Classical Journey Tuesday 9th October 2012 - with concert run-down until 16th October

Something very special on the 2011 calendar
counter-tenor James Bowman
sings at the Counterpoint concert at Buckfast
accompanied by lutenist Dorothy Linell

This week's programme will start with news of a concert unlikely to be repeated. This Saturday there will be a very special performance of Handel's music at Buckfast Abbey. David Acres' Counterpoint choir will join forces with Vicky Evans' Divertimento String Ensemble - a dream-team in the perfect acoustic.

What will make this concert unique will be a special performance by counter-tenor James Bowman. James gave his last London concert at the Wigmore Hall on 21st May last year - but that was not his last ever concert! He joined the Counterpoint Choir for a concert at Buckfast Abbey five months later, on 15th October last year, for a fabulous concert ranging from renaissance to modern music.

Precisely one year later - James Bowman is back! During this year's concert, excerpts from Handel's mighty 'Messiah' and his 'Music for the Coronation of George II' (see Counterpoint 15 May 2010), sung by the choir, will give way to the breathtaking counter-tenor voice of James Bowman singing arias from Handel's operas. It will be amazing - and very likely to be James last ever appearance. Follow the links below to make sure you do not miss this special concert.

Listeners will be glad to hear that we shall start the programme with 'Zadok' from the Coronation. We shall also hear the music Handel composed for the coronation of the Queen - Caroline'. The anthem 'My heart is inditing' - originally composed by Purcell for the coronation of James II. David has also promised: 'For unto us', 'And he shall purify', 'His yolk is easy', 'All we like sheep', 'He trusted in God' and, of course, 'The Hallelujah Chorus'.

As we have come to expect here in musical Devon, there is other entertainment of equal calibre on offer at the same time as the Counterpoint concert - and equally accessible.

Tara Mathew joins Edward Scull
at Shaldon Saturday 16th April 2011

Edward Scull, that illustrious son of Shaldon, will return to play a special composition by Matthias Schmitt for marimba and choir. Ed has been training in percussion at the Royal College of Music, and also building up an impressive portfolio of musical commissions along the way. Last year, as we all recall, he amazed an audience at St Peter's Church Shaldon on 16th april 2011 with his solo marimba playing, and his marimba collaborations with soprano Tara Mathew. On that occasion, the Exeter Chamber Choir had equal billing.

This year Ed and ECC will perform together in Schmitt's 'Agnus Dei' - and in a new composition by ECC director of music, Andrew Daldorph - 'Rise up my Love'. Oh, and there's more. Andrew's composition is for choir, marimba - and saxophone. Who else could he have had in mind, but that great classical clarinettist and jazz saxophonist from Beer, Chris Gradwell. That's some line-up.

There will also be Songs written after Julian of Norwich by Exeter poet Richard Skinner - and much more. Proceeds to the Helen Foundation as last year. A worthy cause, and a wonderful concert. How to choose? Perhaps it will help if Ed comes in and tells more about this wonderful concert. We'd also like to hear what he's been up to over the last year and a half. Ed also has new recordings to share. 10.30 - Welcome Ed Scull.

in rehearsal
Adrian Fox is Florian
scanning the horizon for King Gama

At 11 the 'run-down' with start with the big event in Exeter this week, the forty fifth Gilbert and Sullivan operetta by the the St David's Players - "Princess Ida" (or "Castle Adamant"). Originally formed by the St David's Church Choir to raise money to help Biafran refugees, the 'Players' started work in 1970 with 'Patience' (recently performed by the University G&S Society - 6-10 March 2012).

The musical director at this year's 'Patience' was Charles Hughes (Counterpoint baritone!) who also, incredibly, plays bassoon with the 'Players' under the baton of Nicky Perry this week. We can see him in action all this week at the Barnfield as the Players embark on their run of "Princess Ida" on Tuesday night. Also in that select orchestra are  - flautist Ruth Molins, oboist Julia Hill, clarinettist Colin Brocklebank, trumpeter Phil Makin, horn-player Dorian Liley, double-bassist Maureen Adams and percussionist Michelle Farley - with regualr musical director Mark Perry playing keyboard. That's quite a pocket orchestra.

in costume
with King Hildebrand
(Tim Hunt)
and Cyril (James Dunk)

In addition to excellent musical direction of Nicky Perry, 'Ida' has something extra this time. exciting new choreography by Exeter Chamber Choir soprano, and 'Players' regular, Susan Gunn-Johnson. The moves she has introduced take the production to a new level entirely. hat makes Susan's achievement even more remarkable is that she commutes from Exeter to Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Brixham. Susan is the Deputy Head and, after a full day, is still able to give time to her passion - dance.

The students at Churston benefit hugely from Susan's efforts (see their production 'Date for a Dance' on 8-10 March this year), and so do we. Susan's dance moves are fabulous and she has put enormous effort into perfecting them for this week's run. Everyone knows what to do, and when to do it. We shall try - endeavour - strive - to contact Susan by telephone at the school tomorrow morning to get the inside info on her new dance arrangements - if we can just get her to stop working for a moment!

King Gama (John Stuart)

The run continues until Saturday - which means poor Charlie has had to choose between the bassoon and singing in that amazing Counterpoint concert in Buckfast Abbey. A very difficult decision! Surely we've covered all there is to choose from on this wonderful weekend?

Er - no. This Thursday sees the start of the eleventh 'Two Moors Festival'. Originally set up in response to the foot-and-mouth crisis in 2001, this festival has gone from strength to strength. This year's eleven days of peripatetic concert joy starts in Dulverton with an evening with the Brodsky Quartet. From there? - endless permutations on the theme of classical.

Soprano Lucy Bray

After a detour to Dunster and a lunchtime concert by the Two Moors Festival Ensemble, the action moves to Ashburton on Saturday. Once again the Young Musican Platform Competition winners assemble at Ashburton to impress us with their nascent skills in St Andrew's Church. from 1pm there will be a chance to hear demonstration performances by flautist Katie Roberts, recorder-player Jacob Warn, clarinettist Laura Deignan and soprano Lucy Bray! Where necessary the piano accompaniment will be provided by Suzy Ruffles. (Remember last year's winners - Ashburton 21st October 2011.)

On Saturday evening, mezzo Charlotte Stevenson will join the Festival Enemble for two hours of songs and arias in memory of 'Klever Kaff' herself, Kathleen Ferrier - at St Andrew's Church. More choice!

On Sunday there is something that simply mustn't be missed. Anyone at the Haytor lower car park at 2pm can join a band of walker who will stride out to the summit accompanied by flautist Harry Winstanley, and 'strummer' Ashley Myall. They will bring popes guitars and drums to provide walkers with music all the way to the top. 'A Walk on the Wildside'. You might be thinking of another title - but that was saved for the following day . . .

On Monday (we're up to 15th October now), pianist Ashley Wass and flautist Kathryn Thomas will be at St John's Church, Hatherleigh, for a concert entitled 'The Pied Piper'. This concert is in memory of Robert Browning (200 years old). The children from Hatherley School will be there too, for a programme of pipes related fun. Debussy's 'Syrinx' immediately springs to mind - also McDowall's 'Piper's Dream'. There is plenty more on that theme.

Later that evening, at 7.30 to be precise, Ashley will be joined by another flautist, Huw Watkins  - to give a performance of Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' for a BBC live broadcast - direct from the Two Moors Festival. (See the press release from festival coordinator John Adie).

Devon Baroque
welcome mezzo Meg Bragle
and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny
(with her vast theorbo)
at Dartington 23-25 March 2012

You need to go to the festival schedule to see all the wonderful things on offer, but it is worth mentioning something very special - already sold out, not surprisingly. Every day next week at Tiverton Parkway railway station at 11.30am there is a free concert (but you do have to book!) called 'Season Ticket for Bach'. Five wonderful soloists play their favourite Bach pieces for their respective instruments. On Wednesday Elizabeth Kenny will be there to play her own arrangement of Sonata in G minor - on her lute!

It is tempting to leave it there - but we haven't mentioned 'Four Girls, Four Harps'. The imagination boggles. That's in North Molton next Saturday - and that evening John Williams will be playing guitar duets with John Etheridge at Barnstaple. This is some festival!

To finish things off in style we return to Dulverton next Sunday for more Handel - Xerxes, and 'Ombra Mai Fu', that serenade to a plane tree, sung by a mezzo in trousers - Katarine Karnéus. She then proceeds to Bizet, Rossini, Rangstrom, Schumann, Strauss, Peterson-Berger, Saint-Saëns, Nystrom and Delius - what a finish!

Joyce Clarke
in the Phonic FM studio
Tuesday 4th October 2011

Meanwhile, closer to home, there are three lunchtime concerts in Exmouth and Exeter. On Wednesday Joyce Clarke will be at Glenorchy Church in Exmouth to play another of her mesmerising piano recitals - Grieg, Chopin and Rachmaninov. 12 for 12.30, we all know the drill. From 12.30 to 1.15 we can listen to a superb professional pianist with a silken touch - for no charge (donations welcomed).

Meanwhile Exeter Cathedral are host to Dutch choir, 'Anthem koor voor Kerkmusiek' who will perform from 1.15 to 2pm. 'Anthem' will also lead the choral evensong at 5.30.

On Thursday 'Opera Glass' will be in Exeter Central Library at 1.10pm for 'Autumn Serenade' - Janet Macdonald and Iain McDonald will sing duets with clarinet and piano - Phil Bonser and Margaret Chave.

Finally Phil Henry and Hannah Martin will bring their tour to Devon on Thursday and Sunday nights - in Totnes and Exmouth. A rare and privileged opportunity to hear that amazing 'Chaturanga' guitar.

In amongst all the excitement, there will also be a more sombre moment. In Sandford on Saturday, there will be an evening event in memory of a very much loved Crediton artist, Daphne Cartwright, who died in June this year.

Somehow this week's journey will reflect al these very different events which are happening in Devon - the diversity is quite staggering!

The run-down:

St David's Players
Exeter Barnfield Theatre
Tuesday 9 - Saturday 13 October 7.30pm
plus Saturday Matinee 2.00pm
PRINCESS IDA (or Castle Adamant)
Producer & Director of Choreography:
Susan Gunn-Johnson
Director of Music: Nicky Perry
Princess Ida: Penny Daw
King Hildebrand: Tim Hunt
King Gama: John Stuart
Hilarion: Mark Hurford
Lady Blanche: Carolyn Harries
Scinthius: Paul Luffman
Florian: Adrian Fox
Cyril: James Dunk
Tickets: £12/14
Box Office: 01392 270891 Mon-Fri 10-4
online: Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat 2.00 Sat 7.30

Joyce Clarke at the Arsenale Venice

Glenorchy Lunchtime Concerts
Glenorchy Church Exmouth
Wednesday 10 October 12 for 12.30pm
Piano: Joyce Clarke
Edvard Grieg
'Gade' Opus 57 No 2
'Notturno' Opus 54 No 4
'Butterfly' Opus 43 No 1
(and one more - we hope!)
Sergei Rachmaninoff

Joyce Clarke at Glenorchy

'Prelude in D major' Opus 23 No 4
'Prelude in G minor' Opus 23 No 5
Frédéric Chopin
'Barcarolle' Opus 60
(possibly a 'Valse Brillante' Opus 18/34)
Admission FREE
(retiring collection)

Anthem koor vour Kerkmusiek

Anthem koor vour Kerkmusiek
Exeter Cathedral Chapter House
Wednesday 10 October 1.15pm
Rachmaninov, Bruckner, Vaughan Williams
Admission FREE - retiring collection
('Anthem' will lead choral evensong at 5.30pm)

left: Janet Macdonald
Phil Bonser & Margaret Chave
above: Iain McDonald
(with Michéle Banting at Glenorchy)

Opera Glass

Exeter Central Library Music Room

Thursday 11 October 1.10pm

AUTUMN SERENADE

Songs Duets & Clarinet Favourites

Vaughan Williams, Faure, Finzi, Spohr

Bizet, Gershwin, Thomas Dunhill

Soprano: Janet Macdonald

Baritone: Iain McDonald

Piano: Margaret Chave

Clarinet: Philip Bonser

Tickets: £4

Box Office 01392 71858

Hannah Martin & Phillip Henry

Phil Henry & Hannah Martin
The Barrel House Totnes
Thursday 11 October 8.30pm
(Doors open 8.00pm)
Chaturanga guitar: Phillip Henry
Violin/banjo: Hannah Martin
Tickets: £7

The Two Moors Festival

Thursday 11 October - Sunday 21 October

Thursday 11th: All Saints' Church, Dulverton
7.30pm  Pianist Martin Roscoe & the Brodsky Quartet
Friday 12th: Dunster
11am Yarn Market Hotel - talk by Alan Caig on Exeter Museum
1.30pm St George's Church - The Two Moors Festival Ensemble
7.30pm The Tythe Barn - harpsichord Christopher Bucknall & string quartet
Saturday 13th: Ashburton
11am St Lawrence's Chapel - a talk by baritone Donald Maxwell
1pm St Andrew's Church - Young Musicians Platform Competition winners (incl. Lucy Bray)
7.30pm St Andrew's Church - Festival Ensemble & mezzo Charlotte Stephenson - Kathleen Ferrier
Sunday 14th: Widecombe-in-the-Moor
11am St Pancras's Church - Holy Communion
2pm Hay Tor Car Park - flautist Harry Winstanley - musical walk to the tor
7.30pm St Pancras's  Church - Baritones Donald Maxwell and Marcus Farnsworth
Monday 15th: Tiverton - Hatherleigh - Exeter
11.30am Tiverton Parkway Station Waiting Room - violinist Tai Murray 'Season Ticket for Bach'
1.30pm St John's Church Hatherleigh - flautist Kathryn Thomas & schoolchildren - Pied Piper
7.30pm Exeter Cathedral - 'cellist Guy Johnston & Orchestra of the Swan - Haydn Concerto
Tuesday 16th: Tiverton - Okehampton
11.30am Tiverton Parkway Station Waiting Room - 'cellist Guy Johnson 'Season Ticket for Bach'
1.30pm All Saints' Okehampton - soprano Caroline MacPhie - Titanic Memorial
7.30pm All Saints' - flautist Kathryn Thomas & piano trio - Beethoven tribute with pre-show talk
Wednesday 17th: Tiverton - Witheridge - Tiverton
11.30am Tiverton Parkway Station Waiting Room - Lutenist Elizabeth Kenny 'Season Ticket for Bach'
1pm St John's Witheridge - violinist Heyeyoon Park & pianist Nareh Arghamanyan
4.30pm St John's - Richard Kay - talk about Royal portraits
7.30pm St Peter's Tiverton - Camaraderie Quartet - Book of Common Prayer 350th anniversary
Thursday 18th: Tiverton - Chagford - Tavistock
11.30am Tiverton Parkway Station Waiting Room - 'cellist Jing Zhao 'Season Ticket for Bach'
12.00pm St Michael's Chagford - David Davies/Martin Ford Psalms workshop
4.30pm St Michael's - Choral Evensong performed by workshop participants
7.30pm St Eustachius' Tavistock - The Military Wives Choir
Friday 19th: Tiverton - Simonsbath - Dunster
11.30am Tiverton Parkway Station Waiting Room - Harpist Keziah 'Season Ticket for Bach'
1.30pm St Luke's Simonsbath - Quintessence Brass Ensemble
7.30pm St George's Dunster - pianist Cédric Tiberghien Tribute to the Festival Bösendorfer grand
Saturday 20th: Withypool - North Molton - Barnstaple
11am Royal Oak Withypool - talk by Banjamin Mee on Dartmoor Zoo
1.30pm All Saints' North Molton - 4 Girls 4 Harps
7.30pm St Peter's Barnstaple - 2 guitarists John Williams & John Etheridge
Sunday 21st: All Saints' Church, Dulverton
11am Festival Eucharist (setting by Dom Gregory Murray)
1.30pm talk by Phyllida Lloyd on screening stage plays
7.30pm mezzo soprano Katarina Karnéus sings the Festival Finale

FULL DETAILS OF ALL EVENTS

a highlight of last year's 'Two Moors Festival'
Dandy tows the Vasari Quartet and audience
in the 'Tivertonian' on the Grand Western Canal, Tiverton
- see 'Memories of the Two Moors Festival'

Daphne Cartwrigh
(1945-2012)

A Celebration of Daphne Cartwright
Sandford Village Hall
Saturday 13 October 7.30pm
Artist, Tutor, Actor
An event to celebrate the life, times and work
of Daphne Cartwright who most sadly died in June.
Come along and see, listen to and remember
the many sides of a person who inspired and
enriched the lives of so many people
from the local community and much further afield.
A fundraising event for the British Heart Foundation
and Crediton Arts Centre
Tickets: £6  Box: 01363 773260
book online from TicketSource

Andrew Daldorph conducts
Exeter Chamber Choir
St Peter's Church Shaldon
(Friday 16 April 2011)

Exeter Chamber Choir
St Peter's Church Shaldon
Saturday 13 October 7.30pm
Conductor: Andrew Daldorph
Saxophones: Chris Gradwell
Marimba: Edward Scull
Matthias Schmitt: Agnus Dei (marimba, choir)
Andrew Daldorph: 'Rise up my Love'
(voices, marimba, soprano saxophone)
Nigel Walsh (Exeter): 'In the Stillness'
6 songs for choir and piano with words by
Richard Skinner (after Julian of Norwich)
René Clausen: 'Tonight Eternity Alone'
Healey Willan: texts from 'Song of Solomon'

Ed Scull with marimba - see above

Tickets: £10 (student £5 U16 FREE)
Box Office - Bradleys, Shaldon: 01626 873757
Helen Scull's Shaldon events website

see Choir website proceeds in aid of The Helen Foundation
This concert will be repeated:
Tuesday 16 October 7.30pm St Stephen's Exeter
(see below)

Ed Scull and Exeter Chamber Choir at Shaldon April 2011

James Bowman
with Dorothy Linell
(15 October 2011)

Counterpoint Choir
Buckfast Abbey
Saturday 13 October 7.30pm
AN EVENING OF HANDEL
(with Divertimento String Ensemble)
The choir will sing excerpts from:
'The Messiah'
'The Coronation of George II'
Countertenor James Bowman:
Arias from 'Solomon', 'Saul',
'Theodora', 'Judas Maccabaeus'
Tickets: £16 (advance £15)
01392 490398 or email:
CounterpointVox@aol.com
Counterpoint Website

Hannah Martin & Phillip Henry

Phil Henry & Hannah Martin
The Grapevine Exmouth
Sunday 14 October 8.30pm
(Doors open 7.45pm)
Chaturanga guitar: Phillip Henry
Violin/banjo: Hannah Martin
Tickets: £8 wegottickets

Andrew Daldorph conducts
Exeter Chamber Choir
for the St Stephen's Project
(St Mary Arches Church Exeter
Tuesday 20 December 2011)

Exeter Chamber Choir
St Stephen's Church Exeter
Tuesday 16 October 7.30pm
Conductor: Andrew Daldorph
Saxophones: Chris Gradwell
Marimba: Edward Scull
Matthias Schmitt: Agnus Dei (marimba, choir)
Andrew Daldorph: 'Rise up my Love'
(voices, marimba, soprano saxophone)
Nigel Walsh: 'In the Stillness'
6 songs for choir and piano with words by
Richard Skinner (after Julian of Norwich)
René Clausen: 'Tonight Eternity Alone'

Chris Gradwell plays
soprano saxophone
with Andrew Daldorph
('Soarin High' at St Cyr's
Tuesday 19 July 2011)

Healey Willan: texts from 'Song of Solomon'

Tickets: £10 (student £5 U16 FREE)
Box Office: 01392 851207

see Choir website
proceeds in aid of The St Stephen's Project
This concert is a repeat of:
Saturday 13 October 7.30pm St Peter's Shaldon
(see above)


Ed Scull and Exeter Chamber Choir at Shaldon April 2011