Wednesday 30 September, 2009  8 pm

Sam Haywood  piano

Sam Haywood began playing the piano at the age of six, inspired by evenings listening to crackly LPs of Beethoven sonatas with his grandmother in the Lake District. His early teachers David Bonser and David Hartigan continued to inspire him and by the age of thirteen he had won 2nd prize in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition (to watch an extract click here). The Royal Philharmonic Society then awarded him their prestigious Julius Isserlis Award, after which he moved to Vienna to study with Paul Badura-Skoda. The Italian Schnabel-pupil Maria Curcio was his next major influence, studying with her at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Since then Sam has performed all over the world both as soloist and chamber musician, regularly collaborating with Steven Isserlis, members of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras and the Galliard Ensemble. In 2010 he will be touring Europe (including the Wigmore Hall on 29^th April) and the USA with Joshua Bell. He has recorded a number of CDs and has broadcast widely on radio.

Sam is very grateful to George Isserlis both for introducing him to Barnes Music Society and for helping him unearth the wonderful and largely forgotten piano works of his father, the Russian pianist/composer Julius Isserlis. Sam has made a new edition of these works and hopes to record them in the near future. They include a short previously unpublished work entitled “Warum” (Why?) written in memory of Scriabin’s son, who died aged twelve in a boating accident.

 Sam has composed several solo piano and duo works, and also a children’s opera which has had three performances in London. His Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano, dedicated to Roger and Penny Birnstingl, is published by Emerson Editions. Outside his musical life he is a passionate fell-walker and amateur magician.

`Beautifully played – an enviable technique’ (Musical Opinion)

Howard Blake

Local composer and pianist Howard Blake introduces and plays a selection of his own music, including solo piano pieces from his collection `Lifecycle’ and The Snowman. He is partnered by violinist Madeleine Mitchell to give the London concert premiere of his Violin Sonata and 'Pennillion', both of which they recently recorded for Naxos.

1. Four Easy Pieces for piano (1956)

Moderato - Valse triste - Con moto - Andantino

 2. Variations on a theme of Bartok for piano (1958)

Theme, moderato

Var.1 - Misterioso, lento

Var.2 -  Con fuoco, allegro

Var.3 -  Allegro

Var.4  -  L’istesso tempo, nervosa

Var.5  - Vivace

Var.6 - Lento 

Var.7 - Lento

Var.8  - Vivo, un poco capriccioso

Var.9  - Vivo energico

Var.10 -  Piu mosso, con fuoco 

Var.11 - Sempre fuoco

Finale - Vivace

3. Pieces from ‘Lifecycle’ for piano (1975)

Impromptu (The Watermill)

Toccatina (Top dance)

Chaconne in D minor

Scherzo in D major

4. Pennillion for violin & piano (1975)

Theme-Moderato

Var. 1-Vivo

Var.2 – L’istesso tempo

Var.3 – Meno mosso (ritmico)

Var.4 - Allegro

Var. 5 – Lento (misterioso)

Var. 6 -Moderato (grazioso)

Theme –tempo primo (tranquillo)

Interval

Howard Blake is one of the most popular and prolific living English composers. Successes include scores which he wrote for films such as 'The Duellists' and 'A Month in the Country', both of which won prizes.

In 1982 he wrote words and music for the animated Channel 4 TV film and Sony CD 'The Snowman', with its song 'Walking in the Air', so much loved by children all over the world. Its concert version continues to receive many performances worldwide, and the stage version runs every year at Sadlers Wells' Peacock Theatre in London.

Howard Blake has written many concert works including his piano concerto for Princess Diana commissioned by the Philharmonia. The oratorio 'Benedictus', which he conceived whilst staying with the monks at Worth Abbey, was recorded by Sir David Willcocks, Robert Tear, the Bach Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1994 Howard Blake received the O.B.E. for services to music and is Fellow and Visiting Professor of Composition at The Royal Academy of Music.

Madeleine Mitchell is one of Britain's most celebrated violinists, performing as a soloist and chamber musician in over 40 countries. She was a finalist in both the European Women of Achievement and the Creative Briton Awards, Helen Wallace, Editor of BBC Music Magazine describing her as "not only a violinist of great virtuosity but also of a very special poetic character...visionary imagination...she has been an independent pioneering figure in the violin world...a tremendous inspiration".

She broadcasts frequently for both television and radio including ABC-Australia, SABC, European and BBC television and the BBC Proms with Joanna MacGregor including their own arrangement of Bach.

Madeleine performs a concerto repertoire from Vivaldi to contemporary and has played with major orchestras throughout Europe such as the Polish Radio Symphony - Stravinsky violin concerto: ISCM Masters' of C20 Music Warsaw, Czech Radio Symphony - first Czech broadcast of Vaughan Williams 'The Lark Ascending', Wurttemburg and Munich Chamber orchestras, London orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic - Bruch violin concerto under Sir Alexander Gibson, Mozart on tour with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra and for the BBC including the violin concerto 'Quadruple Elegy' written for her by Piers Hellawell, with the Ulster Orchestra and Charles Hazlewood. Most recently she performed Lou Harrison's Violin Concerto with Percussion Orchestra in Symphony Hall Birmingham International Series in a new collaboration with Ensemble Bash supported by Arts Council England.

Gemma Rosefield  cello

Beethoven    12 Variations on Handel’s `See the conqu’ring hero comes’, WoO.45

David Matthews    Journeying Songs for cello

Mendelssohn    Cello Sonata No.2, Op.58

Interval

Schumann    5 Pieces in folk style, Op.102

Brahms    Cello Sonata No.2 in F, Op.99

Gemma Rosefield, born in London in 1981, studied for a Masters Degree with Ralph Kirshbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music, supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. She had previously graduated with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music. Major competition successes include First Prize in the European Music for Youth Competition in Oslo, the Royal Overseas League String Competition, the Making Music Young Concert Artists Award, the Kirckman Award, and the Prix Academie Maurice Ravel.

She has taken part in masterclasses with such musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Gary Hoffman, Johannes Goritzki, Frans Helmerson, Zara Nelsova and Bernard Greenhouse.

When she was only 18, The Strad wrote about her "Eighteen-year-old Gemma Rosefield & gave a heartfelt reading of Bruch's Meditation on the Jewish chant, Kol Nidrei. Her eminent control, her fine contrast between light and shade and her broad, expressive brush strokes made this a deeply affecting performance. The sheer sophistication and depth of understanding she revealed were inspirational."

A committed chamber musician, Gemma has played in the USA, Russia, Japan, Europe and throughout the UK, including performances with György Pauk, Menachem Pressler and Stephen Kovacevich. She has appeared at all major London venues, including the South Bank, Barbican and Wigmore Hall, where at her debut recital in 2004, she was described by The Strad as "a mesmerising musical treasure;" the London Evening Standard commented "Monday nights at the Wigmore Hall will never be the same again."

Her festival appearances this year include Corsham, Hampstead & Highgate, Kings Lynn, Presteigne and Edinburgh Fringe, Gstaad and the Lyon Musicades XV in France. Praised by the London Evening Standard in 2005 as "a phenomenal talent", Gemma's plans include solo recitals throughout the UK and performances of the Elgar, Schumann and both Haydn concertos. She has toured in Mexico and Holland (in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam) in the New Masters International Recital Series.

More information about Ms Rosefield may be found at www.gemmarosefield.co.uk.

Michael Dussek has led an exceptionally varied and successful career, performing throughout the world as soloist, chamber musician and singer's accompanist.

 He has partnered many of today's leading instrumental and vocal soloists, including  violinists Ryu Goto, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne Akiko Meyers, Gil Shaham, Antje Weithaas and Xue Wei; cellist Ofra Harnoy, flautist James Galway, oboist Douglas Boyd; and singers Susan Bullock, Bernarda Fink, Christopher Maltman, Ian Partridge and Jean Rigby.

Michael has played in many of the world's major concert halls, including London's Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Royal Opera House; Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Madrid's Auditorio Nacional, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Osaka's Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Centre and major concert venues in Beijing, Bonn, Brussels, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Paris, Prague, Toronto and Taipei.

In 2006 he completed a 13-recital tour of Japan with violinist Ryu Goto, including a Suntory Hall recital recorded live for CD and DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.

He is a member of three London-based chamber groups: the Dussek Piano Trio, Endymion Ensemble and Primavera. He has also performed with the soloists of The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, The City of London Sinfonia and The Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment.

Michael Dussek's versatility is reflected in his extensive discography, which he has recorded for labels such as ASV, Chandos, Deutsche Grammophon, Dutton Epoch, EMI, Hyperion and Meridian. He has recently recorded York Bowen's first three Piano Concertos with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Vernon Handley, to critical acclaim.

 His recording of Britten's solo piano music was described by Fanfare Magazine as "one of the most magical discs of Britten yet made". With cellist Ofra Harnoy he recorded works by Beethoven and Dvorak, and a disc of sonatas by Prokofiev and Schubert which won a Canadian Juno Award.

As a member of the Dussek Piano Trio, with his wife, cellist Margaret Powell and violinist Gonzalo Acosta, he has recorded trios by Arensky, Brahms, Bridge, Haydn and Hurlstone, and with Endymion Ensemble, chamber works by Berkeley, Bowen, Dohnanyi, Dunhill, Fibich and Rubbra.

Two of his recordings of Edmund Rubbra's chamber music were nominated for Gramophone Awards, and his disc of songs by Arnold Bax, with singers Ian Partridge and Jean Rigby, received outstanding reviews.

Altogether he has made 20 recordings in Dutton Epoch's widely acclaimed survey of British music. Michael Dussek's EMI recording with violinist Xue Wei was a best-selling classical recording in mainland China and Hong Kong.

In addition to his extensive performing career, Michael Dussek is a Professor and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

More information about Mr Dussek may be found at www.michaeldussek.co.uk.

Divertimenti String Quintet

Paul Barritt  violin

Rachel Isserlis  violin

Jonathan Barritt viola

Divertimenti has been widely acclaimed as one of the most exciting and innovative British chamber groups of its generation.

 Four of the players in this outstanding ensemble were founder members at its inception in 1978. All five are top ranking players with a wealth of world-wide concert experience between them, as soloists and orchestral principals as well as chamber music players. Long standing friends, they share an evergreen love of music making, and a passion for the rich sonorities of the string ensemble repertoire.

The core group is a quintet for two cellos. Schubert’s great C major Quintet forms the backbone of many programmes, while other exciting and beautiful quintets for this combination have been discovered. Divertimenti has a long tradition of breaking new ground with adventurous repertoire, and the championing of works by lesser known composers. A serious dedication to twentieth century compositions, together with a particular focus on the rich seam of works by British composers, has enabled the creation of attractive and challenging concerts. In addition, Divertimenti Ensemble expands to sextets and octets, and performs quintets for two violas and also quartets, trios, duos and solos.

The ensemble’s recording activities have included numerous programmes for BBC Radio 3, notably live broadcast concerts at St.George’s, Bristol and Pebble Mill, Birmingham. Early interest was attracted by a recording of chamber music by Colin Matthews, and of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet on the Meridian label. Two further recordings on the Hyperion label - Howells and Dyson Quartets, and Mendelssohn and Bargiel Octets - received unanimous praise from the critics, the latter being singled out for recommendation by BBC Radio 3’s Record Review and by International Record Review. Both recordings received recommendations from BBC Music Magazine and Classic FM (as Record of the Month).

The Ensemble gave the second ever performance of Arnold Bax’s Quintet No.1, together with Dame Ethel Smyth’s Quintet, at the  Lichfield Festival, both enthusiastically received. Divertimenti subsequently recorded the Bax on the Dutton Epoch label – “a thoroughly likeable and valuable release” (Gramophone). Another recent discovery was the Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Quintet, a transcription for string quintet with two cellos of the famous violin sonata, published in 1932, with scores provided by the Beethovenhaus in Bonn. The latest addition to their exclusive repertoire is the Joseph Miroslav Weber Quintet, which has  been released on the Cello Classics label, together with the Brahms String Quintet in F minor (a reconstruction of the original instrumentation of his Piano Quintet Op.34) - “the lyrical flow in this beautiful account is unimpeded” (Sunday Times). Compelling masterworks of the Russian Romantic School by Catoire and Taneyev, Glazunov, as well as a very early quintet by Gade have recently also been added to Divertimenti’s repertoire.

Junko Kobayashi was born in Japan, but has lived in England for over twenty years. Her teachers have included Louis Kentner and Maria Curcio. She has given concerts in four continents, as well as all over Great Britain. Her career as a recitalist has included appearances at the Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square, while in chamber music she has played with Nigel Kennedy, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and  appeared on both German and American television.

 In her CD 'Nocturnes' (on Quartz QTZ 2004) she plays nocturnes by Chopin, Debussy, Fauré and Satie, however her repertoire extends from Bach to the twenty-first century. Ms Kobayashi is chair of the Takemitsu Society.

 'Junko Kobayashi is a pianist who does not impose her subjectivity on the listener, but who lets the music speak for itself.' (Neue Ruhr Zeitung)