 15 February the “Sun Trio” (Carol Taylor, clarinet, Paul Arnell, viola, Alison Eales, piano) offer some engaging chamber music.

Further information (01245 606505)

Last year octogenarian Colin Nicholson celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his founding St Botolph’s Music Society in Colchester with his wife, Gill. This month Colin will be conducting the Society’s orchestra in its Gala Concert with a trio of concertos. International pianist Noriko Ogawa performs Grieg’s Piano Concerto – one of the most-loved piano works of all time. (Some of you may recall the classic Morecambe & Wise sketch with Eric attempting to perform this concerto while endlessly annoying conductor Andre Previn). Back to 2017: in the same concert, soloist Philip Smith will perform Schumann’s Piano Concerto and the solo violin part in Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole will be played by Sian Philipps. Saturday 18 February at 7pm in St Botolph’s Church, Colchester.

Tickets: £15 (01206 577905)

Colchester Classics is delighted to be at the Noriko Ogawa concert offering her CDs before her  CD signing in the interval.

The following weekend at the same venue, situated next to the ruins of the Norman priory, Colchester Bach Choir and Orchestra perform their annual concert in aid of the Mayor of Colchester’s Charities. On 25 February the choir will be presenting An Evening of Mozart to include the famous ‘Coronation’ Mass and the Solemn Vespers. Among other pieces, a highlight will be the delightful Flute Concerto in D with Mary Blanchard as soloist. Conductor Patrick McCarthy tells me he also has a Mozartian surprise or two up his sleeve. This will be the 23rd such concert the choir has given for successive Colchester mayors thereby raising many thousands of pounds for their charities.

Tickets £12 (£5 full-time education). Tel (01206) 282206

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

Liz Leatherdale

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for December

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF DECEMBER’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

Somehow Christmas isn’t the same without Festive Music, whether traditional carols from a choir or a Brass Band playing seasonal treats. If you are looking forward to hearing Christmas music and singing some favourite carols, you will not be disappointed with the small selection highlighted here.

This month offers the chance to hear the unique sound worlds created by Wind Instruments from both Medieval Times and our current day, Christmas music and much more!

 

The final two concerts in the Colchester Early Music series 2016 take place in the Medieval Church at Marks Tey where the distinctive sounds created by period wind instruments originally heard at dances and banquets in Medieval and Renaissances times will be heard.

The first concert is on Sunday 4 December when The King’s Lynn Waites presents music and readings from the Hall Books of Lynn  in a concert entitled “When th’ Instruments they can scarce hold: tales and tunes of a Wait’s life”. The following Sunday The York Waits end the Colchester Early Music 2016 concert series with seasonal music from the 12th-17th centuries on shawm, sackbuts, harp, gittern, fiddles, recorders, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy and rommelpot in “Godday my Lord Sire Christemass”. Both concerts start at 2.30pm in St Andrews Church, Mark Tey, near Colchester.

Tickets: £8 including refreshments. (01206 212466)

www.colchesterearlymusic.org.uk

Back to modern day wind instruments and the East Anglian Single Reed Choir conducted by Anthony Bailey present a concert in St Osyth Church of both non-seasonal and seasonal music including the premiere of Anthony Bailey’s latest Christmas music, this year based around the Holly & the Ivy.  The word Choir is often associated with church choirs, large choirs but it is also the term used to describe an ensemble of wood wind instruments, either all of one type or in this case a combination of single reed instruments – the clarinet and saxophone. Sunday, 4 December, St Osyth Church at 6pm.

Tickets: £6 including refreshments available on the door

‘Christmas is Coming’ is the title of the recital on the magnificent Moot Hall organ with soprano soloist Lindsay Gowers accompanied by organist Ian Ray in an all-English programme of songs and organ music. Tuesday 6 December, 1-2pm in the Moot Hall, Colchester Town Hall.

Admission is free with a retiring collection

The following Sunday, Ian Ray will be back in the Moot Hall directing the Colchester Choral Society, a children’s semi-chorus singing from the gallery, a brass quintet, organist Dr Gillian Ward Russell and compere Terence Craig Waller in ‘Here Comes Christmas’.  December 11 at 4pm.

Tickets £8 including refreshments in the Mayor’s Parlour

‘A Symphonic Christmas’ with The Choir of St Mary’s, Maldon, accompanied by the Lewisham Concert Band, performs John Rutter’s Gloria, Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Saturday, 3 December at 7.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Maldon.

Tickets: £12. (01621 856503)

On the same day, the Clacton Choral Society accompanied by the Kingfisher Sinfonietta present their Christmas concert with Handel’s Messiah (Part One) and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols. In addition to these choral works the Kingfisher Sinfonietta who will also perform Winter from Vivaldi’s popular work, The Four Seasons, and in contrast Gabriel’s Oboe from the film, The Mission.

Ticket information (01255 221511)

Two concerts with little or no reference to seasonal music are also available this weekend. The Puffin Ensemble, Colchester Symphony Orchestra’s principal wind players, performs music by Strauss, Dvorak and Hummel in St Botolph’s Church, Colchester, tomorrow at 7.30pm. Tickets: £14 (01206 271128).  Then on Sunday afternoon the Kingfisher Sinfonietta returns to Lion Walk Church in Colchester with music by Vivaldi, Mozart and Frank Bridge.  . Sunday 4 December 2016 at 2.45pm.

Tickets: £12

www.facebook.com/ColchesterSymphonyOrchestra

www.colchestersymphonyorchestra.org.uk

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

Liz Leatherdale

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for October

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF OCTOBER’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

In Colchester and the surrounding area there always seems to be music available at various festivals, on-going series and visiting international artists at concert venues. Here is a sneak peek at some taking place in October in our musically rich region.

The 65th season of the Stour Valley Arts & Music 2016/2017 series begins with the Calder Quartet from America performing chamber music including Debussy’s only String Quartet (a work that takes me back to my A Level music class when it was one of the set works!) The Calder Quartet is widely recognised as an outstanding ensemble and this concert forms part of its European tour which also takes in London’s Wigmore Hall and concert venues in Zurich, Frankfurt and Madrid. Sunday 9 October 2016 at 4pm in St Mary’s Church, The Street, East Bergholt CO7 6TA.

(01206 298426) www.svam.org.uk

Colchester’s Roman River Festival enters its final weekend of events with the usual varied mix of music.  Friday 30 September  sees Mahler’s Symphony No.1 being performed in a new version for fifteen players plus a rare chance to hear Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin with its story of lust and power. This will be the first time a Mahler symphony has been performed at the Festival. Friday, September 30, 8pm in Stoke by Nayland Church

Saturday 1 October in the same stunning location, international cellist Tim Hugh performs Britten’s Cello Symphony accompanied by the Festival Orchestra. The orchestra will also perform Vaughan William’s heart-felt response to the horrors of World War Two with his Fifth Symphony. Saturday October 1 at 6pm in St Mary’s Church Stoke by Nayland

In complete contrast, the Festival Finale on Sunday 2 October at 4pm showcases much of the education and outreach work which has been taking place over the last few months with a folk-inspired musical journey around the British Isles and beyond.

To view the remaining concerts at the Festival and to check for ticket availability please contact (07759 934860) www.romanrivermusic.org.uk

Two lunchtime concert series begin early in October.  Firstly, Allan Granville and Christopher Roberts perform piano duets on the Boston piano with Borough Organist Ian Ray playing music by J.S. Bach, Herbert Howells and Alexandre Guilmant. Tuesday October 4 at 1pm, Colchester Moot Hall.

Admission is free with a retiring collection in aid of The Friends of the Moot Hall Organ.

Secondly, the following day also at 1pm Charles Hine (clarinet) accompanied at the piano by Ian Ray presents the first concert in the Autumn Lion Walk Church Lunchtime series. Wednesday October 5, Colchester.

Free entry with retiring collection.

Many Colchester musicians will be performing in the British Clarinet Ensemble’s 21st Anniversary special concert where Charles Hine conducts works including music by Colchester-based composer, Alan Bullard. Saturday, October 2016  at 7.3opm, Stapleford Granary, Bury Road, Stapleford, Cambridge, CB22 5BP.

Tickets from £8 (01572 756128).

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

 

 

 

 

 

Liz Leatherdale

Colchester Classics – Classical Music Picks for June

OUR CLASSICAL MUSIC COLUMNIST LIZ LEATHERDALE, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF COLCHESTER CLASSICS, BRINGS YOU HER PICK OF JUNE’S CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS IN, AND AROUND, COLCHESTER.

Classics

BBC Music Day

BBC Music Day is a UK-wide celebration of everything we love about music with the aim of bringing people together from different generations and communities. On Friday 3 June, Colchester celebrates this event with the Colne Valley Youth Orchestra,  students from Academy East Music School, Tendring Music School and pupils from local schools including Philip Morant, Thurstable and Colchester Royal Grammar School perform some of the BBC 10 pieces which are being promoted by Essex Music Education Hub through workshops and lessons.  Friday 3 June at 7pm, St Botolph’s Church, Colchester.

Admission is free with a retiring collect.

Frinton Festival & Family Concert

The opening concert in the annual Frinton Festival is on Thursday 2 June with music by Saint-Saens, Hugo Wolf and Beethoven.

This concert and also the Family Concert on Saturday 4 June have a limited number of free tickets for those aged 8 – 25. (01255 319141)

The Sixteen

The Sixteen, comprising both choir and period-instrument orchestra, are recognised as one of the world’s greatest ensembles. Saturday 4 June the sixteenth choral pilgrimage of The Sixteen under Harry Christophers comes to Chelmsford. The concert celebrates the work of William Byrd and Arvo Pärt, composers from very different eras, both considered masters of sacred music despite having faced considerable persecution for their work.  Chelmsford Cathedral, Saturday 4 June at 7.30pm.

Tickets from £15 (0333 666 3366)

Dulcis Venti & Francis Knights

Discovering that there was no existing repertoire for recorder quartet with harpsichord, Colchester New Music challenged composers around the world to rectify the situation. Saturday 4 June,  Dulcis Venti and harpsichordist Francis Knights present the first ever performances of works for this mysteriously neglected ensemble. Dulcis Venti is a newly formed recorder quartet, based in East Anglia and directed by Stephen Watkins. Francis Knights is Director of Studies in Music at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and trained as a harpsichordist under Robert Woolley. Saturday 4 June at 7.30pm. Headgate Theatre, Colchester.

Tickets: £8 (01206 366000 or email tickets@headgatetheatre.co.uk)

Nicholas McCarthy

Born without his right hand, award-winning British pianist Nicholas McCarthy is a champion of the left-hand repertoire. On Tuesday 31 May, his Summer UK Piano Tour begins and on June 5, Nicholas returns to his hometown of Colchester for a concert at St Botolph’s Church at 3pm before completing his UK tour on 16 June. Nicholas is one of the rare musicians who captivates the audience with his musicianship and informs and entertains with his remarkable repertoire knowledge.

Nicholas performs music especially written for the left-hand only, transcriptions and arrangements, including his own, and recent commissions.  Tickets: £10 (0800 411 8881). At his Colchester concert Nicholas will pick the winner for a signed copy of his debut album, Solo. To enter the competition ring 0800 999 4994 or by email  liz@colchesterclassics.co.uk  Sunday June 5 at 3pm in St Botolph’s Church.

Tickets: £10 (0800 411 8881 www.nicholasmccarthy.co.uk)

Beth Spendlove & Nigel Clayton

At 2.45pm on Sunday 5 June Beth Spendlove and Nigel Clayton perform music for violin and piano by Handel, Mozart and Szymanowski in Lion Walk Church, Colchester. Tickets: £12 on the door.   Beth and Nigel present a recital on Thursday June 9 as part of the 22nd season of Summer Concerts, St Mary’s Church, Frinton.

Free admission with retiring collection.

Witham Choral Society – Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday

On 11 June at 7.30 pm at Witham United Reformed Church, Newland Street, Witham Choral Society will be celebrating Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday by performing some of the music played at her Coronation back in 1953. Accompanied by the Colchester Bach Ensemble the concert will feature Handel Coronation Anthems (including Zadok the Priest), Greensleeves and Purcell’s Trumpet Tune. The choir will also sing Vivaldi’s Gloria and music by Haydn and Mozart.

Tickets are £10 and £5 for those in full-time education. www.withamchoralsociety.org.uk

Purcell’s The Fairy Queen

Shakespeare has inspired countless composers throughout the ages. Purcell’s The Fairy Queen is a magical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and it inaugurates both the Maldon Festival and its commemoration of the Bard’s 400th Anniversary. The City Lit Opera with Pegasus Baroque Orchestra perform at the Amphitheatre, Promenade Park, Maldon on Saturday June 25 at 6pm. Tickets: £15 (01621 856503). On the same evening, the Colchester Choral Society performs Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in the version devised by Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst, and first performed at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1967.

Further information www.colchesterchoralsociety.co.uk

Harwich Festival

Tickets are now available for the Harwich Festival 2016 (24 June – 3 July) with discounted season tickets on offer for its Classical Music concerts with performances by the Amphion Consort, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the London Piano Trio and many more.

Tickets: 07425 1450222 or www.harwichfestival.co.uk

If you have a forthcoming concert of classical music, you would like previewed, contact Liz Leatherdale on 0800 999 6994.

Start your love affair with Classical Music at www.colchesterclassics.co.uk and take a minute to watch their company video: 

Liz Leatherdale

 

 

 

 

 

Liz Leatherdale