Canterbury Music Club BLOG

Hello music lovers! We'll be bringing you the latest news on Canterbury Music Club activities and on artists who will be performing with us this Season as well and those from past Seasons.

13^th December 24

Do come to our Christmas Concert on Sunday 15th December with Alex Rider, harp for a programme of early 20th Century French harp music for Christmas - followed by Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" given by Grenville Hancox's "Festive Chorale" - sopranos from both Canterbury Cantata and Folkestone Cantata with an Interlude played on the harp by Alex. Among other delights is a new piece for solo pedal harp by the English composer Lauren Scott to be played after the interval - Flight of the angel (behind the mask). This was   commissioned by Alex Rider and performed by him at the Three Palaces Festival in Malta in November 2024. See the main programme entitled "Les Rois Images” - “Journey of the Magi” as well as the programme notes.

13^th December 24

What a wonderful performance by Rachel Podger, Baroque violin, Marcin Świątkiewicz, harpsichord, and Elizabeth Kenny, lute, last month of Biber's 1681 Sonatas. I'm sure we look forward to their release on CD next year. We have now been told by Catrin Slater of the Rachel Podger Foundation that Brecon Baroque's recording of Bach "Goldberg Variations Re-imagined" arranged by Chad Kelly - which they all premiered for us in September 2022  - is now available from Amazon at https://amzn.eu/d/7fkjL8k . It may be possible to have a copy before Christmas!

11^th October 24

Please see the concert page for Rachel Podger's recital with Members of Brecon Baroque here where we have just posted her detailed programme of Biber's 1681 Sonatas.

9^th October 24

We regret that that our Christmas concert with Passamezzo "Old Christmas Returned" has had to be postpones to 2025 for medical reason. We are delighted, however, that Alexander Rider, harp and the Festive Chorale, director Grenville Hancox, will present a programme “LES ROIS MAGES” or “JOURNEY OF THE MAGI”. As Alex describes it “Harp music and accompanying words in a programme chosen to evoke the grandeur of the plains of central Asia and from thence the Journey of the Magi, and angelic voices in a star-littered sky” See the full programme of seasonal French harp music, which concludes with Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" for harp and chorale.

9^th October 24

The Programme for the London Bridge Trio's recital on 19th January 25 is now posted, with trios by Beethoven, Fauré and Dvořák.

19^th September 24

A short biography for Craig Ogden and detailed programme notes are now linked to Craig's concert page for his recital on 29^th September or can be accessed here.

11^th September 24

Watch Ewan Millar, oboe and Tomos Boyles, piano play Clara Schumann Romance No. 1 on YouTube from the Tillett Trust website here. Ewan and Tomos play for our Club on 20^th October 2024 - see their concert page.

8^th September 24 - 4.00pm

Coming in from a walk in torrential rain I was delighted to switch on BBC Radio 3 and find  Clare Hammond making her debut Proms appearance taking on Rachmaninov's 'devilish' "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" in her characteristic demur style - beautiful to listen to, and followed by a charming encore. This is the Prom's first appearance from Nottingham, with the BBC Concert Orchestra brilliantly conducted by Anna-Maria Helsing. Following Eric Korngold's classic film music for local hero Robin Hood, Anna-Maria leads her orchestra in a symphony of 'ecological awakening' from her Finnish compatriot Jean Sibelius, his Symphony No. 3. Listen on 'BBC Sounds'   (Ian Lane)

3^rd September 24

Great news - we have now received the detailed programme for Craig Ogden's recital on Sunday 29th September - please see the concert page here.  Detailed programme notes will be posted shortly.

30^th August 24

We are delighted that Ewan Millar, oboe will be joined on 20^th October by rising Welsh musician Tomos Boyles who is rapidly carving out a career as a young and exciting concert pianist. Described as possessing a ‘romantic flair and passion that only comes from intense involvement’ (Carol Nixon, LMC), he has performed at numerous prestigious venues including St Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square, the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, St David’s Hall in Cardiff, and the Wales Millennium Centre.

29^th August 24

Craig Ogden, our first recital this season on 29^th September, is talking with Sean Rafferty and playing music on BBC Radio 3 "In-Tune" from 5.00 - 6.30pm - Tonight!  You can tune in to BBC Sounds if you miss the live broadcast.

16^th July 24

Our favourites the Salomé Quartet will perform a a programme of Nielsen, Puccini, Purcell, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Webern, and John Woolrich as the final event of a celebration of the work of John Woolrich at 70 sponsored by Folkestone New Music at the The Green Room, The Grand, CT20 2XL at 6.00pm. Click here for the whole programme of concerts and booking.

The full programme for the Salome Quartet on Sunday 21^st July is :
Purcell Chacony (1680)
Puccini Cristantemi (1892)
Nielsen At the Bier of a Young Artist (1910)
John Woolrich The Voices of Dust
Shostakovich Adagio and Allegretto (1931)
Stravinsky 3 Pieces (1914)
Webern Langsamer Satz (1905)
John Woolrich Ending Up

Note that earlier on Sunday afternoon at 4.00pm there will be a special collaboration between violin students of Floriane Peycelon and Jo Saul with Salomé Quartet’s Haim Choi to play Berio's Duetti.

12^th July 24

Philip Gambrill 1961-2024

It is with great sadness that we have learned from Maxine Gambrill that Philip passed away suddenly on 19^th June. Philip was a long time supporter and sponsor of Canterbury Music Club. Maxine tells us that the last concert they attended together was with awardees of the Kent and Medway Young Musicians Trust in April of this year, and that the family requests  donations in Philip's memory to be made to the Kent and Medway Musicians Trust and the British Heart Foundation. The Committal will take place at Herne Bay Crematorium on 18th July - please request further details through our contacts page.

29^th June 24

Coming up from Canterbury Festival - Alexander Rider, harp
Thursday 18^th  July, 7pm at the beautiful Barham Church.

Members will recall that Alexander has played for the Club on several occasions. He is noted for his affinity with French music at the turn of the last century, and for his work on original instruments of the period. Alexander will bring a programme of French composers, and a new piece for harp composed by Paul Lewis. See the Festival page here.

24^th June 24
Wihan Quartet on BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’
The Wihan Quartet appears on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ today to talk about a performance at Wigmore Hall that celebrates one of their biggest supporters and the Czech composers whose works are at the heart of their repertoire. The recording should now be available through the BBC website.

15^th June 24

We have just received the links for booking through the Gulbenkian Box Office, so all the links for buying tickets are now LIVE!

David and Karen of RVPVideo will still be video recording all concerts for live streaming, with the recorded stream available for four weeks - subject to agreement of artists and their agents. However this will only be accessible to our Members.

21^st May 24

Great News! Our website for our 83^rd Season is now LIVE!