High Notes

High Notes
NEWS FROM FRIENDS OF ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN
June 2016
Shakespeare Show
Thomas Nickell Concert
Last Night of the Shakespeare Proms
Friends’ Summer Soiree
Fr
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Fri ds
TIC day ’ S
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Thomas Nickell on his
forthcoming concerts with OOTS
PA SA so S
G LE n C oi
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7 NO roft ree
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Edition 55
High Notes
June 2016
In This Issue …
Edition 55
Chairman’s Message
With only two more concerts to go in Stratford, we are nearing the end of what has
been a wonderful season. We have been treated to some gems … an exceptional
mix of concerts during the Shakespeare birthday celebrations including live TV and
radio broadcasts; a new concert series in Worcestershire that has been very well
received and a very successful concert in Istanbul.
From The Podium
Artistic Director’s Report
3
Shakespeare Celebrations
4
Thomas Nickell interview
5
Last Night of the
Shakespeare Proms
6
FOOTS Members Notices
and Friends’ Events
7
Meet the Players
8
(Peter Donohoe at the FOOTS Coffee and Conversation - photo Brian Felgate LRPS)
With our Friends’ events, your support has been
great. The January Soirée was a great success,
raising £2,128. The Coffee and Conversation
events in Birmingham went down very well and
these will be repeated next season. For those who
could attend, our recital with Chris Allen (pictured
right) at the Rotunda was magical and the Meet
the Soloist lunches were well attended.
Our Summer Soiree on Friday 8 July at Mason Croft is fast approaching. David Le Page,
Louise Braithwaite, Nick Stringfellow and Eleanor Hodgkinson have been booked to
entertain us. Tickets at £17 (£19 for non-Friends) are available from the office or the OOTS
website. As an added bonus, when you buy a ticket for the Soiree, you will get a free ticket
for the Thomas Nickell concert on Sunday 10 July at Stratford ArtsHouse.
We are in the process of putting together the FOOTS events for next season. After
consultation, we are adding several new events in Birmingham which will be
launched in the next few weeks.
With best wishes
Chris Wheeler
Chairman, FOOTS
2
If you would like to know more about
Friends of Orchestra of the Swan, please
go to the orchestra website or call the
office on 01789 267567
(FOOTS recital at
the Rotunda in
Birmingham with
Chris Allen, cello)
Friends Committee
Chairman:
Chris Wheeler
01789 413936
[email protected]
Secretary:
Chris Boylan
01608 682218
[email protected]
Treasurer:
Martin Stanley
01789 204928
[email protected]
Membership Secretary:
Niall McChesney
024 7650 2553
[email protected]
Other Committee Members:
John Cohen
Alan Boddington • Dr Peter Buckroyd
From the Podium
Artistic Director’s Report
Thomas Nickell Concerts
The pace shows no sign of letting up and I’m delighted to
announce a forthcoming collaboration with the young
American pianist Thomas Nickell . Having been dubbed “The
American Mozart” in the Spanish press for his skills as both
pianist and composer, the seventeen year-old Young Steinway
Artist is rapidly garnering praise for his strong interpretations
and insightful readings of some of the piano’s most
demanding repertoire.
Thomas’s programme with Orchestra of the Swan includes the
Bach D minor keyboard concerto and the piano concerto by
David Matthews. There are performances on Sunday July 10
at Stratford ArtsHouse and Saturday July 16 at Kings Place
London, the London première of the David Matthews concerto.
I’m delighted to have been invited to the USA in February 2017
to conduct the American première of the Matthews concerto in
New York’s Carnegie Hall, again with Thomas as soloist.
The Sorel Organization and
Garfield Weston Foundation
Following a highly successful 3-year collaboration between
the Sorel Organization and OOTS the Sorel has committed to
grant aid of a further £40,000 over 2 years to support OOTS
performances and commissions with composers Lucia Caruso
and Pedro da Silva.
Lucia’s work ‘Titania’s Lullaby’ was performed in the
Shakespeare Service from Holy Trinity and she will be giving
3 performances of Mozart piano concerto in C major K415 in
October in Stratford, Birmingham and Cheltenham.
We are also delighted to have secured a £20,000 grant from
Garfield Weston towards core costs
Istanbul Festival
On 3 June Orchestra of the Swan flew to Istanbul to perform
in the Istanbul International Festival; other orchestras included
the Academy of St Martin’s so OOTS was in excellent
company. The programme included the Mendelssohn Violin
Concerto with Tamsin Waley-Cohen and the complete
Incidental Music from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The
narration was read by Tilbe Saran, one of Turkey’s most highly
respected actresses.
I’d also like to thank our partners Turkish Airlines for their
invaluable sponsorship which is supporting this trip to Istanbul.
Laura van der Heijden - cello
Those who have been following the recent BBC Young
Musician of the Year finals may recall a previous winner, Laura
van der Heijden, who joins us for our final concert of the
season on July 30 in the ArtsHouse and is our Associate Artist
in 2016-17 when she’ll be performing concertos by Haydn
and Tchaikovsky in Stratford, Malvern and Birmingham.
After the July concert I’m running away to France for a couple
of weeks to refresh and re-charge for our 21st Anniversary
season. With our new commissions, tour to Mexico and other
visiting soloists and conductors, it should be quite a celebration!
3
Shakespeare Show
and Celebrations
This has been quite an astonishing season for Orchestra of the
Swan, for many culminating in the live BBC broadcast from the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre on Saturday April 23. If you missed
it you can now watch it on DVD, available at the RSC shop. As
well as the UK live audience of 2.2 million the programme will
be broadcast on TV Networks and streamed to cinemas around
the world, quite an achievement for all of us.
Over the week OOTS was also on BBC Radio 3 twice, Choral
Evensong and our premiere of Dobrinka Tabakova’s ‘Immortal
Shakespeare’, BBC Radio 4 Morning Service, with David
Suchet and on Classic FM, our latest release, music by John
Ireland with cellist Raphael Wallfisch.
4
Pianist Thomas Nickell
discusses his forthcoming
concerts with OOTS
One of the most exciting things about being a pianist interested in composition is the opportunity
to work with a living composer on the performance of his works. Collaborating with David
Matthews, David Curtis and Orchestra of the Swan is an ideal situation that provides me with the
chance to have a true and full understanding of all the composer’s intentions.
What initially attracted me to David
Matthews’ Piano Concerto was that the
work is actually titled a “Piano Concerto”.
This caught my attention because it
implies a certain adherence to traditional
forms. This is not something often found
among contemporary works.
I was also very attracted to the
harmonic writing, a harmonic style that
is unlike anything I have heard before.
Kind of Bartok meets Britten meets
Gershwin. I also love how Matthews
replaced what would typically be
viewed as the scherzo or minuet
movement of a four movement work
with a tango, effectively incorporating a
modern and eclectic dance form in the
piece.
audience.
During the time I have been working on
‘Piano Concerto’, many of my interests in
composition have come into play. I was
able to discuss the work and ideas on
how to approach it with my coach,
Cosmo Buono, which gave me a lot of
insight into my own understanding of the
piece. Also, by preparing to perform with
OOTS, I have had the chance to
examine my own ideas along with
potential options for interpretation.
I am looking forward to the first
orchestra rehearsal, where I will have a
chance to examine even more of the
work’s wonderful textures with Orchestra
of the Swan, David Curtis and of course,
the composer. I’m also anticipating
discussions and explorations that will
create a chance for a fully-realized
interpretation of all the work has to offer,
while hopefully creating an inspired
listening experience for the audience. It’s
a dream come true for any performer,
and I could not be happier.
Thomas Nickell
This process has created a great musical
atmosphere for me, because I now feel
surrounded by ways to make the work
both meaningful and interesting for the
5
Saturday 30 July 2016
7.30pm
Last Night
of the
Shakespeare
Proms
Sunday 10 July 2016
6.00pm
Thomas
Nickell
Plays Bach
Britten
Variations
on a Theme
of Frank Bridge
David Matthews Piano Concerto
Bach arr. Steve Martland Toccata and
Fugue in D minor
Bach
Piano Concerto
no1 in D minor
Thomas Nickell
David Curtis
piano
conductor
Young Steinway Artist Thomas Nickell
has given a dozen Carnegie Hall
performances, two international
commissions, and tours to Italy, Japan,
and throughout the USA.
Thomas Nickell appears courtesy of
Alexander & Buono International
Tickets: £9.50 to £26.50
Box Office: 01789 207100
buy online:
www.stratfordartshouse.co.uk
BUY A TICKET FOR THE
FOOTS SUMMER SOIRÉE
AND COME TO THIS
CONCERT FOR FREE
SEE PAGE 7
6
Nicolai
Elgar
Elgar
Elgar
Parry
Henry Wood
Overture, The Merry Wives of Windsor
Cello Concerto
Pomp & Circumstance March no1
Pomp & Circumstance March no4
Jerusalem
Fantasia on British Sea Songs
Laura van der Heijden cello
David Curtis
conductor
We end our Shakespeare 400 Anniversary season with an all English, ‘Last Night
of the Shakespeare Proms’ with BBC Young Musician of the Year, Laura van der
Heijden performing the Elgar Cello Concerto
Tickets: £9.50 to £26.50
Box Office: 01789 207100 • www.stratfordartshouse.co.uk
Laura van der Heijden, cello
Born in England in 1997 as the
youngest daughter of a Dutch father
and a Swiss mother, Laura’s musical
studies started on recorder at the age
of four. After learning with Marina Logie
on cello, Laura had gained ABRSM
grade 8 distinctions on both cello and
piano by the age of ten.
Laura's first public performance as a
cellist was at the age of 9 with the
Jupiter Chamber Orchestra. From 2005
to 2014 Laura was a student at the
Royal College of Music Junior
Department, where she learned piano
with Emily Jeffrey and participated in
many ensembles. Since 2008 Laura
has been a student of the renowned
British-Russian cellist Leonid Gorokhov.
Additionally, she is participating in
masterclasses with David Geringas,
Ralph Kirshbaum and Miklós Perényi.
During her young life Laura has already
had many prizes and awards
bestowed on her. At the age of 15,
Laura was awarded the title of BBC
Young Musician 2012, performing
Walton’s Cello Concerto with Kirill
Karabits and the Northern Sinfonia at
The Sage, Gateshead.
Last season Laura gave her debut with
the Philharmonia Orchestra in
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and with
Sinfonia Cymru in Shostakvich’s Cello
Concerto. She also performed the Elgar
concerto with the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra, with the European Union
Chamber Orchestra and with the
London Mozart Players who recently
named her “Young Artist in Residence”.
In between she gave many sold-out
recitals, particularly in this country but
also abroad, with pianists Tom Poster
and Alison Rhind.
Laura plays a 1780 cello by Joseph Hill,
loaned to her by the Boileau family,
and is an Ambassador for both the
Prince’s Foundation for Children & the
Arts and Brighton Youth Orchestra.
Members Notices
Friends’ Event 2016
Membership Renewal
and Standing Orders
To take advantage of Gift Aid and to
make administration more efficient the
FOOTS bank account will be merging
with the OOTS bank account in early
September.
We will be contacting all members
who pay by Standing Order with
details of the new bank details to
enable you to amend your Standing
Order.
8 July 2016, 7.15pm Open to all
Mason Croft, Stratford-upon-Avon
Friends: £17 Non-Friends: £19
Friends’ Summer Fundraising Soirée
with David Le Page, Louise Braithwaite,
Nick Stringfellow and Eleanor Hodgkinson
Includes bubbly and canapés on arrival and a ticket for the Thomas Nickell concert
on Sunday 10 July at Stratford ArtsHouse
For tickets for the above event call 01789 267567
or visit www.orchestraoftheswan.org/shop
Help the Orchestra by holding
a fundraising event …
OOTS 21st Anniversary season is approaching and as a group, it would be
great if the Friends could help make it a season to be remembered.
The Committee will be hosting some special concerts, but if we could ask
individual members to organise small-scale fundraising events over the next
three years, we should be able to help achieve the orchestra’s goal to visit
every care home in Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
If you are unsure how to amend your
Standing Order or you would like
confirmation of your membership
renewal date, please contact our
Membership
Secretary,
Niall
McChesney on 024 7650 2553
or email: [email protected]
New Members
We would like to offer a warm welcome
to the following new supporters who
have joined since our last newsletter
and hope to meet you at our next
concert and/or Friends event.
Jeromy and Kate Hassell
David and Elisabeth Holden
Ann Harwood
John & Felicity Fletcher
John & Josune Armitage
Committee Vacancy
If you would like to help the orchestra
further, we have a vacancy on the
Friends’ Committee.
For further information, please contact
Chris Wheeler on 01789 413936
or email: [email protected]
To discuss your ideas please contact Lisa Houghton-Reade
on [email protected] or by calling 01789 267567.
7
Meet the Players
Dominika Fehér - violin
Our regular column introducing you to the orchestra’s musicians
be David Le Page. After this collaboration he passed my
contact details onto OOTS and shortly after I was very happy
to get a call from them asking if I could jump in last minute.
Call it a lucky coincidence, it was actually an open rehearsal
for Conservatoire students that morning so I was going to be
there anyway.
What do you spend your spare time doing?
I love walking, as a way of clearing my head and reconnecting with nature. I first heard about the Camino de
Santiago (the Way of St. James) - an 800km ancient pilgrim
route across the north of Spain - about ten years ago, and
finally in August 2014 I managed to set aside enough time to
walk it. It was a truly special experience and I can only
recommend it to everyone!
Dominika with David Suchet at Holy Trinity Church at
this year’s Shakespeare celebrations
Tell us a bit about your background, where you
grew up, family and why you moved to the UK.
I am originally from Budapest, Hungary. I was born into a
musical family: my father is a composer, my mother is a cello
teacher and all four of my brothers learnt to play an
instrument. We used to make music together and I am sure
those early memories of music-making were part of my
decision to become a professional violinist. I went on to study
at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and it was before the final
year of my course that I was offered the Weingarten
Scholarship to study at Birmingham Conservatoire. There I
found a new passion (that I am going to talk about further
on) and have decided to extend my stay for another year. It
has been eight years since then.
How did you first get involved in playing with
OOTS?
I always liked playing contemporary music and I got involved
in a project with young composers at the Conservatoire. There
were two violins required and the other player happened to
What composers/musical styles/pieces mean the
most to you and why?
It is a difficult question to answer briefly. I find that English
chamber orchestral pieces, OOTS' core repertoire, speak to
me the most. I especially like Vaughan Williams ‘Fantasia on
a theme by Thomas Tallis’ and Elgar ‘Introduction and Allegro’.
My favourite composer, however, is Mozart - I grew up on
Ingmar Bergman's enchanting adaptation of The Magic Flute.
Later on I got to know John Eliot Gardiner's version of the
same opera performed on period instruments, and so maybe
it is not surprising that when I had the chance to try a baroque
violin at Birmingham Conservatoire, it was love at first sight.
Alongside my work with OOTS, I perform with leading
baroque ensembles of the U.K.
Is there anything else we should know about
Dominika Feher?
Agatha Christie's Poirot was one of my favourite drama series
growing up, so performing with David Suchet, my favourite
impersonator of the Belgian detective, as part of OOTS'
Shakespeare celebrations, was a real treat for me and one
that I will never forget.
www.orchestraoftheswan.org
Charity number 1068570
Orchestra of the Swan is a member of the Association of British Orchestras