Beaconsfield Concerts
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Artists and Programmes for the 2008-2009 Season
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The Brodsky Quartet
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Brodsky Quartet
Daniel Rowland, violin
Ian Belton, violin
Paul Cassidy, viola
Jacqueline Thomas, cello
“The Brodsky Quartet are the team for the new century” Gramophone
The Brodsky Quartet are at the forefront of the international chamber-music scene. Their love and mastery of the traditional string quartet repertoire is evident from their highly acclaimed performances of composers ranging from Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Tchaikovsky to Shostakovich, Bartok, Britten and Respighi, as well as from their extensive, award-winning discography.
At the same time, the Quartet are known for their pioneering work with a diverse range of performing artists, from singers Elvis Costello, Anne Sofie von Otter and Björk, to Complicite Theatre Company and Icelandic poet Sjon, while their many collaborations with distinguished composers, including John Tavener, Lutoslawski, Peter Sculthorpe, Django Bates, Sally Beamish, Dave Brubeck and Julian Nott, have given them an unrivalled opportunity to influence and inspire some of the newest work for string quartet.
Their passion to embrace “all good music” has been the driving force behind their success and has kept their approach fresh and their enthusiasm high for 30 years.
In March 2005 the Quartet was proud to launch their own record label, Brodsky Records, with the release of two CD’s: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3 by Tchaikovsky, and the album ‘Moodswings’, featuring a broad range of songs for string quartet and voice. Recent awards for recording include the Diapason D’Or and the CHOC du Monde de la Musique for their recordings of string quartets by Benjamin Britten, while for their outstanding contribution to the world of music the Brodsky Quartet has received a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.
The Brodsky Quartet is named after the Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky, who played an important role in musical life in Manchester and at the Royal Northern College where the quartet studied.
Daniel Rowland plays a violin made by Lorenzo Storioni of Cremona in 1793; Ian Belton’s violin is by Gio. Paolo Maggini c.1615 and Jacqueline Thomas plays a cello made by Thomas Perry in 1785. Paul Cassidy’s viola is by Francesco Guissani of Milano, 1843, courtesy of the Britten Trust.
Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Suzanna Ivanic
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Freddy Kempf Piano
Full Biography
“The meteoric success of pianist Freddy Kempf makes it is easy to forget he is in his mid-20s. If it is true that an artist's finest years come with age, then the mind boggles at the possibilities.” The Guardian, July 2003
“Staggering as Kempf’s technique is, he is a pianist willing to take risks, pushing himself to the limits of his capabilities. That, no doubt, is why there was standing room only on Sunday afternoon.” Barry Millington, Reviews Editor, BBC Music Magazine
“Kempf has the maturity and musicality with which to harness his gifts to artistic ends. He has the fearless exuberance of youth. He is prepared to take risks, a readiness that brings spontaneous combustion to his playing; but he has sensitivity, too. " The Telegraph
Freddy Kempf has become one of the most important young artists of today performing to sell-out audiences all over the world. He has built a unique reputation both as an explosive and physical performer as well as serious, sensitive and profoundly musical artist.
Born in London in 1977 Freddy began piano lessons at the young age of four. He came to national prominence in 1992 when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition following a memorable performance of Rachmaninov Paganini Variations . It was perhaps his award of third prize in the 1998 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow that established his international career. For him NOT to have won the first prize provoked protests from the audience and an outcry in the Russian press, which proclaimed him " the hero of the competition" and his unprecedented popularity with Russian audiences has been reflected in several sold-out concerts and numerous television broadcasts
Many international debuts followed including engagements at the Munich Gasteig, the Alter Oper in Frankfurt, Berlin’s Philharmonie & Konzerthaus, New York’s 92 nd Street “Y”, Chicago’s Grant Park festival, Vienna’s Musikverein & Konzerthaus, Salzburg’s Mozarteum and the Concertgebouw amongst others. His immense versatility as a performer has since taken him all over the world from opening the Shanghai Concert Hall in October 2004, to recording Chopin’s Etudes for DVD in a Chateau close to Paris for BBC Television and acclaimed Beethoven Concerto Cycles in London and Sydney.
Freddy has worked with the world’s leading orchestras and acclaimed conductors such as the Philharmonia Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis and Kurt Sanderling, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniele Gatti and Matthias Bamert, City of Birmingham Symphony/Oramo, La Scala Philharmonic/Chailly , St. Petersburg Phihlharmonic/Termirkanov, Russian State Symphony/Sinaisky, Dresden Symphony/Herbig, Seattle Symphony/Schwarz, San Francisco Symphony/Tortelier, Philadelphia Orchestra/Sawallisch , NHK Symphony/Simonov, European Union Youth Orchestra/Ashkenazy, Prague Philharmonia/Belahovek, Rotterdam Philharmonic/Viotti, the Residentie Orkest/Jaarvi, Vancouver Symphony/Tovey, Luxembourg Philharmonic/Krivine and the Sao Paolo State Symphony/Kalmar.
Current and forthcoming season highlights include engagements with the CBSO, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra with Vladimir Fedoseyev, a return visit to the Sao Paulo Symphony performing Tchaikovsky’s 2 nd concerto, the RPO/Slatkin, Lithuanian National Symphony including a tour of all the major UK concert halls, Augsburg Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, Cagliari Orchestra performing both of Liszt’s piano concerti, the Bergen Philharmonic to perform and record Prokofiev’s 2 nd and 3 rd Piano Concerti, St. Petersburg Philharmonic and will return to both Australia and Japan and south-east Asia for major tours.
A committed recitalist, Freddy has built up dedicated audiences world-wide appearing at London’s Barbican Centre, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Hamburg’s Musikhalle, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Osaka’s Symphony Hall, Grande Teatro di Verona, Milan Conservatorio’s Sala Verdi, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Moscow’s Great Hall of the Conservatoire and St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Hall. Current highlights include return visits to Moscow, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, the Seoul Concert Hall, the Sala Verdi Milan performing Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata.
He records exclusively for BIS Records, for whom he has recorded recital discs of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Schumann and will record Prokofiev Concerti and Sonatas in August 2008. Freddy released his first Bach recording and in 2001, he was voted Best Young British Classical Performer in the prestigious Classical Brit Awards.
Date Last Edited: 13th December 2007
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The Thorne Trio Illid Llwyd Jones, oboe; Esther Sheridan, clarinet; Alex Thorneloe, bassoon
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The Thorne Trio is an established wind group formed in 1999, comprising graduates of the Royal College of Music. In their time together they have achieved success with a varied and wide range of experiences.
In the 2001/02 season, The Thorne Trio was accepted onto The Blackheath Halls Young Artists Scheme, where they gave a series of recitals and education workshops. In 2003, The Thorne Trio were winners of both the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Music Trust Scholarship Fund Education and Outreach Award and of the Anglo-CzechSlovak Music Competition. As a result of the latter, they travelled to Prague where they gave a recital in Martinu Hall at the Liechtenstein Palace. During 2004/06 they held the post of Junior Fellows of the Royal College of Music, and most recently, were semi-finalists in the prestigious 2006 Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy.
Engagements have included recitals for St. George's, Brandon Hill, Leeds International Concert Series, Hampstead and Highgate Festival, North Wales International Music Festival, Bryn Terfel's "Faenol Festival" alongside Jamie Cullum and Jools Holland, Shrewsbury Cathedral, Fishguard Music Festival, Beaumaris Music Festival, Criccieth Music Festival (Ensemble in Residence 2004), and numerous concerts for music clubs and societies nationwide. The trio have recently commissioned "Century Dances" by the British composer Cecilia McDowall which they premiered at St George's, Brandon Hill in 2005.
In addition to a busy recital schedule, they are also dedicated to their education and community work. They have worked for the Yehudi Menuhin Scheme, Live Music Now!, Wigmore Hall Community and Education Department, The Council for Music in Hospitals, Cavatina Chamber Music Trust, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama giving demonstrations, workshops and concerts to people of all ages throughout the United Kingdom.
The trio have played for a variety of audiences and clients including guests at Buckingham Palace, St. James, Kensington and Lambeth palaces. At the Houses of Parliament, Lincolns and Grays Inn, The Wallace Collection, Tate Britain, The National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum and for events at The Dorchester, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental hotels in London.
The Trio have recorded their debut CD, "3", in collaboration with record label, Kissan.
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Cantabile - The London Quartet
Cantabile have been delighting audiences since 1982 with their amazing range of programmes. From a cappella favourites to the sacred music of the last millennium they are outstanding in both Comedy and the Classics.
They are supported by thirteen solo albums, over 2,000 live performances and more than 200 TV appearances worldwide.
International Admiration
Musicals in London's West End, Galas aboard Queen Elizabeth 2, Concerts in New York's Carnegie Hall, Opera in the Covent Garden Festival, Jazz with the BBC Big Band, Classical Parodies in front of 40,000 people at the BBC Proms in the Park or customised Cabarets for corporate clients - the Cantabile experience draws gasps of admiration wherever it goes.
Cantabile (pronounced Can - TAH - bih - lay - an Italian musical term meaning 'in singing style') are quite simply one of the world's top vocal groups.