OUR FULL PROGRAMME

THIS SEASON

 

 

 

Please email all enquiries about the Society and Membership to barnesmusicsoc@aol.com

 

President: Steven Isserlis

 

 

Please click on buttons for details of all our 2011/2012 season of concerts:

Next Concert this Season

Further Concerts this Season

Children's Concerts this Season

Location of Concerts (Map)

 
 
 

 


 

Thursday 13 October, 2011  8 pm

  Methodist Church, Station Road, Barnes

 

Di Xiao   piano

 

 

 

 

Beethoven    Piano Sonata in C sharp minor, Op.27 No.2 (Quasi una fantasia – Moonlight)

Chinese Moonsongs    Autumn moon on the calm lake; and Colourful clouds chasing the moon

 Chopin     Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52

Grieg    Lyric Pieces - Bk.3, Op.43

Ravel     Miroirs:

1. Noctuelles

2. Oiseaux tristes

3. Une barque sur l'océan

4. Alborado del gracioso

 

 

International prize-winning classical pianist Di Xiao has been described as “a pianist of awesome gifts” and compared to Clara Schumann by the press.  She concluded a major international recital tour in 2009 representing the UK as part of the universally acclaimed 'Rising Stars' series.  The tour included sell out concerts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Konzerthaus, Salzburg Mozartium, Stockholm Konserthaus and Luxembourg Philharmonie. Following her Köln Philharmoie recital, played to an audience of over 1000, the press stated that “Di Xiao presents a demanding programme that takes your breath away.” As the tour progressed she went on to thrill audiences at Symphony Hall and Town Hall Birmingham, Brussels Bozar, Athens Megaron, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and Barcelona L'Auditori.

 

Di Xiao's education included study at the Odessa Conservatoire, under the eminent Professors A. M. Bougaevski and G. V. Popova and the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing.  She graduated from the latter with one of the highest marks in the history of the Conservatory.  In 2005 she was awarded a full scholarship by Birmingham Conservatoire where she studied under Professors Mark Racz, now Deputy Principle at The Royal Academy of Music London, and Malcolm Wilson, head of Piano.  Respected by the musical elite, Di Xiao has had the honour of private master classes with Alfred Brendel, John Lill, Peter Donohoe and Simon Trpceski.

 

Di Xiao enjoyed success in competition from and early age wining the Most Outstanding Young Musician of Guangdong Province Award aged just 16.  Since then she has won many national and international prizes including: the Ludlow Philharmonic Concerto Prize in 2005, the Birmingham Symphony Hall Prize in 2006, a Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal in 2007 and, in the same year, first prize in the Brant International Piano Competition.

 

An international career on the classical music stage started at 17 when Di Xiao played Chengzong Yin's Yellow River Piano Concerto in Kuala Lumpur and Penang for the Malaysian Royal Family.  Subsequently Di has been invited to perform as a soloist in many countries including Malaysia, Ukraine, Singapore, India, China and the UK.  In the UK, her concert performances have received much acclaim.  Her debut at Symphony Hall Birmingham in 2006 was described by the UK Chinese Times as “A stunning concert!” and an early performance of the Schumann Concerto prompted The Birmingham Post to say “In her graceful, dancing finale it was easy to imagine Clara Schumann at the keyboard.”  Di has appeared in a number of important music festivals including Breman Musikfest (Germany), ISA music Festival (Vienna), New Generation Arts Festival (UK), Buxton Arts Festivals (UK) and Leamington Music Festival (UK).  In October 2010, she played for her home town's inaugural Classical Music Festival in Guangzhou, China.

 

In 2008 Di Xiao released her debut Album “Di Xiao Presents”.  The album has been well received and broadcast on a number of stations including BBC Radio 3.  Additionally, many of Di's live performances were recorded and transmitted on radio stations across Europe.  She recently completed the recording of her second album, Journey, which is due for release in the summer and will begin recording the piano works of Ravel for Somm Recordings in August 2011.

 

Di's repertoire reflects a broad spectrum of interests with a wide range of musical styles.  She enjoys collaboration with other artists and has recently been working with Julian Lloyd Webber and EMI guitarist Xuefei Yang. Her range extends from the works of Mozart and Beethoven to Ravel, Prokofiev and Messiaen.  She has a keen interest in Chinese classical folk music and contemporary piano works.  Di Xiao forms a strong bond with audiences everywhere and exudes a special quality and integrity in her music making. She aspires to be an international ambassador for the piano, combining both Chinese and Western repertoire in the programming of her concerts, thereby creating a bridge between two cultures.

 

For more information about Di Xiao, please follow this link

 


 

Wednesday 9 November, 2011  8 pm

Methodist Church, Station Road, Barnes

 

Jane Ng   violin

Fei Ren   piano

 

 

Mozart    Violin Sonata in G, K.301

Walton    Sonata for Violin & Piano

Poulenc    Violin Sonata

  Jane Ng    The Pagoda of Dreams - Fantasia arr. for Violin & Piano

Kreisler    Schon Rosmarin (Old Viennese Dance No.3)

Kreisler    Liebesleid (Old Viennese Dance No.2)

 

The performing career of Malaysian-born Jane Ng began at the age of seven when she gave concerts on both piano and violin. As a violinist, pianist, and composer, she has performed extensively at international festivals in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. She furthered her studies with Yossi Zivoni in London on full International Scholarships from both the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and the Royal College of Music, supported by the Richard Carne Trust.

 

Jane made her recital debut at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, London in June 2009, and in the same month, gave the World-premiere of her own composition ‘The Pagoda of Dreams’ – Fantasia for Violin & Orchestra, as soloist with the Wandsworth Symphony Orchestra. In the UK, she was selected as a Concordia Artist by the Concordia Foundation and has won the Hastings and Hatfield Music Festivals. She has performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Hatfield Philharmonic Orchestra and Ravel’s Tzigane with the Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra as representative of Benslow Music Trust’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

 

Recital highlights include the Leeds International Concert Series, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’ Piccadilly, St John’s Smith Square, Steinway Hall, the ABRSM Golden Jubilee Scholars’ Concert, ‘Live Music Now’, St Georges’ Bristol, Bath Recital Artists’ Trust, the Malaysian Embassy, Chelsea Schubert Festival, and the Chelsea Flowers Show. She has appeared on BBC Radio 4 “Chopsticks at Dawn” programme where her own composition ‘The Pagoda of Dreams – Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra’ was featured. Jane currently performs on a 1750 Testore violin, kindly on loan from the Rin Collection.

 

Jane is also an accomplished pianist and performs regularly for the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. Past achievements include winning 2nd prize at the “Virtuosi per Musica di Pianoforte” International Piano Competition in the Czech Republic, performances of the Haydn Piano Concerto in D major with the London Chamber Orchestra, and of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 at the PETRONAS Twin Towers in Malaysia.

 

Pianist Fei Ren graduated with distinction from the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance program at the Royal Academy of Music in 2008. She received the Lloyd Hartley Prize in 2008 from the Academy, and was a finalist in the keyboard section of the Royal Overseas League competition in 2007. While at the Academy, Fei studied under Christopher Elton. Previously, she completed a Masters degree at the University of Auckland's School of Music, studying under Professor Tamas Vesmas. She finished with First Class Honours and was the winner of the school's Concerto Competition in 2004. In 2005, she won New Zealand’s National Concerto Competition, as well as receiving the Encouragement Award in the Lev-Vlassenko Piano Competition in Australia. Late last year, Fei won Third Prize at the International Concerto Competition in Romania. In her home country of New Zealand, Fei has performed with the Auckland Philharmonic, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and the Auckland Youth Orchestra.

 

 

 


 

Saturday 17 December, 2011  8 pm

** Harrodian School, Lonsdale Road, Barnes **

** Please note change of venue!!! **

Grier Piano Trio

 

Savitra Grier  Violin

Indira Grier  Cello

Francis Grier  Piano

 

 

Brahms    Violin Sonata No.1 in G, Op.78

 Franck    Cello Sonata in A

Dvořák    Piano Trio No.4 in E minor, Op.90 ('Dumky')

 

The Grier Trio consists of Francis Grier (piano) and his daughters Savitri (violin) and Indira (cello).  For over eight years they have played concerts together.  Savitri (18) and Indira (15) attend the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music, where they both hold scholarships.  Their father Francis has enjoyed a long and distinguished musical career as both performer and composer.

 After the premiere of Francis Grier's Double Concerto, John Lubbock, the conductor of the Orchestra of St John's, Smith Square, wrote:

As wonderful as the piece was the playing of the two girls.  It was a revelation: they are both extraordinarily gifted and confident, and the difficult work seemed to pose no problems for either of them.  They played it with an amazing degree of knowledge and understanding despite this being the first performance. Altogether a wonderful experience

The Grier Trio represents the passage of musical talent across generations and offers a wide-ranging repertoire of concert programmes and performances.

 

For more information about The Grier Trio, please follow this link

 


 

Thursday 19 January, 2012  8 pm

Methodist Church, Station Road, Barnes

 

Elizabeth Watson   viola

Geoffrey Pratley   piano

 

 

 

Bach    Sonata in G minor for Viola (originally Viola da Gamba) & Keyboard, BWV.1029

Shostakovich    Sonata for viola & piano, Op.147

Stephen Dodgson    Caprice after Puck for solo viola

Schubert    Sonata in A minor, D.821 (Arpeggione)

 

Elizabeth Watson is a London freelance viola player with a special interest in the viola d’amore.  A multiple prize-winning Scholar at the Royal College of Music, she also won the Lionel Tertis Open Competition, open to any viola player under the age of 30. Her most influential teachers were Frederick Riddle, Keith Cummings, Manoug Parikian and Sandor Vegh, and she learnt much from attending wider master classes.

 Her Wigmore Hall recital in 1970 with Andrew Davis, harpsichord and piano, featured the music of the Bach family and the UK premiere of the Rhapsody for viola solo by Egon Wellesz, studied with the composer: “fluently musical” The Times. Other viola recital partners have been Jane Dodd, Sally Mays and Geoffrey Pratley. Varied recitals and concertos followed, and chamber music at the Wigmore Hall and for BBC Radio.

With the Haydn Trio Elizabeth played string trios by Schoenberg, Wellesz, Webern and Hindemith as well as classics. She performed Debussy’s Trio for flute, harp and viola with James Galway, and also with Maria Korchinska, and broadcast with the Music Group of London and the early Nash Ensemble. She has played principal viola with many chamber orchestras, including the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Northern Sinfonia, Philomusica of London, the London Orpheus Orchestra, London Bach Orchestra and Steinitz Bach Players, and has often been soloist in Bach’s Sixth Brandenburg Concerto. She has enjoyed the privilege of playing for such conductors as Klemperer, Giulini and Muti in the Philharmonia Orchestra. In the studio, she has played for films including Amadeus and Shrek, and backed Tony Bennett, Madonna and other pop stars.

A virtuoso viola d’amore player, Elizabeth has given many recitals, played in ensembles and talked about the instrument. On CD she can be heard with harpsichord in The Bohemian Viola d’amore and with flute, oboe d’amore and the London Harpsichord Ensemble in Telemann’s Triple Concerto. In June 2010 she performed in Chicago at the 15th International Congress of the Viola d’amore Society of America, and recently gave a recital of French music for viola d’amore and harpsichord.

Elizabeth has worked with and learnt from such varied experts in baroque playing as Thurston Dart, Martin Neary, George Malcolm, Paul Steinitz, John Eliot Gardiner and the Dolmetsch family, has read widely and has attended classes in baroque dance.

Elizabeth follows the muse, and it takes her to interesting places.

A Friend of the Wigmore Hall, Tate Gallery and Richmond Theatre, Elizabeth paints portraits in oils and still lifes in watercolour, and lives in an untidy home full of books.

 

Geoffrey Pratley, born in Essex, has been well-known to concertgoers for over four decades as one of Britain’s leading accompanists and duo pianists. Even before completing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music he was invited to teach piano accompaniment and coach singers there, retiring only in 2005. In his last year as President of the RAM Club he organised a Warlockathon – a performance by RAM students on Peter Warlock’s 111th birthday of all 123 songs by this great songwriter.

 Among the hundreds of RAM students he coached during 40 years is the famous Welsh mezzo Katherine Jenkins, now known worldwide. In his performing career he has accompanied many of the world’s top artists, especially the great French cellist Paul Tortelier and Dame Janet Baker, the top British mezzo of her time, both for 24 years in concerts and broadcasts on radio and television in many countries, notably in Tortelier’s memorable TV Cello Masterclasses. He partnered the famous British violinist Ralph Holmes in dozens of recitals for 20 years till his tragic death in 1984. Other world class artists include Jack Brymer, Leon Goossens, Rita Streich, Placido Domingo (at his first concert in Britain in 1968) and the brilliant blind violinst Takayoshi Wanami, amongst many others.

One of his earliest recitals was for Lymington Music Club on December 4th 1961 when he played for the Canadian violinist Dennis Simons, both 3rd year RAM students at the time.  Dennis’s E string suddenly broke during  Ravel’s Tzigane, and he went off to replace it; when Geoffrey stayed seated rather shyly at the piano, the club secretary came over and whispered in his ear. Next day Dennis told his teacher that he had never before played Ravel’s Tzigane with a break halfway for a Chopin Nocturne!

Since 1990 Geoffrey has taught at Trinity College of Music, and has examined for the Associated Board since 1971, undertaking 25 foreign tours to many parts of the world. In August he will be examining in China, and next year he will visit the Arabian Gulf States. His recital arrangements of vocal and instrumental works are published by OUP, Faber, Stainer and Bell, and Kevin Mayhew. He is a busy Festival adjudicator, and gives frequent masterclasses for performers as well as demonstration seminars for piano teachers on examination pieces and exam matters. He has a piano duet partnership with the pianist Anne Applin and they give recitals for clubs as well as 2-3 day duet courses and duet days around the country.

 


 

Wednesday 8 February, 2012  8 pm

Methodist Church, Station Road, Barnes

 

Please note change of artistes on home page.

 

Susanna Hurrell    soprano

John Bradbury   clarinet

James Cryer   piano

 

 

 

Stanford    Three intermezzi for clarinet and piano, Op.13

Spohr    Six German songs, for voice, clarinet and piano, Op.103

Gampieri    Carnival of Venice - capriccio variations for clarinet and piano

Schubert    Ganymed, D.544; Rastlose Liebe, D.138; & Meeres Stille, D.216

Edward Gregson    ‘Tributes’, for clarinet and piano

Schubert    ‘Shepherd on the Rock’ (Der Hirt auf dem Felsen) for voice, clarinet and piano, D965

Beatrice Gauld    ‘Beethoven’s Trio Op.39’ (world premiere)

 

Susanna Hurrell was born in London and graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2005 with first-class honours.  She now studies with Patricia Rozario at the RCM International Opera School where she is kindly supported by the Josephine Baker Trust, Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Hyde Foundation and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

 She has taken part in many acclaimed performances such as Bruckner’s Te Deum with Bernard Haitink and Mozart’s C Minor Mass with Sir Charles Mackerras.  She was a soloist in Bach’s Easter Oratorio with Ashley Solomon and the RCM Baroque Orchestra, and she recently performed the soprano solo in Schoenberg’s String Quartet no.2 as part of the Philharmonia festival: Vienna, City of Dreams.

Susanna’s varied solo career has seen her in oratorios such as Fauré’s Requiem, Gounod’s Messe Solennelle, Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, Handel’s Alexander’s Feast and Dixit Dominus, Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Requiem, and Rutter’s Mass of the Children.  Notable performances include Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Bach’s Magnificat at St John’s, Smith Square, and Handel’s Messiah with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall and Reading Hexagon.

Her career extends to both the recital platform and the operatic stage where her roles include Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Serpetta in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera for Opera de Baugé, the Maid in The Crocodile at the Arcola Theatre, Rossane in Handel’s Alessandro for the London Handel Festival and Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the RCMIOS. In 2010 she performed the role of Amarilli in Handel’s Il pastor fido for the London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings.

Susanna has recorded a CD of works by Gordon Carr for soprano, piano and trumpet with trumpeter Simon Cheney and pianist Sebastian Wybrew.

 

 

Born in 1967, John Bradbury was Principal Clarinet of the National Youth Orchestra. He read Natural Sciences at St. John’s College, Cambridge and went on to the Royal Academy of Music where he won the Hawkes Clarinet Prize and the Principal’s Prize. His orchestral career began in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, followed by appointment to the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1997 he was invited to become Principal Clarinet with the BBC Philharmonic. He has often appeared as Guest Principal with the Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

His recordings include the Bax Trio Concertante, the Busoni Concertino and the Arnold Scherzetto or Chandos, which was Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. He recently performed the Finzi Concerto with the Guildhall Strings Ensemble. Summer 2007 saw the release of a disc of English clarinet music with James Cryer on the Naxos label which has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. John also teaches at Chetham’s School of Music and coaches the clarinet section of the National Youth Orchestra.

 

 

We warmly welcome back James Cryer, a local musician who has lived in Richmond for most of his life. Of Gibraltarian descent, he was educated at St Paul’s School as a music scholar. His accompanying skills were apparent when he played in front of the Queen Mother at the age of 14. He was taught the organ by Richard Popplewell at the Chapel Royal, winning the Dixon prize for improvisation at F.R.C.O.

 He became organ scholar at Westminster Abbey under Simon Preston where he gave several recitals, and then at St John’s College under Dr. George Guest. He was assistant organist at The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy under Philip Berg, and has played at St James’s Palace, Hampton Court Palace and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. He has also appeared as soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra.

His accompanying skills have meant that he is in demand as a pianist. He  studied the piano with Patricia Carroll, and has since made various recordings for the Naxos label.

James has appeared at The Barnes Music Society before with Colin Bradbury, John Bradbury, the cellists Paul Watkins and Adrian Bradbury, and the baritone Thomas Guthrie.

 

 


Wednesday 7 March, 2012  8 pm

Methodist Church, Station Road, Barnes

 

Helen Reid   piano

Debussy    Nocturne in D flat

JS Bach    Partita No.1 in B flat for keyboard, BWV.825

 Fauré    Nocturne No.6 in D flat, Op.63 

David Matthews    2 Dionysus Dithyrambs

Beethoven    Piano Sonata in C, Op.2 No.3

Brahms    4 Pieces, Op.119

 

Helen Reid first came to public attention when she appeared on BBC2 in the National Keyboard Finals of the BBC Young Musician competition in 1998. In 2000 she won first prize in the Karic International Piano Competition. In 2006 she was hailed as a ‘rising star’ in The Independent magazine.

 

Helen has given recitals all around in England, at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Fairfield Halls and Blackheath Halls, London, St. George’s, Bristol, Cheltenham, the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and the Aldeburgh and Buxton Festivals. She has performed in Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Recent performances have included Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto with the Westmoreland Orchestra and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Aurelian Ensemble at Blackheath Halls.

 

Helen studied at Chetham’s School, Royal Holloway University and Cologne Music College, completing a Master’s Degree at City University and the Guildhall School of Music. She is currently professor of piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Leeds College of Music, Trinity College of Music Junior Department and has been invited to give masterclasses at Gdansk Conservatoire, Bristol and Hull Universities, Dartington International Summer School and Pro Corda.

 

Future plans include solo and chamber recitals around Britain with cellist Sheida Davis and Trio d’Art (with Paul Archibald – trumpet and John Kenny – trombone), as well as recitals at the Salle Pleyel and Hatchlands Park with the London Pleyel Trio, and the world premiere of David Matthews’ piano concerto at Dartington International Summer School.

For more information about Helen, please follow this link

 


Thursday 26 April, 2012  8 pm

Methodist Church, Station Road, Barnes

 

Victoria Sayles   violin

Martin Cousin   piano

Handel    Violin Sonata

Ravel    Pièce en forme de habanera

Elgar    Violin Sonata in E minor, Op.82

Brahms    Violin Sonata No.2 in A, Op.100

Sarasate    Zigeunerweisen

 

Victoria Sayles was born in 1984 and began playing the violin when she was seven years old. She was awarded a full scholarship to Bryanston School in 1999 and performed there regularly as a soloist and chamber musician.

Whilst still in her teens she led orchestras at the Royal Albert Hall, St. John’s Smith Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

She was a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music from 2003-2007 under Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky.

Since then she has performed with London Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra. She was a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for two years and is currently a member of the London Chamber Orchestra.

Victoria has appeared as Guest Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Norway), Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Australia), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and as Associate Leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has worked with many major conductors including Ashkenazy, Haitink, Mackerras, Nelsons, Norrington, Ticciati and Pretenko.

Victoria, as a keen chamber musician, has led the Fibonacci Sequence and has collaborated with Louise Hopkins, Guy Johnston, Jack Liebeck, Christoph Richter, Mark Van der Weil, Jamie Walton, Alexander Zemtsov and many others.

She was an Invited Artist and Director of Winterschool at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (2010) and regularly attends Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music. Victoria has also recently returned from the Thai-Burmese Border where she played with the Iuventus String Quartet to Burmese refugees in the refugee camps.

Upcoming concerts in 2011 include appearances at Oxford May Music Festival, The Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville – Australia, solo recitals in Switzerland and France for Princess Caroline Murat and UK recital tours with award winning duo partner Martin Cousin and award winning violinist Jack Liebeck. Concerto performances include Glazunov, Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns concertos.

Victoria plays a 1776 “Thir” violin.

 

Martin Cousin is now regarded as one of the most exceptional pianists of his generation, having been awarded 1st Prize at the 2005 Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition (Seregno, Italy) and Gold Medal at the 2003 Royal Overseas League Music Competition (London).

 

Martin has appeared regularly in the major British musical venues since graduating from the Royal College of Music, making his London solo debut at the Purcell Room in 1998. Numerous solo recitals followed, notably at the Wigmore Hall in 2001 and 2005. He has performed as concerto soloist with the London Philharmonic, Halle, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia and BBC Concert Orchestras. Performances further afield have included tours of New Zealand, the US, Italy and concerts in Stockholm, Brussels, Toronto, Tokyo, Berne and The Hague.

 

2006 saw the release of his debut CD of Rachmaninov's Sonata No 1 and Morceaux de Salon with SOMM Recordings, which was selected as Classical CD of the week by the Daily Telegraph, with Geoffrey Norris stating that "Martin Cousin's debut disc establishes a striking new benchmark for the interpretation of Rachmaninov's 1st Piano Sonata ... has discretion, judgment, perception and formidable technique." The US magazine Fanfare added, "This is the performance of the 1st Sonata that I have always heard in my head but never thought I'd actually get to hear with my ears. This guy's the Real Deal!"

 

His second CD for SOMM, featuring Glazunov's piano sonatas, was released in 2010 to great acclaim, with Gramophone stating that the new release is "in every way, an impressive disc" and International Piano remarking "this new disc showcases playing that is both seemingly effortless in its technique and yet utterly natural and sympathetic in its musical narrative and characterisation."

 

Highlights of the last two seasons have included Rachmaninov's 2nd Concerto with the Philharmonia at Barbican Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Tchaikovsky's 1st Concerto at Bridgewater Hall and Symphony Hall and a solo recital at Wigmore Hall.

 

Alongside his solo schedule, chamber music has taken Martin to Prague, Tokyo, Indonesia and Thailand, Zimbabwe and Barbados.  He is a founder member of the Aquinas Piano Trio.

 

In 2009, Trinity Guildhall Exams invited him to record the Grade 6-8 violin and piano syllabus (2010-2015) with Andrew Haveron.

 

Martin's hands are also featured on the big screen in the Oscar-winning film "Shine", for the scenes involving Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto.

 


 

One further special concert is in preparation for May 2012

Please check our website regularly for further announcements!