Who The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain
When 3pm Sunday 7 October 2007
Where The Octagonal Hall, Welland Park Community College, Market Harborough
“The height of professionalism…truly orchestral…virtuoso performances…fans of any kind of good music, or just of good anything, should splash out on a ticket for this kind of performance.” Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Fresh from featuring on the hit BBC1 series Play It Again, The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain is an extraordinarily talented ensemble of professional saxophonists committed to encourage new writing for the saxophone and to introduce audiences to a sound that is rich, diverse and unimaginably awesome.
Audiences will be thrilled with the sound of over 20 musicians performing a range of musical genres which will demonstrate the agility of the saxophone and the amazing musicianship of this ensemble.
Featuring some brand new arrangements such as Ulrich Schultheiss’ ‘Metropolitains’ arranged by Nigel Wood and a new arrangement of ‘Aria’ from Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the internationally renowned saxophonists Gerard McChrystal and Nigel Wood as soloists.
All this coupled with their usual high energy performance of funky reels, crazy rags, not to mention Bohemian Rhapsody should make for an exciting afternoon of music not to be missed.
Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Who The Galliard Ensemble, Wind Quintet
When 3pm Sunday 25 November 2007
Where St Peter & St Paul Parish Church, Great Bowden
“Watch out for them… because if you don’t you will doubtless have missed one of the brightest stars in the British contemporary musical sky”. Chris Caspell, The Classical Source
As one of Britain's leading chamber ensembles, its energetic, highly entertaining and communicative performance style has wowed audiences both in Britain and abroad leading to much critical acclaim. The Gramophone Magazine describes their performance as “Pure pleasure... This, in short is wind quintet playing of great distinction...”
The group's repertoire spans a wide range from Mozart and Beethoven to Berio and Schoenberg. Along with their busy performance schedule the and several commercial CDs the Galliard Ensemble has demonstrated that they are “Outstanding musicians of their generation” (Neil Black, OBE)
The Galliard Ensemble is committed to bringing music to a wider audience and as well as performing at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and on BBC Radio 3, they have undertaken educational concerts with Live Music Now! and enjoyed performing many school concerts, family concerts, workshops and demonstrations.
Their programme will include Mozart’s Quintet in C minor, Ibert’s Trois Pieces Breves, Holst’s Wind Quintet in A flat and Berio’s Opus Number Zoo.
Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Who Mardi Brass Quintet
When 3pm Sunday 24 February 2008
Where St Peter & St Paul Parish Church, Great Bowden
“Musical versatility…collective sense of humour…a most appealing programme put together by young men who clearly enjoy their work.” Jersey Evening Post
Mardi Brass is a versatile and dynamic brass quintet that will be performing music in a plethora of styles spanning five centuries, from the Renaissance to jazz.
Unlike most brass quintets, Mardi Brass use only music composed or arranged specifically for the group. They have given recitals all over Britain, thrilling audiences with their unique blend of music and humour. The Quintet is dedicated to expanding the musical experience and knowledge of its audiences, through a combination of entertaining presentation and innovative programming.
Among their appearances they have broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, BBC 1’s Panorama and BBC2’s Perrier Comedy Awards. They have performed at prestigious venues such as the Purcell Room and also toured around Great Britain and the Channel Islands. Independently the members of Mardi Brass have played for many of Britain and Europe's finest ensembles.
Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Who Sankorfa Percussion Ensemble
When 3pm Sunday 22 June 2008
Where St Peter & St Paul Parish Church, Great Bowden
“…the percussionists are not just multi-skilled musicians but are consummate performers.” Edward Lewis, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London
Sankorfa is a dynamic percussion quartet exploring both improvised music and traditional repertoire for orchestral percussion instruments. Their performances are inspired by music from many different eras, cultures and traditions, ranging from cutting-edge recitals as a percussion quartet, to ambitious collaborations involving other instrumentalists and artists. Their passion and enthusiasm generates thought-provoking and entertaining performances for everyone.
Apart from playing major works from the percussion quartet and ensemble repertoire, Sankorfa explores the performance of improvised music from non-Western cultures.
Their members have performed at many of the major venues in the UK including the Wigmore Hall, the Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room and the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. They have also broadcast on Radio 1 and worked with numerous contemporary British composers.
Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Who Roger Owens, Concert Pianist
When 3pm Sunday 23 November 2008
Where St Peter & St Paul Parish Church, Great Bowden
“One of the most formidable talents to emerge from the Royal College of Music in recent years”.
From his performances at the UK’s premier concert halls and CD recordings to broadcasting on British television and national radio, Roger Owens has been received with critical acclaim.
He is becoming increasingly popular as a concerto soloist with major orchestras in the UK and has an exciting year ahead of him with numerous concerto appearances such as Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Grieg piano concerto on Valentine’s Day at Symphony Hall in Birmingham and Paganini’s Variations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the summer.
Roger has broadcast many times on British television and radio, most notably for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Roger is also a well respected recitalist and performs both as a soloist and with the Eluard Trio, who have become popular both here and in Europe.
We are absolutely delighted to welcome Roger back to the Great Bowden Recital Series and those of you who were fortunate enough to enjoy Roger’s performance last time will know that this is one of the highlights of our programme.
Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Who Gerard McChrystal (Saxophone) and Craig Ogden (Guitar)
When 3pm Sunday 22 February 2009
Where St Peter & St Paul Parish Church, Great Bowden
Gerard McChrystal comes from Derry in Northern Ireland. He took up the saxophone in 1982 and by 1989 had already performed concertos with the Philharmonia, London, RTE Concert Orchestra, Dublin, and the RNCM Wind Orchestra, Manchester. Gerard studied at the RNCM, Manchester, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and graduated with an MA from Northwestern University, Chicago.
Gerard has performed in over twenty countries including South Africa, USA, Korea, New Zealand, India, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Caribbean, Germany, Sweden as well as throughout the UK and Ireland. Venues have included San Francisco Opera House, USA, Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore, Jakarta Opera House, Indonesia, Baku Opera House, Azerbaijan, The Stattshalle, Stuttgart, The Rossini Theatre, Italy, The Royal Albert Hall, London, Wigmore Hall, London, St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, The National Concert Hall, Dublin and The Ulster Hall, Belfast. In 1992 Gerard completed a world tour with the quartet, Saxtet, starting in Bombay and ending in Hawaii.
Gerard has premiered pieces by or worked with, Sir Harrison Birtwhistle, Sir Malcolm Arnold, John Taverner, James MacMillan, Dave Heath, Michael Kamen, David Bedford, John Metcalf, Gary Carpenter, Michael McGlynn and Tommy Smith. In 1999 Gerard premiered and broadcast a BBC commissioned concerto by Belfast born composer, Ian Wilson called Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue.
Orchestras and artists Gerard has worked with include: The Orchestra of San Francisco Ballet; The Stattsorchestra, Stuttgart; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; BBC Concert Orchestra; City of London Sinfonia; National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland; Seoul Wind Orchestra, Korea; The Soweto String Quartet, Johannesburg; vocal group Anuna; percussion group Ensemble Bash and pianist Joanna McGregor.
Gerard became the first person from UK/Ireland to be invited to give a concerto performance with orchestra at the World Saxophone Congress in Minneapolis, USA in July 2003. Later that month he premiered a new work by Edward Watson with the Karol Syzmanowski String Quartet. In August he toured Ireland as soloist with The National Youth Wind Orchestra of GB. In Sep. 2003 he broadcast Mobiles, a new concerto by John Metcalf with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Gerard concluded a hectic summer with an appearance at the BBC Proms in The Park with the Ulster Orchestra performing to an audience of over 7000 people.
In 2006 Gerard was a concerto soloist at the World Saxophone Congress held in Ljubljana,Slovenia. His recording pluckblow with Australian guitarist, Craig Ogden was released by Meridian Records, London in September 2006. 2007 saw the release of an album with The Smith Quartet on RTE Lyricfm Records and a concerto CD with The BBC National Orchestra of Wales on Signum Records.
Craig Ogden made his Royal Albert Hall debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez in a Classic FM Live concert. He has also performed concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia (with Vladimir Ashkenazy), Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Northern Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia, Riga Kammermusika, St Petersburg Festival Orchestra, English Chamber, English Symphony, English Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, National Orchestra of South Africa, Tasmania Symphony, West Australian Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at the major London venues including the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Barbican. He has also performed at most of the main UK festivals and is the most sought after guitarist for chamber music in the UK performing with the Brodsky Quartet, Nash Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, tenors Mark Padmore, Ian Bostridge and John Mark Ainsley, Claire Bradshaw (mezzo-soprano), Paul Tanner (percussion), Gerard McChrystal (saxophone), Alison Stephens (mandolin) and Judith Hall (flute). Craig also frequently records for film and was featured on the British hit, Notting Hill. Ogden’s world premiere performances include a concerto written for him by Gerard Brophy (Australia) (with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra), Sun Trap (for solo guitar) by Jonathan Cole commissioned by the Britten Festival, The Hinchinbrook Riffs (for solo guitar and digital delay) by Nigel Westlake and an Alec Roth song cycle for the Chester Festival. He has also given UK premieres of guitar concertos by John Corigliano (USA) and Aaron Jay Kernis (USA). Commissions currently in planning include concertos from John McCabe, John Metcalf and Ciaran Farrell.
Craig Ogden is married to British opera singer Claire Bradshaw with whom he frequently appears in concert. The duo has toured Australia and South Africa and perform regularly in festivals, for music societies and on radio in the UK. Craig Ogden is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Who National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain
When 3pm Sunday 04 October 2009
Where Welland Park Community College, Welland Park Road, Market Harborough
The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain was established in 2002 and is a pioneering ensemble of talented saxophonists from all over the UK who aim to create new audiences, promote new music and win the sax choir and its repertoire the respect they deserve from both musicians and the public.
Central to this strategy is the NSC’s magnificent family of nine saxophones, ranging from the majestic contrabass to the tiny soprillo, which is the chosen solo instrument of the Choir’s founder and musical director, Nigel Wood. Armed with this impressive array of hardware and fuelled by the creative energy of Nigel and his co-players who generate much of its repertoire, the Choir has already made considerable progress towards its goals. It has presented seven premieres, delighted the public with family concerts and critically acclaimed appearances at the 2005 and 2006 Edinburgh Fringe, and made its mark on fellow musicians domestically (where it has attracted most of the UK’s leading saxophonists as guest conductors) and internationally, with a triumphant performance at the 2006 World Saxophone Congress in Slovenia.
2007 has been a busy year for the Choir, involving a two week tour of China and Hong Kong with several performances in schools, concert halls, jazz bars, and community centres. During this time, the NSC was also featured in BBC1’s Play It Again series with celebrity sax student Lord Robert Winston.
The choir has recently completed its second CD, Sax to the Max, which includes many highlights of the 2006/7 season, plus Richard Payne’s gripping Saxophone Concerto, especially arranged for the Choir and its lead alto player Catherine Evison.
Back to Top
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
|
