Music on Thursdays
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2015 Season Sponsor: Patricia Morgan Optician Supported by: Leatherhead Concert & Arts Society |
Programme
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
from 3 Preludes (for solo piano) arranged for Saxophone quartet by Revd James Crockford in 2009 Prelude 1 (1926) Allegro ritmato e ben deciso Antonín Leopold Dvořák (1841-1904) arr Beth Liley (saxophonist and graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire) String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 “American Quartet” (1893) I Allegro ma non troppo II Lento III Molto vivace IV Finale: vivace ma non troppo Pedro Iturralde (b1929, Madrid, Spain) Pequeña Czárdás Today's lunchtime concert is given in memory of Jim Lowe who so enjoyed these concerts. |
Soprano: Chloe Percy-Smith
Alto: Emma Jones Tenor: Rachael Kendall Baritone: Chalcedony Williams There was an additional collection after this concert for Sr Christobel's Trust Mother Teresa's Roses which cares for those in India others would not look after The total raised at the concert was an excellent £259.59. Thank you to NUANCE and to everyone who contributed. |
Nuance Saxophone Quartet
The Nuance Quartet, formed in late 2014, comprises of undergraduate students from Birmingham Conservatoire. They have performed in master classes led by some very influential saxophonists, including Lars Mlekusch, Kyle Horch and Lynn Klock. Performance highlights from the past year include a selection of internal concerts at the Conservatoire, at St. Martin’s in the Bull Ring, Birmingham (pictured above), as well as being finalists in the Andrew Downes Competition.
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Emma Jones, alto saxophone
Emma Jones studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Naomi Sullivan where she graduated in June 2015 with a first class honours degree. She took part in the Erasmus scheme studying in Zwolle, Netherlands under Johan van der Linden and she has taken part in the Scandinavian Saxophone Festival in Aarhus, Denmark, collaborating on chamber works with other European musicians.
Emma has a keen interest in orchestral playing and has performed with Wessex Orchestra, North Wiltshire Orchestra, National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain which made its BBC proms debut in 2012 and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. Outside of the classical world, she has been recorded on Fairport Convention's latest album Myths and Heroes and has performed with them at Cropredy this year. In September 2015 Emma will begin her masters studies at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague studying under Raaf Hekkema. |
Chloe Percy-Smith, soprano saxophone
Chloe Percy-Smith is an undergraduate saxophone student at the Birmingham Conservatoire where she is about to begin her third year of study under the tuition of Naomi Sullivan.
At the start of the year Chloe had the privilege of being awarded one of two Leverhulme Scholarships from the Conservatoire based on her first year results. As a soloist she played in the final of the Birmingham Conservatoire Saxophone prize, as well winning third prize in the Chandos Young Musician Competition. Outside of her solo playing, Chloe has had the opportunity to be involved in the premieres of some exciting new works, including playing as part of the solo quartet in Rob Jones' Quilting: concerto for saxophone quartet and wind orchestra as well as playing in the band for Michael Walters' new opera Ava's Wedding. Chloe has always enjoyed a diverse range of playing, with highlights being her time spent performing across Germany and Spain as part of the award winning Northamptonshire County Youth Concert Band. In November, she is looking forward to taking her wind orchestra playing further as a member of the European Union Youth Wind Orchestra on their tour of Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Chloe also loves doing show work, within which she gets the opportunity to showcase the jazz side of her playing. |
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Rachael Kendall, tenor saxophone
Rachael Kendall is a third year saxophonist at the Birmingham Conservatoire, studying for a BMus(Hons) under Naomi Sullivan. She recently had the privilege of being accepted on the Erasmus Exchange programme at ArtEz Conservatoire under the tuition of Johann Van der Linden. She hopes this experience will confirm her aspirations of studying for a masters degree abroad.
In her time as an undergraduate student she has already performed in many masterclasses for saxophonists such as Kyle Mlekusch, and was also one of three finalists for the 2015 Birmingham Conservatoire saxophone prize. Over the last year she played for the premier of the Conservatoire's Opera production Ava's Wedding. This year Rachael also gained the chair of principal saxophone with the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain. Previous to her studies at the conservatoire, Rachael was a member of the North Lincolnshire Youth Orchestra and Swing Band for a number of years, during which time she twice won bursaries to attend European Youth School of Music, and was a flute finalist competing at the regional music festival held in Yorkshire. |
Chalcedony Williams, baritone saxophone
Chalcedony Williams is a saxophone student at the Birmingham Conservatoire where she is about to begin her third year studying under Naomi Sullivan. Since joining the conservatoire Chalcedony has enjoyed playing in a mixture of departmental chamber groups, working on repertoire ranging from classic composers such as Ravel, to much more contemporary funk works.
When she isn't busy playing, Chalcedony enjoys composition, for which she is currently taking lessons from Andy Hamilton. Amongst her works, Chalcedony has written a piece for solo saxophone and string quartet, as well as a multi-movement work for saxophone quartet based on Wordsworth's poetry. In September Chalce will be spending a term studying at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague under Raaf Hekkema. Outside of her studies, Chalce's life is continually busy. She is a busy freelance musician playing regularly for weddings, as well as gigging with her Rochdale based band Third Opinion. On top of this, she has seen great success this year outside of the music field, having been elected as Birmingham City University's Ethnic Minority Officer for 2015-2016, as well as being awarded the regional Aimhigher Mentor of the Year 2015 Award for her work in local Birmingham Schools. |
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Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, educates and trains musicians to the highest professional standards in solo performance, composition, chamber music, orchestral playing and jazz.
The first UK music college to have an active research programme, established in 1993, the Conservatoire is now an internationally recognised centre for research into composition, performance with live electronics, and musicology. Newly appointed Principal is world-renowned cellist Julian Llord Webber Find out more by clicking on the picture. ► ► ► |
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Nuance
Saxophones in quadruplicate
embody range of shapes and sizes,
blend in seamless flow of melody,
each player unique and distinct;
yet create a larger, natural Whole,
as if these four young women,
so recently come together,
had never been apart.
They breathe as One, explore the light and shade
of subtle differences –
nuances, but never nebulous –
which enhance their skilled arrangements.
Dvorak's “American Quartet”,
so familiar in strings,
takes on a reincarnation
utterly convincing,
in mellow, milky tone;
seemingly the original,
authentic, version.
Pequena Czardas
displays their virtuosity;
so many notes at speed,
beyond all imagination,
but separated by quieter,
gentle, poignant interlude,
which emphasises even more
their jubilant, rhythmic vibrancy.
All too soon this concert is concluded –
would that we could press the replay button!
Ecstatic experience, one-off,
is gone in a flash.
Afterwards, on the stage floor,
we see the sheets of music score
strewn at random, scattered to the winds,
having fulfilled their momentary purpose;
a symbol, perhaps, of the pull of life,
as, about to embark
on their respective careers,
these musicians will disband – only, we hope,
to re-convene, and once again
delight us with fresh nuances.
Peter Horsfield 20/8/2015
embody range of shapes and sizes,
blend in seamless flow of melody,
each player unique and distinct;
yet create a larger, natural Whole,
as if these four young women,
so recently come together,
had never been apart.
They breathe as One, explore the light and shade
of subtle differences –
nuances, but never nebulous –
which enhance their skilled arrangements.
Dvorak's “American Quartet”,
so familiar in strings,
takes on a reincarnation
utterly convincing,
in mellow, milky tone;
seemingly the original,
authentic, version.
Pequena Czardas
displays their virtuosity;
so many notes at speed,
beyond all imagination,
but separated by quieter,
gentle, poignant interlude,
which emphasises even more
their jubilant, rhythmic vibrancy.
All too soon this concert is concluded –
would that we could press the replay button!
Ecstatic experience, one-off,
is gone in a flash.
Afterwards, on the stage floor,
we see the sheets of music score
strewn at random, scattered to the winds,
having fulfilled their momentary purpose;
a symbol, perhaps, of the pull of life,
as, about to embark
on their respective careers,
these musicians will disband – only, we hope,
to re-convene, and once again
delight us with fresh nuances.
Peter Horsfield 20/8/2015
Concert at Home
If you are unable to come along to today's concert, here instead is a selection of links to recordings of the same or similar works for your listening enjoyment.
Although this is purely a sound recording, you really can't get better than letting Gershwin play his own work.
Here on the left are his Three Preludes for piano, written in 1926.
On the right we hear an arrangement of the Three Preludes for saxophone quartet.
Although this is purely a sound recording, you really can't get better than letting Gershwin play his own work.
Here on the left are his Three Preludes for piano, written in 1926.
On the right we hear an arrangement of the Three Preludes for saxophone quartet.
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It is a little naughty of Sung ho Moon to name only his cellist relative on this recording!
Nonetheless it is a surprisingly competent rendition of Dvorak's American Quartet on the instruments
for which it was composed, and by quite young players.
The saxophone recording on the right comes from the Espoir Sax Orchestra, of Tokyo and just gives the first movement.
To read their website, put their name into GOOGLE and when the geocities.jp result comes up
click on the "Translate this page" option - unless you don't need to translate, of course.
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There is something quite special about hearing a composer play his own work and so
here is Pedro Iturralde, playing his Pequeña Czárdás
here is Pedro Iturralde, playing his Pequeña Czárdás
We hope you have enjoyed your "Concert at Home"
