Welcome to our twenty fourth newsletter – designed to keep you informed about our activities, as well as other local chamber music events.
2017/18 COFFEE CONCERT SEASON CONTINUES
The concert on 26 November featured the Castalian Quartet. For reviews of the concert see https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk under ‘Latest Posts’.
The next concert will be given by the Zemlinsky Quartet on 17 December at 11 am in the Attenborough Centre:
- Beethoven String Quartet in F major, Op. 18 No. 1
- Janácek Mládi (arranged from the original version for wind sextet)
- Schumann String Quartet in A major Op.41 No. 3
For those who like to prepare for a concert, Chris Darwin’s programme notes are available on https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk under ‘Next Concert’.
The Zemlinsky Quartet met as students in Prague in 1994, so they have been on the international stage for some time, winning, amongst other prizes, the London International String Quartet Competition in 2006. The transcription of Janácek’s Mládi was made for them so it’s unlikely that any of us will have heard it before, unless played elsewhere by the Zemlinsky.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
If you haven’t renewed your membership for 2017/18 it is not too late to do so! Download a membership form from www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk/friends/ or renew at the next concert. If you aren’t sure whether or not you have renewed, email membership@stringsattachedmusic.org.uk . By renewing you will not only have access to events like meet-the-artists but also be entitled to a free sherry or fruit juice during the interval of each concert. Above all you will be helping to ensure the future of the coffee concerts. While on the subject of membership benefits, we apologise for the lack of fruit juice and the insufficient amount of sherry at the last concert! We expect standards to have returned to normal at the next.
PRACTICALITIES
The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA), formerly the Gardner Centre, is at the University of Sussex at Falmer. The move to ACCA, as you will recall, is temporary during the extensive refurbishment of the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.
There is free parking at the Sports Centre close to the Attenborough Centre and at other car parks on the campus nearby. There are also excellent public transport links:
- by train from Brighton or Lewes, or
- by bus: No. 25 from Hove and Brighton, No. 23 from Brighton Marina or Nos 28 and 29 from Brighton, or, coming the other way, from Tunbridge Wells via Uckfield and Lewes.
Help with transport A happy tradition has been established whereby Strings Attached members offer lifts to others who would otherwise have difficulty with transport. If a lift has not already been arranged for you and you would either like a lift, or would like to offer one, please email the secretary, Margaret Polmear, on m.polmear@btinternet.com . It will only be possible to find a lift for you if there happens to be someone in your area who is offering one.
Tickets prices for the coffee concerts have again been held at £18.50 (concessions £16). A half-season ticket (available for the three concerts in 2018) is £49.50 (concessions £42).
Tickets for all concerts are available from the Brighton Dome Box Office (01273 709709) or www.brightondome.org or from the Attenborough Centre on the day. In the days before the last concert the Brighton Dome website was showing the concert as sold out, when it wasn’t. Colleagues at Brighton Dome are busy sorting this out. However, if in future the website shows a coffee concert as sold out it would be worth phoning the Box Office to check.
Tickets for those aged 8 – 25 are free as part of the Cavatina Scheme. They can only be booked by visiting the box office in person. The Brighton Dome box office can issue tickets in advance; the ACCA box office will be open on the morning of the concert. Either the young person should be present at the time of booking, or the person booking for him or her must show proof of age, e.g. a passport. Under 14s must be accompanied to the concert by a paying adult.
OTHER CHAMBER MUSIC EVENTS
The chamber music series of concerts run by the Nicholas Yonge Society in Lewes continues on 26 January with the Escher Quartet playing an all Russian programme: Borodin, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. The Shostakovich is Quartet No. 9; a great work that’s not often performed in the UK. Tickets are available on www.nyslewes.org.uk or on the door.
The Seaford Music Society continues its programme with a concert on 11 February by Bartosz Glowacki on accordion. He was Polish Young Musician of the Year in 2009. This concert is likely to be unlike any other on offer in 2018! The programme has not yet been announced. When available, details will be posted on www.seafordmusicsociety.com .
Details of concerts at Brighton churches (St Luke’s, the Unitarian Church and the Chapel Royal) and those organised by other music societies in Steyning, Eastbourne and Chichester can all be accessed via the Strings Attached chamber music calendar. Go to www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk and choose ‘calendar’ from the menu.
Strings Attached would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a 2018 filled with wonderful music.