October 2013 – March 2014

www.amershamconcerts.org.uk

General InformationTickets

Enjoy five concerts for less than the price of four!The season ticket price, which we have held for another year, represents real value. In addition to the five concerts, a season ticket includes annual membership of the Concert Club, priority booking for our trips and, from time to time, a free ticket for one of the concerts to enable you to introduce a friend to the concerts. Just complete the form and send it to the Membership Secretary as instructed on the form. Please give the names of all holders of season or Friends tickets.

Friends of Amersham Concert Club: we are grateful for the generous support of those members who give additional financial help to the Club. Friends have some priority in seating at concerts and may have an opportunity to meet the artists afterwards.

Single tickets for the concerts can also be purchased from the Box Office (01494 765420) or online from our website (www.amershamconcerts.org.uk) or in person from The Record Shop, Hill Avenue, Amersham, or Perfect Pitch in Chesham. Tickets are generally available at the door.

Children and young people (under 18) are always welcome and attend free.

Getting to the concertsThe school is a 10 minute walk from Chalfont and Latimer Station (Metropolitan Line and Chiltern Railways)There is plenty of free parking at the school and a range of restaurants and pubs in the vicinity.Disabled access: we do everything we reasonably can to make our concerts accessible, within the limits of the venue, but please check with the Box Office.

Opera at Milton Keynes:Every year we try to arrange a coach trip to Milton Keynes to see an opera (usually performed by the Glyndebourne Touring Company). Door to door service from Amersham Community Centre Car Park to The Milton Keynes Theatre, typically leaving around 5:00pm. A high class production at reduced price through block booking.

Concerts at the Barbican or South Bank CentreFollowing the success of the Opera trips we have established a tradition of going to a major London venue, typically the Barbican or the Royal Festival Hall for an orchestral concert on a scale we cannot accommodate in our own season.

We reserve the right to substitute artists and switch venues as required by circumstances outside our control.ACC is a registered charity (number 0148911 ) and is a member of Making Music and the Chiltern Arts Network.The Club gratefully acknowledges the generous support of individual donors and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

Dr Challoner’s High SchoolCokes Lane

Little ChalfontHP7 9QB

“World Class musicians performing

Saturday 22nd March 2014 at 8:00 pm

Piano Duet – one piano, four hands: Anne Applin and Geoffrey PratleyVariations in A flat SchubertPiano Quartet Op.47 (slow movt) Schumann (arr Clara Schumann)Latin American Suite John CarmichaelPrelude – The Forgotten Rite John Ireland (arr by the composer)Mother Goose Suite RavelSix Pieces Op.11 Rachmaninov “a rare display of expertise and refinement” ISM Music Journal

“the rapport between these artistes was a revelation” West Somerset Free Press

“the concert was breath-taking and magical ….brought the music truly alive, so it could be heard in all its fresh and glorious colour” audience comment

“ a recital full of variety and skill ….a startling performance ….the four hands never lost their rapport …. I seem to have run out of superlatives ....they never lower their standards” Shropshire Star

A distinguished duo partnership since 1990, Anne and Geoffrey bring to the art form a wealth of experience in accompanying, chamber ensembles and teaching as well as broadcasting and publishing books of their arrangements for piano duet. In 2002 they met the Australian composer John Carmichael and have since given the UK premières of most of his works for piano duet, including the world première of his Concierto Folklorico for piano duet and string orchestra in November 2011.

2013 – 2014

AquinAs PiAno Trio

Kimon PArry

Tony inghAm

The Coull sTring quArTeT

The Blossom sTreeT Choir

Anne APPlin & geoffrey PrATley

Blossom Street present selected repertoire from their latest Naxos CD, a collection of a cappella choral folk songs with a particular focus on the nautical, released in 2013. The programme explores and celebrates the folk tradition; alongside beloved favourites by Vaughan Williams, a proud proponent of folk repertory, feature little known gems by Grainger and Holst, as well as a number of brand new works by both established and emerging composers.

Saturday 23rd November 2013 at 8:00 pm

The Blossom Street ChoirDown by the Sea

Saturday 19th October 2013 at 8:00 pmAquinas Piano TrioRuth Rogers – Violin, Katherine Jenkinson – Cello, Martin Cousin – Piano Piano Trio No.25 in G major HaydnPiano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.49 Mendelssohn Piano Trio No.7 in B flat major ‘Archduke’ Beethoven

“The trio played as though possessing a single heartbeat, each seamlessly and effortlessly developing the full range of emotions woven within the composition. Indeed, during the second movement, such was the look of intensity on the faces of our string players it would not have surprised me to see tears trickling down their cheeks. This was an evening of sublime music and it’s impossible to ask for more than that.”- Trevor Ekins, Grimsby Telegraph

The Aquinas Piano Trio was launched in 2009 and has quickly become one of Britain’s most sought-after ensembles. All three players are established solo artists in their own right (Martin gave a recital for the club last year) and have vast experience of the chamber music repertoire. Between them, they have an outstanding array of awards and achievements and have performed at such prestigious venues as the Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, South Bank Centre, Barbican Hall and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. They are all major prize-winners from a number of important competitions, have performed with the country’s leading orchestras and played chamber music throughout the globe.

Interspersed with this are works from ‘Sleep, Holy Babe’, a compilation of lullabies old and new.

“Perfection is rare but… the ‘Blossom Street’ choir …came very, very close… The unaccompanied programme was wide ranging – songs from the 16th to the 21st century, from Mexico to Russia were all presented with sheer professionalism and beauty of sound. … the blend and ensemble were perfect, the balance across the whole range from deepest bass to top soprano just right… Hilary Campbell is in complete control of every aspect. Her conducting was brilliant, both hands communicating tempo and phrasing, dynamics and interpretation in a wonderful way. … Everything about this evening was a delight.”Harold Mead, Milverton Review, December 2012

Blossom Street is a versatile ensemble of young professional singers, which performs regularly on TV and radio as well as on the concert platform. Directed by Hilary Campbell, the group was formed in 2003, while the singers were undergraduates at the University of York, and relocated to London in 2007. Projects this year have included trips to Sweden and Spain, performances at the Edinburgh Fringe, regular broadcasts on Radio 4 and corporate, concert and festival work.

On the concert platform, the group has performed at many of the major London venues including Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square and St James Piccadilly, and further afield at places like the Royal Palace, Madrid. Their CD, ‘Sleep, Holy Babe’, was released in November 2011, tracks from which featured on Radio 3’s ‘The Choir’ and on Classic FM. They have performed on Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’, and their disc was announced as ‘Christmas CD of the Year 2011’ on David Mellor’s New CD Show, Classic FM and received several 5* reviews.

Saturday 8th February 2014 at 8:00 pmKimon Parry – clarinet, Tony Ingham – piano Peregi Verbunk Op.40 WeinerTema con variazioni FrancaixSonata in E flat Op.120 BrahmsThree Minatures PendereckiGrand Duo Concertante Op.48 Weber

Amersham Concert Club registered charity 0148911

Postal Applications should be sent, with a cheque made payable to Amersham Concert Club and a stamped, self addressed envelope, to the Membership Secretary, 9 Lime Tree Walk, Amersham, HP7 9HY.

The information you provide will be held securely on computer for our records only. We will not share your data with anyone else.

Season Ticket (all 5 concerts plus membership of the club) £48

Young person’s season ticket Free

If you would like to be a Friend, please indicate the amount of your donation (minimum £5 per Friend)

If you would like us to reclaim Gift Aid on this and future donations, until you tell us not to, please tick the box

Single Concert Tickets

19th October 2013 ( Aquinas Trio) 8 pm £15

23rd November 2013 (Blossom Street) 8 pm £15

8th February 2014 (Clarinet/piano) 8 pm £12

1st March 2014 (Coull Quartet) 8 pm £15

22nd March 2014 (Anne Applin/Geoffrey Pratley) 8 pm £15

Total amount payable

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Saturday 1st March 2014 at 8:00 pmThe Coull String Quartet Roger Coull & Philip Gallaway – violins, Rose Redgrave – viola, Nicholas Roberts – cello Quartet in C Op.20 No.2 HaydnQuartet No.12 in D flat ShostakovitchQuartet No.3 in E flat minor Op.30 Tchaikovsky

The rare combination of maturity and freshness which characterises the Quartet’s performances is often singled out by reviewers:

“Here the playing is so brim-full with enthusiasm and commitment, and at the same time so infused with the accumulated wisdom of three decades, that the music simply reinvents itself as it should”. (The Strad)

Founded in 1974, and Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Warwick since 1977, the Coull Quartet has performed and broadcast extensively throughout the UK, the USA and Western Europe, and has also toured China, India, the Far East, South America and Australia. The Quartet has appeared at most of the major music societies and festivals in the UK, and gives an annual series of recitals at the renowned Warwick Arts Centre, where it is actively involved in the University of Warwick’s flourishing musical life.

The programme of this exciting young duo includes two of the greatest pieces for clarinet and piano, together with some less familiar works. Kimon Parry is a young clarinettist of considerable promise whose recent successes include winning the 2011 Clarinet and Saxophone Society Solo Clarinet Competition and reaching the 2012 finals of the Woodwind section of the Royal Overseas League competition. He has played with a number of major orchestras.

Tony Ingham enjoys a varied musical career of accompanying and coaching strings, woodwind and voice. He works regularly as piano accompanist for the RCM junior department and has worked as official accompanist for the orchestra of St Martin in the Fields, the Royal College of Music, Trinity, London College of Music and the Purcell School. He has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and St Martin in the Fields and has also given many solo piano lecture recitals for Princess Cruises. This concert is presented in conjunction with the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, whose continued support is much appreciated.

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