The next concert will be held on 20 February at 11 am at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA) at the University of Sussex. It will be given by Joanna MacGregor and the Brighton Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble.
George Gershwin Lullaby for String Quartet; Summertime
Amy Beach Piano Quintet in F sharp minor Op.67
Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major Op.44
Joanna MacGregor and friends gave us that stunning concert last November which included the Shostakovich Piano Trio and Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major. Now they return with another of the great piano quintets of the Romantic era – the Schumann. Or you could say, with two of the great piano quintets of the Romantic era, since many feel that Amy Beach’s work is up there with the best. Published in 1907, it’s very late for Romanticism but the style, intensely lyrical and thickly textured, is nearer to Brahms, whose piano quintet was published in 1864, than to Bartok, whose piano quintet was published just 3 years before Beach’s.
Amy Beach is a fascinating composer and shockingly underplayed. Gershwin is far better known but not for his string quartets. These two pieces are a delight.
Amy Beach. American composer 1867-1944
Audience members are encouraged to wear masks or other face coverings throughout the event (unless exempt or when eating or drinking, of course) and to keep their distance from others not in their party.
We regret that we will not be serving sherry or fruit juice to members during the interval. It is just not compatible with masking and distancing.
Tickets are available from the Brighton Dome box office (01273 709709) or online via https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk or at https://brightondome.org/ for £18.50 (concessions £16) or from ACCA on the day.
Tickets for those aged 8 to 25 are free under the Cavatina Scheme. These free tickets can only be booked by visiting one of the box offices in person. The Brighton Dome box office can issue them 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 must show proof of age, e.g. a passport. Under 14s must be accompanied to the concert by a paying adult.
MEMBERSHIP
If you have renewed your membership of Strings Attached for the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 and haven’t yet collected your membership card, you will be able to do so from the Members’ Desk in the foyer on the morning of the concert. If you aren’t sure if you have joined for this season contact membership@stringsattachedmusic.org.uk and we will check for you.
If you haven’t yet renewed your membership it’s not too late to do so. It is now so late in the season that membership taken out now will last until 31 July 2023 .
Membership forms can be completed at www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk/friends/ . For Gift Aid purposes please complete one form per person. Payment can be made by cheque or by bank transfer. Please use bank transfer if you can; it’s much more convenient for us. Use your surname as the reference. If paying by cheque there may be a delay before the cheque is paid in.
We very much hope you will choose to renew your membership and support our work – and that you will encourage like-minded people to join us as well.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
This year it will again be a virtual meeting on
Friday 18 February at 11.30 am on Zoom
If you wish to take part contact Margaret Polmear on m.polmear@btinternet.com. She will provide a link enabling you to join. Papers relating to the meeting are available at www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk . They are:
- the Agenda,
- the Minutes of the 2021 AGM,
- the Annual Report from the Committee,
- the Report of Income and Expenditure,
- the Data Protection Policy and
- the Register of Systems.
SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTISE
We need to engage with younger generations through Social Media but we need help. If you are able to assist us with this please make yourself known to a committee member at the Members’ Desk or email memckean@me.com.
OTHER CHAMBER MUSIC EVENTS
These are listed on our website. Choose https://www.stringsattachedmusic.org.uk and click on Calendar.
Especially interesting in the next few weeks are:
- 15 February Brighton Chapel Royal at 1.10pm: the Resol String Quartet plays Mendelssohn.
- 24 February Chichester Chamber Concerts: the Chiaroscuro String Quartet, led by Alina Ibragimova, plays Purcell, Haydn and Beethoven.
- 25 February The Nicholas Yonge Society Lewes: the Chiaroscuro String Quartet plays the same programme as at Chichester.
- 6 March Seaford Music Society hosts a tribute to local film composer Kenneth V Jones who died in 2020. It will be presented by Sally Beamish.
- 7 to 29 May Brighton Festival, the largest, most all-encompassing, Arts Festival in England. The programme will be announced on 16 February. Members’ booking opens next day and public booking opens on 24 February. See brightonfestival.org .
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