2023-24 Season
Click on the photo to see details of the concert, programme and artists
See below for details of each concert, programmes and artists
Hathor Duo (flute & harp)
7.15pm Sunday 8th October 2023
Stokesley Methodist Church
Meera Maharaj Flute
Lucy Nolan Harp
We're delighted to welcome back Meera Maharaj in an instrumental combination which would surely have been thoroughly approved of by Mozart. With harpist Lucy Nolan the Hathor Duo take us on a musical journey around the world.
Click on the other tabs to see the programme with links some of the pieces being performed; biographies of Lucy and Meera; links to their social media.
Meera Maharaj (flute)
Meera Maharaj enjoys a diverse performing career. Her duo with pianist Dominic Degavino has enjoyed much success, featuring as Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, Tunnell Trust and Park Lane Group artists. Since 2013, she has frequently performed with guitarist James Girling, as the Meraki Duo. They recently won the II Concurs Internacional de Música Cambra Flauta & Guitarra and they were finalists in the 2019 Royal Overseas League competition (mixed ensembles category), as well as International Guitar Foundation Young Artists. She also plays with harpist, Lucy Nolan and formed her own flexi-ensemble – Meliora Collective.
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Meera strongly believes that outreach work is an important element of her musical life and all her duos are Live Music Now ensembles. Competition successes include first prize in the Royal Academy of Music Flute Competion and Dutch International Flute Competition and 3rd prize in the British Flute Society Competition. She recently won the Sussex Prize for Woodwind in the 2023 Royal Overseas League competition.
She graduated with Distinction in her Masters, studying with Michael Cox at the Royal Academy of Music, receiving generous scholarships supported by Sir Elton John, Countess of Munster Musical Trust and Help Musicians. In 2017, she graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with first class honours, having studied with Wissam Boustany and Laura Jellicoe. Previously, she spent six years at the Junior RNCM.
Meera has played at the Southbank Centre, Elbphilharmonie, Bridgewater Hall, Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, and Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms. She is Co-principal flute of the Chineke! Orchestra.
Lucy Nolan (harp)
Award-winning professional harpist Lucy Nolan began studying the harp at the age of seven with Eira Lynn Jones after being inspired when it was featured in an episode of the children’s television show, Teletubbies!
After graduating from Oxford University and the Royal Northern College of music with Distinctions in postgraduate degrees, Lucy was the recipient of a number of prizes and a finalist in the RNCM’s Gold Medal weekend, the highest accolade awarded for performance. As well as featuring in performances for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, she regularly works with orchestras such as the Hallé, Manchester Concert Orchestra and the Royal Northern Sinfonia and has been invited to perform in renowned music venues such as the The Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, The Sage and Bridgewater Hall.
Lucy is particularly passionate about developing new music for the harp and was recently awarded a Developing Your Creative Practise Grant from the Arts Council and a Do It Differently Award from Help Musicians to fund composing her own and
commissioning new works for harp. She was a guest artist at the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong, performing a new work by Paul Patterson and is a founding member of the contemporary music group, SHOAL, who recently composed music for a short film for Channel 4 and premiered works at New Music North West Festival, Bury Light Festival and Hull City of Culture. Lucy’s collaboration with Carnatic singer, Supriya Nagarajan, has led to performances at The Royal Albert Hall, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Lambeth Palace and Jaipur Literature Festival.
Web and social media
Websites where you will find a wealth of information about the performers are as below:
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Hathor Duo are present on Facebook as Hathor Duo-flute and harp and on Instagram as @hathor_duo
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To follow them separately, they are on Facebook at Lucy Nolan-harpist; on Instagram as @meera.maharaj.10 and @lucynolan_harpist
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Concert Programme
J.S Bach Sonata in G minor
Gluck Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Joseph Bologne Sonata for flute and harp in Eb Major
Sibelius Nocturne
Traditional Malaika
Rhonda Larson Lughnasa
Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte
Donald Grant Chrissie’s
William Alwyn Naiades
Click the icon next to the
piece to see it being played
7.15pm Sun 8th Oct 2023
Owen Horn Trio (horn, violin & piano)
3pm Sunday 5th November 2023
Stokesley Methodist Church
Martin Owen Horn
Miranda Dale Violin
Paul Turner Piano
The exciting Owen Horn Trio's TMS debut covers those deep human relationships of friendship and homage.
Schumann's sonata leads us, eventually, to his great friend and idol Brahms' major work for horn trio. The journey takes us via Georgy Ligeti's challenging tribute to Brahms' horn trio writing.
Martin Owen (horn)
Martin Owen is regarded as one of Europe's leading horn players, appearing as soloist and chamber musician all around the world. He currently holds the position of Principal Horn at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, having served as Principal Horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for ten years, and from 2012-13 was contracted as Principal Horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He is also Principal Horn in the UK’s Britten Sinfonia and Haffner Ensemble.
Performances include concertos by Mozart, Richard Strauss, Schumann, Messiaen, Britten, Elliott Carter, Oliver Knussen and Thea Musgrave with orchestras including the BBCSO, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, The Hallé, New World Symphony, Nurnberg Staatsphilharmonie, Bucharest Philharmonic, Ensemble Modern, Aalborg Symfoniorkester and Baltic Philharmonic, and recitals with Camerata Pacifica.
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Martin gave the world premiere of Malcolm Arnold's Burlesque with the Royal Philharmonic and in 2007, made his solo debut at the BBC Proms performing Schumann's Konzertstück with the BBC Philharmonic. Martin has since returned to the Proms as soloist in Oliver Knussen's Horn Concerto with the BBCSO conducted by the composer, broadcast live on BBC television and radio. In 2008, he made his Barbican debut in the London premiere of Elliott Carter's Horn Concerto with the BBCSO/Knussen (a performance released by Bridge Records) and later performed the Knussen and Elliott Carter horn concertos with the Orquesta Nacional de España in Madrid. Other recordings include Mozart’s horn concertos with the Royal Philharmonic (RPO classics), Britten's Serenade with Toby Spence and the Scottish Ensemble (Linn), Schubert's Octet with Michael Collins (Wigmore Hall Live), Schumann's Konzertstuck with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Mackerras (BBC Music Magazine), Danzi's Sinfonia Concertante with the Orquestra de Cadaques/Marriner (Trito), Roderick Elms' Four Seasonal Nocturnes with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Cleobury (Dutton) and Benjamin Britten's Canticles with tenor Ben Johnson (Signum Classics). Additionally, he has performed on over 300 movie soundtracks to date including James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean films.
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Recent solo performances include Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 horns and strings, and Stravinski's Four Russian Peasant Songs with the Berlin Philharmonic, Schumann's Konzertstück and Musgrave's Horn Concerto with the BBCSO/Sakari Oramo, Strauss and Mozart concerti with Bucharest Philharmonic and Strauss Concerto No. 2 with the Baltic Philharmonic. Martin joined Mark Padmore and the Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner for Britten’s Serenade, performed Strauss 2 with Barcelona Opera orchestra/Josep Pons and Strauss 1 with Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg/Sir Roger Norrington. He also performed Britten’s Serenade in Shanghai, Norwich and Cambridge with Britten Sinfonia/Ian Bostridge.
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Martin Owen is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is Alfred Brain Professor of Horn, and has given masterclasses at institutions including the Hans Eisler Berlin, Maurice André Academy Valencia, Conservatorio de Santiago de Compostela, USC and UCLA in Los Angeles. Hi is also coach to the horn section of the European Union Youth Orchestra.
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"Owen's playing is a luxury for the ear" (Sunday Times)
"Martin Owen brings a Dennis Brain-like poetry to his playing" (Sunday Telegraph)
"Martin Owen's horn playing is rich and expressive in the Serenade [BRITTEN], and he manages the haunting, swooping octaves with apparent ease" (BBC Music Magazine)
"Interstellar Call, the solo-horn movement [from Messiaen's Des Canyons Aux Etoiles] was made into a masterly tour de force by Owen. Prom 13: BBCSO/Oramo" (The Guardian)
Miranda Dale (violin)
Miranda Dale was born in Middlesbrough and is so grateful to the Teesside Music Services without which she would not musically be where she is today. She was lucky to be taught by Keith Robson from the age of 3 and was incredibly lucky to be asked to lead the Cleveland Youth Orchestra (now Tees Valley Youth Orchestra) and appeared in the National Festival of Music for Youth playing the Bruch Violin Concerto 2nd movement with them in her final year.
Miranda gained a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Howard Davis. Piano trio master classes at the Banff Centre of Fine Arts, Canada, led to two years of tuition at Indiana University where her solo studies with Franco Gulli were complemented by coaching from Rostislav Dubinsky for her scholarship quartet.
Miranda lives in London and her solo, chamber, orchestral and educational commitments take her worldwide. She is Principal Second Violin and plays as soloist with Britten Sinfonia and is also in demand as Guest Principal with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, English National Opera, English Chamber Orchestra and the BBCNOW. Miranda is often invited to the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) to take sectional rehearsals, performance classes, adjudicate Prizes and act as an external examiner. She is grateful to the RAM for making her an Associate in recognition of her contribution to the music profession.
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In 2023 Miranda stepped in to lead and direct the Britten Sinfonia to great acclaim. See here for a review of a concert from Milton Court London where Miranda played as part of the concertino group in Michael Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli and the Corelli concerto grosso which it referenced: "...Gould, violinist Miranda Dale and cellist Caroline Dearnley as the concertino group in both, sounded as radiantly ecstatic as one remembered" (The Guardian)
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Miranda will be performing the Brahms Double Concerto with her sister Caroline Dale and Cleveland Chamber Orchestra on 18th May ‘24 at Richmond School and 19th May ‘24 in our venue Stokesley Methodist Church.
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Miranda plays on a fine violin made by Roger Hansell of Leyburn.
Web and social media
More details of Martin Owen's career and profile can be found on his web site here. He also has a Wikipedia page here and his Facebook page can be found here​
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Paul Turner has a YouTube channel where you can view samples of his works, here
Paul is also on Facebook here
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Miranda Dale is referenced as part of the Britten Sinfonia web site here and on Facebook here
Paul Turner (piano)
“Just wonderful and so very uplifting. It calmed my busy day. A very special man who speaks with his hands!” (Sheila Harrod, Patron of the Old Town Festival)
Pianist Paul Turner is a widely experienced soloist and chamber music player renowned for his sensitive playing “...superbly partnered by Paul Turner’s sensitive and alert accompaniments...that sixth sense of timing which is the true accompanist’s particular gift” (Eastern Daily Press). He excels in a wide range of genres as demonstrated in recent events, which include: performances of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F; his National Theatre debut with Maria Ewing in a celebration for the life of Sir Peter Hall; the Ralph Vaughan Williams festival with Jack Liebeck and members of the Sacconi Quartet; Kings College Cambridge with Nicholas Daniel during Easter week; Ligeti ‘Hommage a Brahms’ with Martin Owen; recording with Miranda Dale for the Proust Society and a new collaboration with BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, saxophonist Robert Burton. “For his part, Turner offered…intricate piano writing rendered with exemplary clarity and poise” (Richard Whitehouse). “Turner...impressed with a spectacular performance, demonstrating his astonishing abilities as an accompanist”(Surrey Advertiser) “A wise and sensitive pianist” (Gower Festival). “Thank you Paul for a truly wonderful concert! Your playing was amazing and beautiful, and it was a joy to be so close to it! I do hope we'll see you again soon!”(Lucy Hollins, conductor)
3pm Sun 5th Nov 2023
Brodsky Quartet
A quote from the quartet: The Brodsky Quartet is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022-23, and we like to think we look young enough for that to be almost unbelievable! We still gain a huge amount of pleasure in the endlessly fascinating vocation we have made our lives' work. The passion remains in our hearts and, we hope, will still manage to thrill our audiences as we continue on this anniversary season!
3pm Sunday 26th November 2023
Stokesley Methodist Church
Krysia Osostowicz Violin
Ian Belton Violin
Paul Cassidy Viola
Jacqueline Thomas Cello
Teesside's finest make a swift and welcome return following their last concert with us in 2021. Viola player Paul Cassidy shows his musical arrangement skills in the second piece of Rachmaninov performed tonight. Britten's restless first string quartet is paired with Janacek's second quartet - a work inspired by love and referred to by the composer as "Intimate Letters". Pieces by Stravinsky and Shostakovich complete the vigorous and colourful musical picture.
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This concert is generously sponsored by Dr Richard Hartley
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Following the concert, Jaqueline Thomas will be taking about her book "Jacksons, Monk & Rowe and the Brodsky Quartet - The Formative Years". Jacqueline Thomas is the little girl who began this quartet and she remains its cellist to this day. Her memoir tells the story of the first ten formative years, with insight into the passion and fervour surrounding music-making on all levels, many amusing and sometimes hilarious extracts from her teen diaries, the single-minded obsession with their Art and the ambition to make it a success. With a distinct flavour of the 1970s, her teen-self also grapples with the gender inequalities endemic in the music world back then.
More about the Brodsky Quartet
Since forming in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet have performed over 3,000 concerts on the major stages of the world and have released more than 70 recordings. A natural curiosity and an insatiable desire to explore has propelled the group in a number of artistic directions and continues to ensure them not only a prominent presence on the international chamber music scene, but also a rich and varied musical existence. Their energy and craftsmanship have attracted numerous awards and accolades worldwide, while their ongoing educational work provides a vehicle to pass on experience and stay in touch with the next generation.
Now celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Brodsky Quartet have enjoyed a busy international performing schedule, and have extensively toured the major festivals and venues throughout Australasia, North and South America, Asia, South Africa and Europe, as well as in the UK, where the quartet is based. Over the years, the Brodsky Quartet have undertaken numerous performances of the complete cycles of quartets by Schubert, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky, Webern and Bartok. It is, however, the complete Shostakovich cycle that has now become synonymous with their name: their 2012 London performance of the cycle resulted in their taking the prestigious title ‘Artistic Associate’ at London’s Kings Place – a residency which lasted ten years – and, in October 2016, they released their second recording of the cycle, this time live from the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam.
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The Brodsky Quartet have always had a busy recording career and currently enjoy an exclusive and fruitful relationship with Chandos Records. Releases on the label include ‘Petits Fours’ – a celebratory album of ‘encore’ pieces arranged exclusively by the quartet for their 40th anniversary – the complete quartets of Shostakovich recorded live, the Elgar String Quartet and Piano Quintet with Martin Roscoe, and ‘Rocking Horse Road’ which is a celebration of their long-standing collaboration with Jacqui Dankworth. Their album of the Late String Quartets of Beethoven was released to coincide with their performance of the repertoire at Kings Place and one of their most recent releases, Homage to Bach, comprises the phenomenal premiere recordings of Bach’s three Solo Violin Sonatas arranged by Paul Cassidy. Their latest release is the Schubert Quintet, with the young cellist Laura van der Heijden, with whom they have been collaborating for some years and, in March 2023, Chandos will release ‘Golden Oldies’, a further compendium of encores, arranged by the Quartet in celebration of their 50th anniversary. The Quartet are also regularly recorded for television and radio with their performances broadcast worldwide and have been the recipients of several awards for recordings, including the Diapason D’Or and the CHOC du Monde de la Musique, as well as receiving a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for their outstanding contribution to innovation in programming.
As well as partnering many top classical artists for their performances and recordings, the quartet have made musical history with ground-breaking collaborations with some of the world’s leading artists across many genres and have commissioned and championed many of the world’s most respected composers.
The quartet have taught at many international chamber music courses and have held residencies in several music institutes including, at the start of their career, the first such post at the University of Cambridge and latterly at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they are visiting International Fellows in Chamber Music. They were awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Kent and an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Teesside, where they were founded. The quartet took their name from the great Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky, the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto and a passionate chamber musician. Krysia Osostowicz plays a violin made by Francesco Gofriller, 1720; Ian Belton’s violin is by Giovanni Paolo Maggini, c.1615. Paul Cassidy plays on La Delfina viola, c.1720, courtesy of Sra. Delfina Entrecanales and Jacqueline Thomas’s cello is by Thomas Perry of Dublin, 1785.
Web and social media
The Brodsky Quartet website here contains more biographical and historical details of the group, their upcoming engagements, merchandise as well as samples of their work. This includes a fascinating video record of their 50 years as a quartet.
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You can find them on Facebook as the Brodsky Quartet
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They also have a Wikipedia page here.
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Finally, we recommend you watch this wonderful short film from the foyer of the Sydney Opera House - simply sublime!
Concert Programme
Click the icon next to the
piece to see it being played
Stravinsky Three Pieces
Rachmaninov Two Movements No. 2
Britten String Quartet No. 1
Shostakovich Two Pieces
Rachmaninov Vocalise (arr. Paul Cassidy)
Janacek String Quartet No. 2
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Jacqueline Thomas will be talking about her new book following the concert - see the Brodsky Quartet tab for details
This section is very much a tiny sample of the extraordinary reviews which the Brodsky Quartet has received. For more details please see their website.
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“…the players gave unstintingly of their passion and energies, playing with a spirit so transformational you felt they were actually improving the world.” The Strad
Reviews
“There was a pause of almost a minute before the audience applauded – testimony to the spell that the new-look Brodsky Quartet had cast. ...it was obvious to all that the “new era” will be as exciting as all those that have gone before."​ Limelight Magazine
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CD: Schubert Cello Quintet
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"Timeless, ageless music-making. Profound depth of understanding, sonorously contemplative playing. A real treat." Chosen by BBC Radio 3’s Andrew McGregor as his Pick of the Week
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"In this exceptional interpretation, there are plenty of moments where the players individually or collectively make something happen – a tiny inflection in the phrasing here, an applied touch of colour there. Yet nothing is overdone, and the music always flows as it wants to." Malcolm Hayes, Classical Music Magazine
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"A wonderfully distinctive recording… Think buoyancy and definition – with plenty of air surrounding the staccatos, and crisply precise note values, into which come expertly weighted rubatos and pauses. There’s fine dynamic clarity, and a dry-toned lucidity intoned with aching sweetness one moment, acerbic punch the next. The work’s quietness, fragility and violence all feel grippingly magnified.” Charlotte Gardner, Strad magazine
3pm Sun 26th Nov 2023
Mathilde Milwidsky (solo violin)
3pm Sunday 7th January 2024
Stokesley Methodist Church
Mathilde has been named as a Classic FM 'Rising Star', and has been a prizewinner and contestant, at several recent international competitions for outstanding violinists. She gave wonderful performances at the Swaledale Festival 23, and appears for us offering, essentially, a Bach sonata and the work of other composers inspired by Bach, such as Eugene Ysaye, who along with Paganini, opened up new horizons in violin virtuosity.
Mathilde has worked extensively with contemporary composers, and she includes a Partita by Huw Watkins in this exciting recital.
Biography
Born in London in 1994, British violinist Mathilde Milwidsky, a 2023 Classic FM Rising Star: 30 under 30, has been praised by The Strad (2017) for her "perfect intonation and beautiful shaping and colouring, comprehensively nailing each new stylistic and emotional universe as she went" as well as by the Ostfriesen Zeitung (2018) – “Milwidsky showed in the interplay with the pianist Thomas Hoppe a unique, rarely heard musical experience... that was sensational.” She has performed as a soloist at venues in the UK such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John's Smith Square, Cadogan Hall and the Royal Albert Hall as well as across Europe in Finland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Ireland and Sweden.
She has been featured on Scala Radio as ‘One to Watch’, broadcast live as a soloist on BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Radio Swiss Classic, DR (Danish Radio), Yle Radio Suomi (Finnish National Radio), Classic FM, Times Radio and Hessischer Rundfunk.
Mathilde’s debut CD for Toccata Classics with pianist Sam Haywood, comprising the world premiere of the three Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Agnes Zimmermann, was released in 2020 and has received widespread acclaim, including Mathilde being named Classical Music Magazine’s Artist of the Month and glowing reviews - “London-born violinist Mathilde Milwidsky is simply terrific, her tone, technique, and temperament the ideal mix and balance for these works. Five stars: I’d give it 10 if I could. This is one of those once-in-a-decade or more discoveries.” (Fanfare Magazine, US). Her latest release, of both Beethoven Romances for Violin and Orchestra, alongside the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Rimma Sushanskaya, was released worldwide on the Guild label, and was subsequently given a 5* review by Musical Opinion.
Mathilde was the sole British violinist to be selected for the 2019 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in Brussels and recently won 3rd Prize at the Windsor Festival International String Competition 2019. In 2020 she was a major prizewinner at the Peter Pirazzi Stiftung Competition (Frankfurt) and became a scholarship-holder of Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben (Hamburg). At the inaugural Aurora Music Competition 2018 (Sweden) the jury, chaired by Gordan Nikolic, unanimously awarded her First Prize, alongside the Audience Prize. Mathilde is a semi-finalist laureate of the 2018 International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition Hanover and won the String Section of the 2017 Royal Overseas League Music Competition. She became a St John's Smith Square Young Artist for the 2017/18 season, for which she gave the world premiere of a piece written for her by the acclaimed composer Sally Beamish.
She is regularly invited to festivals such as Verbier, Lerici, Fanø, IMS Prussia Cove, East Neuk, Fraenkische Musiktage, Musikdorf Ernen, Presteigne and Three Choirs, collaborating with musicians such as Anthony Marwood, Brett Dean, Avi Avital, Ettore Causa, Adrian Brendel, Huw Watkins, Rosanne Philippens, Ksenija Sidorova, the Doric Quartet and Leonore Piano Trio. In 2021 and 2022 Mathilde attended the Verbier Festival Academy on the Soloist & Chamber Music Programme as one of eight violinists selected worldwide. She has worked closely with such esteemed composers as Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Joseph Phibbs, Huw Watkins, Sally Beamish and David Matthews and in 2023 will be giving world premieres of works by Charlotte Bray and Deborah Pritchard.
Web and social media
Mathilde's web site containing more information about her as well as examples of her playing can be found here
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You can follow and interact with Mathilde:
Facebook: Mathilde Milwidsky
Instagram: @mathildemilwidsky
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Concert Programme
Telemann Fantasia No. 7 in E flat major
Huw Watkins Partita
Ysaÿe Solo Sonata No. 3
J.S Bach Solo Sonata in G minor
Hindemith Solo Sonata Op. 31 No. 2
Paganini Caprices 10, 15, 24
3pm Sun 7th Jan 2024
North8 (vocal octet)
3pm Sunday 11th February 2024
Stokesley Methodist Church
Underneath the Stars
A magical winter concert of eight-part harmony works on the theme of darkness and light. Featuring music by Reena Esmail, Bob Chilcott, Kate Rusby and Eric Whitacre.
North8
North8 is a dynamic vocal ensemble based in the North of England. Founded in 2018, the group acts as a creative space for both professional and casual singers to develop their craft within a high quality vocal ensemble.
The members of the ensemble bring their wealth of experience in performance, conducting, and education to every piece, resulting in engaging and lively performances with programmes spanning centuries of vocal tradition – from Renaissance polyphony to modern folk arrangements and everything in between.
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North8 is passionate about celebrating choral and ensemble singing across the North of England. They perform concerts throughout the year, and are gaining a reputation for their eclectic and immersive programmes. Passionate advocates of gender equality, their programmes feature a parity of men and women composers, and regularly feature composers from other under-represented groups.
Web and social media
North8's web site can be found here
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You can follow and interact with the group on:
Instagram @north8choir
Facebook /north8choir
Twitter/X @north8choir
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Concert Programme
Deep In The Night
Nox Aurumque
Underneath the Stars
The Night
See, Even Night Herself is here
Bright Morning Stars
My Heart Be Brave
Winter Breviary:
The Year’s Midnight
The Unexpected Early Hour
We Look For You
O Oriens
Coffee Time
Lux Aurumque
O Nata Lux
Lux Aeterna
The Children’s Eye
The Long Day Closes
Round Me Falls The Night
Coventry Carol
The Sleeping Child
Swept Away
Jussi Chydenius
Eric Whitacre
Kate Rusby,
arr. Jim Clements
Toby Young
Henry Purcell
Dan Walters
Marques L. A. Garrett
Reena Esmail
Cecilia McDowall
Anton
Leanderson-Andreas
Eric Whitacre
Anna Lapwood
Sarah Quartel
Caroline Shaw
Arthur Sullivan
Annabel Rooney
B. E. Boykin
Bob Chilcott
Sarah Quartel
3pm Sun 11th Feb 2024
Marmen Quartet
7.15pm Sunday 17th March 2024
Stokesley Methodist Church
We're delighted to welcome the high profile Marmens in their TMS debut following cancellation, due to illness, in 2022. Early French Impressionism meets string quartet composition in Debussy's one and only work in this genre. Ravel was inspired by the earlier work to write his one and only string quartet with the impressionism tempered by a more reserved and classical style.
Johannes Marmen Violin
Laia Valentin Braun Violin
Bryony Gibson-Cornish Viola
Sinéad O'Halloran Cello
More about the Marmen Quartet
With a growing reputation for the courage, vitality and intensity of its performances the Marmen Quartet is fast establishing itself as one of the most impressive and engaging new talents in the chamber music arena. 2019 marked a year of significant achievement for the Quartet, with First Prizes at both the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and Banff International String Quartet Competition, where they were also awarded the Haydn and Canadian Commission prizes.
Other accolades include first prize at the Royal Overseas League Competition (2018) and awards at the International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition…The Marmen Quartet has performed at venues including Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Stockholm Konserthuset, Milton Court (Barbican), Palladium Malmö and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. The Quartet performs regularly across Sweden and 2020 saw its first complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets for Musik I Syd. Festival engagements have taken the Quartet to the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale, BBC Proms, Hitzacker, Lockenhaus, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, and the Barcelona and Gulbenkian Foundation String Quartet Biennale Festivals.
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In the US, 2022 saw the Quartet takes up its position as Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in partnership with the Banff International String Quartet Competition; a relationship that sees the Quartet work closely with the University’s students as well as giving performances and developing new projects across its residencies. The Quartet returns three times to the University in the 22/23 season, with other North American highlights including performances in Calgary and Vancouver.
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Another highlight of the 22/23 season will see the Marmen Quartet taking part in the Australian National Academy of Music’s Quartetthaus project, hosted in London by the Royal Albert Hall. A showcase of both musical and architectural talent, the Quartetthaus programme features works by both Australian and British artists including a new piece by Hannah Kendall commissioned for the Marmen Quartet by ANAM. Other UK highlights include a return to Wigmore Hall, as well as performances in Cambridge, Manchester, Belfast and Sheffield. In Europe, recital engagements take the Quartet to Bremen, Munich and Bern as well seeing them take part in the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival and undertaking an extensive tour of Ireland for the National String Quartet Foundation. Elsewhere, the Quartet makes its debut in Israel with a tour including performances in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
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Web and social media
The Marmen Quartet website here contains more details of the quartet, their upcoming engagements and samples of their work.
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You can find them here on Facebook
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Follow them on Twitter using @MarmenQuartet
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If you prefer Instagram, they can accommodate you @MarmenQuartet
Concert Programme
Haydn String Quartet Op 33 No 6
Debussy String Quartet
Mozart String Quartet K159
Ravel String Quartet
7.15pm Sun 17th Mar 2024