Welcome to our seventeenth newsletter – designed to keep you informed about our activities, as well as other local chamber music events.
2016/17 COFFEE CONCERT SERIES CONTINUES AT ACCA
The concert on 18 December by Trio Isimsiz was a masterclass in combining delicacy with passion. For reviews of the concert see https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk and choose ‘coffee concerts’. Scroll down to “Current season’s past concerts”.
The next concert is on Sunday 29 January at 11.00 am in the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA). It will be given by Sean Shibe on classical guitar playing English pieces from the beginning of the 17th to the 20th century, all written specifically for the guitar (or lute in the case of Dowland). It’s quite a departure for Strings Attached to be associated with a solo guitar concert, but the short taster he gave us at the December concert, and his videos on line, show that he plays with an intensity and intimacy that is entirely consistent with the chamber music we normally support. And if you are wondering about the unusual name, his parentage is Scottish and Japanese.
The programme:
Dowland Forlorn Hope Fancy / Fantasia No.1A
Arnold Fantasy Op 107
Walton 5 Bagatelles 1971
Lennox Berkeley Sonatina Op 52/1
Britten Nocturnal after John Dowland Op 70
You will note that the Forlorn Hope Fancy has changed from No. 2, as previously advertised, to No. 1A. I don’t suppose many of us will be too upset by that. Programme notes by Helen Simpson can be found on www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk .
PRACTICALITIES
The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA), formerly the Gardner Centre, is at the University of Sussex at Falmer. Parking is free. There are excellent public transport links:
- by train from Brighton or Lewes (subject to the vagaries of Southern Railway), or
- by bus: No. 25 from Hove and Brighton; or No.s 28 and 29 from Brighton or, coming the other way, from Tunbridge Wells via Uckfield and Lewes.
To find the Attenborough Centre once you reach the University consult the map on www.attenboroughcentre.com (search for “Campus map”). The nearest parking is at the Sports Centre.
Disabled Access: Do not be put off by the barrier to ACCA. Drive up to it, press the buzzer, and explain to the staff member that you need to drive up to the main entrance with a passenger who is unable to walk there. Occasionally it might be possible for a disabled driver to park immediately outside the Centre. You can ask the staff member about this but, because emergency vehicles must have access to the turning circle, it might not be possible.
| Car sharing: can anyone offer a lift to two people from Newhaven who might otherwise not be able to attend the concerts? If so, please contact Margaret Polmear on m.polmear@btinternet.com , and she will put you in touch. |
Tickets prices for the coffee concerts are £18.50 (concessions £16). A half-season ticket (for the three in 2017) is £49.50 (concessions £42).
Tickets for all concerts are available from the Brighton Dome Box Office on 01273 709709 or https://brightondome.org and from the Attenborough Centre on 01273 678822 or https://www.attenboroughcentre.com .
Tickets for those aged 8 – 25 are normally free as part of the Cavatina Scheme. They can only be booked by visiting or phoning either box office. The ACCA box office will be open on the morning of the concert. The young person need not be present at the time of booking. Under 14s must be accompanied by a paying adult.
The Cavatina scheme does not cover the guitar concert on 29 January but tickets will still be free for those aged 8 to 25, funded jointly by Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival and by Strings Attached.
THE 2017/18 COFFEE CONCERT SERIES
The dates have now been announced. They are:
Sunday 29 October 2017 Sunday 26 November 2017
Sunday 17 December 2017 Sunday 28 January 2018
Sunday 25 February 2018 Sunday 25 March 2018
All will be at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA).We await details of performers and programmes.
Strings Attached now has a Facebook page (@Stringsattachedchambermusic). You can also reach it using the button at the bottom of this newsletter or on the Strings Attached website. There’s lots of interesting stuff there, including a sketch of how the new Brighton Dome Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre will look from the outside. We plan to keep the page up to date with news which is likely to be of interest to Strings Attached members who are Facebook users.
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
As announced at the December coffee concert, Strings Attached’s sixth Annual General Meeting will not be held after the February coffee concert, as is normal practice, because of the high cost of holding it at the Attenborough Centre. Instead, it will be held at 11.30 on Thursday 2 March at 9 Powis Square, Brighton BN1 3HH.
Because the AGM will be held in a private home, it is vital that you let us know by Friday 24 February at the latest whether you intend to come by contacting the Secretary, Margaret Polmear, on 01273 328085 or at m.polmear@btinternet.com . This is so that appropriate seating can be provided or an alternative larger venue arranged if expected attendance makes this necessary.
Please note that parking in and around Powis Square is very limited.
If you intend to come to the meeting, please bring with you the following papers:
- Agenda for AGM 2017
- Minutes of the 2016 AGM
- Annual Report for 2016
- Statement of Accounts for 2016
- Proposed amendment to the constitution
- Proposed revised constitution
They can be downloaded at www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk . We will not supply copies on the day.
In view of the changed circumstances for the AGM, feedback from members about the coffee concerts will not be sought at the meeting but through a future newsletter. The agenda for the meeting is confined to required AGM business including approval of the annual report and accounts and election of the committee for the forthcoming year. It is expected to be a short, administrative meeting.
There is, however, one agenda item appertaining to the constitution of Strings Attached to which we would like to draw your attention. It concerns the number required to be present at the AGM. This is currently 10 people but the committee would like to amend this with effect from the 2018 AGM to 10 people or 10% of the membership whichever is the lower number. The paper noted above provides more detail.
If you have any other item for discussion (which should not include feedback about the coffee concerts which, as indicated above, will be gathered separately), please inform Margaret Polmear as above by Friday, 24 February.
Nomination of committee members
Strings Attached has a committee currently comprising 5 members (a maximum of 10 places is available). The committee meets 4 or 5 times a year with email communication between meetings. If you would like to become involved, either as a committee member or by helping behind the scenes, please contact the Chair, Mary McKean on 01273 554278 or at memckean@me.com .
The skills of the current committee would be greatly enhanced by new members who have skills in publicity and public relations, fundraising or graphic design and/or a knowledge of or interest in social media. Please do not be put off if your skills do not relate to these areas – we’ll still be glad to hear from you.
Contribution to the AGM discussion in the event of being unable to attend
If you are unable to come to the AGM but have comments on the papers or ideas for future activity, please send them to the Secretary, Margaret Polmear, as above, by Friday, 24 February.
MEMBERSHIP
If you haven’t renewed your membership for 2016/17, you can do so by downloading a membership form from https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk/friends . Alternatively, you can renew at the next concert.
If you have renewed but haven’t received a membership card (needed for the free interval drinks) either email Christine Moon on c.e.moon@btinternet.com or collect one from the membership desk at the next concert.
If you aren’t sure whether or not you have renewed, email membership@stringsattachedmusic.org.uk .
OTHER CHAMBER MUSIC EVENTS
Our president, Levon Chilingirian, will be performing, with the Chilingirian Quartet, at St Peter and St Paul Church, Tonbridge, on 4 February at 7.30 pm (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Komitas-Aslamazian) and at Kings Place, London, on 5 February at 6.30 pm (Mozart, Bartok and Beethoven).
The next concert run by the Nicholas Yonge Society in Lewes is on 27 January and features the Syrian pianist Riyad Nicholas. Riyad was born in Aleppo, which is likely to bring extra poignancy to the experience of hearing him play great works from Bach to Scriabin. Tickets are available on https://www.nyslewes.org.uk or on the door. At 6.30 pm Chris Darwin and Janet Lovegrove will give a pre-performance talk on the development of the piano and on the development of piano playing styles, free to students of the University of the Third Age who have signed up for the course. For the rest of us it’s £1 a time.
Details of concerts at Brighton churches (St Nicholas’, St Luke’s, and the Chapel Royal) and those organised by music societies in Seaford and Steyning, and the Chichester Chamber Concerts can all be accessed via the Strings Attached chamber music calendar. Go to https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk and choose ‘calendar’ from the menu.
Copyright © 2017 Strings Attached, All rights reserved.