Saturday 27 August 2016

Stella Maris Trio with Leonie Jones Flute & Tony Pinnigar Guitar St Lawrence's Church Exeter Saturday 10 September 2016

Stella Maris Trio

Stella Maris Trio


Stella Maris Trio
St. Lawrence's Church Exeter
Lower Hill Barton Road EX1 3EH

Saturday 10 September 7.30pm
DUETS FOR INSTRUMENTS & VOICES
Soprano: Victoria Armillotta
Mezzo Soprano: Iryna Ilnytska
Piano: Sam Baker
Flute: Leonie Stevenson-Jones
Guitar: Tony Pinnigar
Gabriel Fauré: "Fantasie for Flute & Piano" 1898
François Borne: "Fantaisie Brillante sur Carmen" 1900
Leonie
Stevenson-Jones
Ástor Piazzola: "Histoire du Tango" 1986
Felix Mendelssohn: "Scherzo" 1842
(Intermezzo Act I/II "A Midsummer Night's Dream")
Jacques Offenbach: Barcarolle "Belle Nuit, Ô Nuit d'Amour"
(Giulietta & Nicklausse "Les Contes d'Hoffmann") 1881
Sergei Rachmaninov: "Lilacs" 1902
("12 Romances Op 21" V "Сирень" [Siryen])
Léo Delibes: "Sous le Dôme Épais" 1883
(Flower Duet with Mallika "Lakmé")
Tickets: £8 (concession £5) at the door

Saturday 13 August 2016

Mariko Asakawa-North & Candice Hamel Piano & Flute Recital St Disen's Church Bradninch Thursday 29 September 2016

Candice Hamel
Mariko Asakawa-North

Back in Bradninch after the her hugely popular concert last year, flutist Candice Hamel will be joined by the renowned pianist Mariko Asakawa-North for an evening of beautiful music. Those lucky enough to have heard Candice’s concert with the harpist Ruby Aspinall will look forward to the joyful inventiveness that she brings to music from the baroque to the modern, from J C Bach to Lili Boulanger.

Scottish-Japanese pianist Mariko Asakawa-North received her first piano at the age of 7 as a surprise gift from her beloved Japanese grandfather. From 13 she was a violin and piano scholar at North East of Scotland Music School and in 2001 won first prize in the Moray International Piano Competition, and began her studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, then at the Royal College of Music and at the Dartington International Summer School. Her recent concerts include performances at LSO St Lukes, Bluthners Piano Centre, The Edinburgh Festival (with Opera Bohemia) and Barbican Hall (as part of the BBC Total Immersion Series, recorded for BBC Radio 3).

She is now based in Exeter where she has a busy chamber music performance schedule and is a Visiting Music Teacher at Blundell's School. Mariko has a keen interest in contemporary music, and studied with world-renowned contemporary pianist and composer, Rolf Hind, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has played in masterclasses with such distinguished artists as Dominique Merlet, Stephen Kovacevic, Martino Tirimo, Boris Berman, Malcolm Martineau, and Peter Hill.

Candice studied flute at Trinity College of Music and The Royal Conservatoire, Holland and has played with the Philharmonia, London Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonia, RTE Concert Orchestra and RTE Symphony Orchestra. She has toured to Moscow, America and Japan. And of course, Bradninch!

As well as regular playing commitments, Candice maintains an active teaching programme for students of all ages and abilities from beginner to Diploma and beyond, and offers personal courses as well as masterclasses.

Candice and Mariko will present an exciting programme, to show us how expressive, how lyrical and how powerful these instruments are. As usual we will be offering a glass of wine or soft drink in the interval, and look forward to many friends joining us to welcome them.

Tickets are £10.00 (no concessions but under 15’s free)

- at the door, from SPAR in Bradninch, or by phoning 01392 881 525.


Mariko Asakawa-North
Candice Hamel
Music at St Disen's
St Disen's Church Bradninch
Thursday 29 September 7pm
FLUTE & PIANO
Piano: Mariko Asakawa-North
Flute: Candice Hamel
Bohuslav Martinů: "Sonata"
(for Rudolf Serkin 1954)
J S Bach: "Sonata in E major"
(for Michael Gredersdorf 1741)
Jules Mouquet: "La Flûte de Pan"
(for Léopold Lafleurance 1904)
Georges Enescu:
"Cantabile & Presto"
(for Paul Taffanel 1904)
Lili Boulanger: "2 Pieces"
- I "Nocturne" 1918
Tickets: £10 (U15 FREE)
from the Bradninch branch of Spar
or at the door on the night
Box Office: 01392 881525


Mariko Asakawa-North
Lunchtime Recital
Bristol Cathedral
Friday 4 October 1.15-2pm
(postponed from 9 August)
SOLO PIANO
Piano: Mariko Asakawa-North
Oliver Knussen: "Prayer Bell Sketch" 1997
(To the memory of Toru Takemitsu
Maurice Ravel: "Miroirs"
- V "La Vallée des Cloches" 1904
Dai Fujikura: "Frozen Heat"

Sergei Prokofiev: "4 Pieces for Piano"
- IV "Suggestion Diabolique" 1908
Mariko Brown: "Piano Sonata" 2004
(commissioned for Helen Reid)
Claude Debussy: "Images" 2ème Série
- III "Poissons d'Or" 1907
Admission: FREE

Thursday 11 August 2016

Nourish Festival Bovey Tracey - Food & Music Thursday-Saturday 1-3 September 2016

Ian Wellens
"The Cheese Shed" Bovey Tracey
Nourish Festival Director

- will discuss the Festival on Phonic FM  
"Classical Journey" Friday 12 August 2.30pm

Devon Guild of Craftsmen
Bovey Tracey

Aeolian Trio
Harp: Sally Jenkins
Flute: Ruth Molins

Devon Guild of Craftsmen
Thursday 1 September 7.30pm
JAPAN: HERE & THERE
Flute: Ruth Molins
Harp: Sally Jenkins
Viola: Emma Welton
Toru Takemitsu:
"And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind"
(Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp) 1992
Claude Debussy:
"Sonate pour Flûte, Alto, et Harpe" 1915
(inspiration for Takemitsu's trio)
Clive Bell: Shakuhachi Flute
John Roberts: "Puppetcraft"
(Japanese 'Banraku' Puppets)
Tickets: £10
Online Booking: Nourish Website
Ground Floor - Same Evening -
"Made in Japan" Launch Party:
Riverside Gallery 6pm

Brodsky Quartet
Brodsky Quartet
Church of St Peter, St Paul
& St Thomas of Canterbury
Friday 2 September 7.30pm
CONTRAPUNCTUS
Violins: Daniel Rowland, Ian Belton
Viola: Paul Cassidy
'Cello: Jacqueline Thomas
J S Bach: "The Art of Fugue" 1740
                 - Contrapunctus I & VI
Felix Mendelssohn: Opus 81 No 4
"Four Pieces" - "Fugue in E♭" 1847
Alexander von Zemlinsky:
            "String Quartet No 4" 1936
Franz Schubert: Quartet No 14 in Dm
Gustav Bensel Hot Club
            "Death & the Maiden" 1824
Tickets: £22 (U18 £5)
Online BookingNourish Website

Live on Fore Street
Fore Street Bovey Tracey
Saturday 3 September 10am-2.30pm
10-12am:
GUSTAV BENSEL HOT CLUB
Gypsy Jazz & Klezmer
Annika Skoogh
Saxophone & Voice: Andy Williamson
(great-great-grandson of Gustav Bensel)
Violin: Tom Deam
Guitar: Steve Dow
Double Bass: Tim Heming
12.30-2pm:
ANNIKA SKOOGH & MATT CARTER
Jazz Vocals: Annika Skoogh
("Ellingtonia"/"Solar")
Piano: Matt Carter



Hibiki Ichikawa


Kagemusha Taiko
Bovey Tracey Baptist Church
Saturday 3 September 1pm
KUMI-DAIKO & SHAMISEN
Drums: Kagemusha Taiko
Shamisen: Hibiki Ichikawa
Tickets: £10 (U18 £5)
Online BookingNourish Website




Calefax Reed Quintet
Calefax Reed Quintet
Church of St Peter, St Paul
& St Thomas of Canterbury
Saturday 3 September 7.30pm
NUTCRACKER
Oboe: Oliver Boekhoorn
Clarinet: Ivar Berix
Saxophone: Raaf Hekkema
Bass Clarinet: Jelte Althuis
Bassoon: Alban Wesly
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:
"The Nutcracker Suite" 1892
Duke Ellington
& Billy Stayhorn
J S Bach/Ferruccui Busoni:
"Partita No 2 Pt V Chaconne" 1720
Edvard Grieg:
"Peer Gynt Suite No 1" 1888
Giel Vleggaar:
"Wake up Sleeping Beauty"
Edward Kennedy (Duke) Ellington
& William Thomas (Billy) Stayhorn:
"The Nutcracker Suite" 1960
Tickets: £18 (U18 £5)
Online BookingNourish Website




Church of St Peter, St Paul
& St Thomas of Canterbury

Bovey Tracey

Bernardus Mediaeval Vielle & Voice "St George & the Dragon" Exeter Cathedral Thursday 4 August Buckfast Abbey Saturday 6 August 2016

"Bernardus"
Vielle: Craig Resta
Countertenor (& Bell): Jay White
Buckfast Abbey
Saturday 6 August

It is now more than one year since David Acres visited from South Carolina to conduct the Counterpoint Choir at Buckfast Abbey, with special guest, operatic countertenor James Bowman (Saturday 20 June 2015).

In Charleston SC David has founded and directs a new choir, "The King's Counterpoint". Prior to founding the choir, during his first year in the United States, David lived in Cleveland Ohio. Musically active as ever, he founded "Contrapunctus" with members of the existing "Quire Cleveland" and "Trinity Chamber Choir" - including his wife Judith Acres.

This week the cultural exchange between Devon and the American Mid-West continued with the arrival of two very talented musicians from Kent State University in Ohio. Jay White is a countertenor in David Acres' "Contrapunctus" and Matthew Oltman's "Chanticleer". He is also a Professor of Voice at Kent State. Craig Resta is Professor of Instrumental Music Education, also at Kent State.

Vielle: Craig Resta
Together Jay and Craig form the duo "Bernardus". The name derives from the twelfth century French troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn. Craig plays the mediaeval five-stringed predecessor of the violin, the fidel or viuola, known in French as the 'vielle'. With this evocative accompaniment, Jay recites mediaeval histories and sings beautiful mediaeval hymns.

The combined sound, in Exeter Cathedral Nave and especially in Buckfast Abbey Quire, provides an overwhelming immersive experience of mediaeval culture and music. The intense sadness of Craig's D minor pedal on the Vielle, and Jay's bewitching countertenor voice, strip away the centuries to revisit the beliefs and fears of a bygone age.

Vielle: Craig Resta  Countertenor: Jay White
The selection for this visit was taken from Brother Jacobus de Voragine's "Golden Legend", a book published around 1260AD. This ambitious hagiography describes the lives of over one hundred and eighty of the Christian Saints.

For their English audience, the story of St George and the Dragon was chosen. Brother Jacobus was writing about events one thousand years earlier, during the reign of Diocletian and Maximium. George's confrontation with a mythical beast, and rescue of a royal princess, may be read as an allegory for his elective martyrdom at the hands of the Prefect Dacianus at Gerona in northern Iberia, as a model for early Christians.

However, Jacobus relates both stories, encouraging the listener to take the dragon story literally. Jay's reading is very compelling, creating a tangible sense of dread and foreboding - but George, as we know, is triumphant in the end. By contrast, the story of his martyrdom is much more distressing. Despite George's military status, he willingly submits to the will of Dacian and endures torture and death to demonstrate his commitment to Christianity.

Countertenor: Jay White
There is constant confusion as George, who is able to render poison and molten lead harmless using the magical sign of the cross, nevertheless endures other tortures without recourse to magic. Likewise the Christian God, who is ultimately able to overcome and kill both the non-christian priests of Dacian's religion, and Dacian himself, does not do so until it is too late to save George - who is executed by decapitation.

It is fascinating to consider how these stories would have been understood by readers and audiences during the thirteenth century, and subsequent centuries. The hauntingly sweet sound of the vielle and Jay's engaging recitation and singing (of three beautiful Latin hymns) - punctuated by the altar bell - allowed us to get some insight into the thinking, and emotional response, of the contemporary population.

After a brief visit to Wales, Jay and Craig will perform "St George and the Dragon" for an Irish audience at the Anglican Church of St Audoens in Dublin this Saturday 13 August at 3pm.