Welcome to our forty second newsletter – designed to keep you informed about our activities, as well as other chamber music events.
2019/20 COFFEE CONCERT SEASON CONTINUES
The second concert of the series was given on 17 November by Endymion. Reviews can be found on https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk/ under ‘Reviews’. On the whole the feeling was that the superlative playing and the genius of Beethoven and Brahms compensated for the inevitable limitations of horn and piano, violin and piano, or all three together.
The next concert will be on 8 December at 11am at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, University of Sussex, Falmer, given by the Maxwell Quartet.
- Haydn String Quartet in C Op.74 No.1
- Roukens Visions at Sea
- Scottish Folk Music
- Schubert String Quartet in D minor Death and the Maiden
The photo tells us a lot. The quartet was founded by four friends, all Scots, and they got together formally as the Maxwell Quartet when studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Their progress has been stellar; they won the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. They regularly win reviews like this one from The Strad Magazine: “superb storytelling by four great communicators”. The photo also prepares us for a Scottish element in the concert; and Youtube.com has film of them playing their own arrangements of Scottish Folk Music. We know the tunes but have never heard them played before with such haunting beauty. They will be playing some of them at this concert.
For those who like to prepare for a concert, programme notes are available on https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk .
We look forward to seeing you there.
COFFEE CONCERTS ON YOUTUBE
Brighton Dome has made an excellent video of us – audience members as well as performers – and posted it on Youtube. Go to www.youtube.com and search on ‘coffeconcerts/chamber music at Brighton Dome’. Alternatively, click the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsOD2Mj88Rg&feature=youtu.be . It was made at the first concert of the season. Send the link to any friends who are aged 8 to 25. I’m sure many of them don’t know that, thanks to the Cavatina Trust, they can get in free.
PRACTICALITIES
The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA), formerly the Gardner Centre, is at the University of Sussex at Falmer. We are still using ACCA while the refurbishment of the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange enters its final stages. There is free parking at the Sports Centre, near the Attenborough Centre, and at other car parks on the campus nearby (it being Sunday). 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 No.s 28 and 29 from Brighton or, coming the other way, from Tunbridge Wells via Uckfield and Lewes.
Help with transport
A happy tradition is 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 like a lift, or if you 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.
Ticket prices for the coffee concerts have again been held at £18.50 (concessions £16). A half-season ticket for the three concerts in 2020 is £49.50 (concessions £42).
Tickets for all concerts are available from the Brighton Dome box office (01273 709709) or https://brightondome.org/ or from The Attenborough Centre on the day. 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 these free 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.
MEMBERSHIP
For those who haven’t already done so, there is still time to renew your membership of Strings Attached for the period 1 August 2019 to 31 July 2020. Membership renewal forms can be downloaded from https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk/friends/ .Payment can be made by bank transfer or by cheque but the form still needs to be sent by post. For Gift Aid reasons please complete one form per person. Paid-up members will receive a membership card which can be used to obtain a glass of sherry or fruit juice during coffee concert intervals.
We hope you will choose to renew your membership and support our work – and encourage like-minded people to join us too.
OTHER CHAMBER MUSIC EVENTS
The most immediate event to note is the Christmas Concert of the Lewes Chamber Music Festival which will take place on 6 December at St John’s sub Castro, Lewes. They’ll play Beethoven’s string quintet Op.29 and his late quartet Op.132.
The next concert at the Nicholas Yonge Society in Lewes will be on 24 January, given by the Carducci String Quartet with Kate Whitley (piano). Kate is a phenomenon both as a composer and as a pianist. She was co-founder of the marvellous Multi-Story Orchestra which performs in car parks in an attempt to integrate classical music into everyday life. Perhaps she can do the same for the rather bland hall at East Sussex College. In addition to her newly commissioned piano quintet you get string quartets by Beethoven (Op.95), Britten (No.1) and Mendelssohn (Op.80). Tickets are available on http://www.nyslewes.org.uk or on the door.
The next concert of the Seaford Music Society will be given on 9 February by the London Mozart Players Chamber Ensemble. It will include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen.
Details of concerts in local churches and those organised by other local music societies can be accessed via the Strings Attached chamber music calendar. For information about all of these go to https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk and choose “Calendar” from the menu.
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