We were delighted to welcome the Almere Youth Symphony Orchestra to Colyer-Fergusson on Sunday.
Hailing from a city in the heart of the Netherlands, the age-range of the orchestral members is between 13 to 21. Under the baton of conductor Hans Welle, they demonstrated a high standard of playing, performing a range of music with the emphasis on English pieces – from music from James Bond through to a beautiful performance of Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ and one of the fastest versions of the Pomp and Circumstance March I have ever heard!
It was a real pleasure to have them visit, and we hope they will come back again soon.
The music continues unabated this week as Summer Music Week rings around the building; days Three and Four saw a lunchtime recital by some of the University Music Scholars, followed by the annual awarding of the Music Prizes; performers Jonathan Butten, Anne Engels, Rianna Carr and John Gabriel together with guest Benedict Preece performed two movements from Ravel’s magical Mother Goose Suite; Emily Farrell demonstrated the euphonium’s light-footed side in an arrangements of Mozart’s Rondo alla turca; cellist Faith Chan and mezzo-soprano Charley Tench performed Purcell’s Dido’s Lament; and harpist Emma Murton gave a dazzling rendition of Debussy’s first Arabesque and Salzedo’s shimmering Chanson dans la nuit. The concert was also the first formal outing for the department’s newly-commissioned harpsichord, a stunning instrument built by Andrew Wooderson, and a generous donation by Dr James and Jenny Bird, for which we are immeasurably grateful.
Day Four featured the Sax Ensemble on the foyer-stage at lunchtime, with Hannah Wiffen, Felicity Langford and Patrick Eves joined by Chris Murrell on drums, led by Peter Cook. In the afternoon, the hall rang to the sound of the Concert Band and Big Band in rehearsal under the baton of conductor Ian Swatman, and the evening saw the bands, together with vocalist and alumna Steph Richardson, bring their musical year to a rousing conclusion.
Thanks to Phoebe Hopwood for this splendid panoramic shot of the Big Band preparing to play in the evening!
Click to view
Events continue until Saturday; find out more here.
Like a phoenix from the flames, Summer Music Week burst into life anew on Sunday; conductor Ian Swatman led the charge as the Big Band took to the Memorial Bandstand at Deal for a day filled with sunshine and swing, for which the band welcomed back vocalist and alumna, Steph Richardson.
Yesterday, Day Two, saw the inaugural use of the department’s commissioned harpsichord in a feast of arias from several of the singing Scholars in Operatic Heroines in Love; from Mozart to Gluck, Saint-Saens, and Dvorak, a delighted audience was led on an exploration of love, lust and desire by Charley Tench, Charlotte Webb, Rowena Murrell, Ruth Webster, Kathi Kirschbaum, Livy Potter and Kathryn Cox, which included Purcell’s Dido’s Lament with Faith Chan on cello and the Chamber Choir performing the dolorous ‘With drooping wings’ chorus which follows the aria.
Summer Music continues all this week; details online here.
Jarman’s Studio 3 Gallery rang to the tempestuous world of love and loss at the opera at lunchtime today, as several of the Music Scholars presented a selection of operatic arias to an enthralled audience.
Against the backdrop of the current exhibition, Beautifully Obscene: a history of the Erotic Print, several of the singing Scholars brought characters including Delilah, Despina, Orpheus, Dido and Rusalka to life in a programme ranging from the poignancy of Mozart’s Porgi Amor (sung with authority by first-year Charlotte Webb) through an extremely coquettish Una donna a quindici anni from ‘Cosi fan tutte’ (delivered in mischievous fashion by third-year Kathie Kirschbaum), to the heady, epic emotions of Delilah’s Mon cour ouvre a ta voix in a storming rendition from third-year Olivia Potter.
Elsewhere, Gluck’s Orpheus lamented the passing of Euridice in the rich, warm voice of first-year Ruth Webster; Handel’s Bel Piacere had a joyous conviviality in the hands of third-year Philippa Hardimann; final-year Kathryn Cox soared to the heights with Rusalka’s Song to the Moon; there was a lyrical reading of Mozart’s Deh vieni by third-year Rowena Murrell; and second-year Charley Tench gave an affecting, intimate performance of Dido’s Lament.
Our thanks to Katie McGown and the team at Studio 3 for the invitation to continue the #EarBox series of collaborative events, of which there will be more. Meanwhile, the singers are back on Monday 8 June, the second day of our Summer Music Week, in Colyer-Fergusson Hall; find out more here.
From the infinite mystery of the opening bars to the dramatically hushed close, Saturday’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem by the University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra for this year’s Colyer-Fergusson Cathedral Concert was full of high drama.
The morning shift crew
Standing in as a last-minute replacement for the billed soprano soloist, Rachel Nicholls took time out from her current ENO run of Die Meistersingers to step up alongside mezzo Carolyn Dobbins, tenor Gerard Schneider and bass Simon Thorpe, and together all four singers delivered Verdi’s demanding solo parts with consummate skill. Under the baton of Susan Wanless, the Chorus and Orchestra both rose to the occasion superbly. From the off-stage trumpets ranged high above in the organ-loft to the bass-drum positioned down the side-aisle, the combined forces filled the majestic Cathedral with Verdi’s profound meditation on death and redemption, rich in operatic detail crammed into oratorio form.
Rachel Nicholls, Carolyn Dobbins, Gerard Schneider, Simon Thorpe
It’s a long day that starts at 9am with the heroic crew who pitched up on campus to load two vans with all the equipment to take down to the Cathedral, and ends with that same equipment delivered back to campus at 10.30pm, with rehearsal and performance in between. It was lovely to see many alumni come back to sing in the Chorus, with the concert a major highlight of the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations throughout this year.
Alumnus & percussionist, Carina Evans and tuba-player Chris Gray
(Much excitement was caused by the arrival of the 66-inch bass drum from Bell Percussion, which was mobbed by many people eager to be photographed with the monster-drum, you’d have thought it was a Hollywood Celebrity…)
Very many thanks to everyone involved; a triumphant conclusion to all the hard work put it by students, staff, alumni and members of the local community, who came together in the splendour of Canterbury Cathedral for a memorable performance.
Fantastic gig this lunchtime from the Geoff Mason Quintet.
A bustling set opened with One By One, which included some fleet-footed, cascading improvisation from Simon Spillett on tenor sax. A lyrical waltz by the late Kenny Wheeler called forth some colourful piano-playing from John Horler, answered by a nimble bass solo from Tim Wells. A white-hot reading of Monk’s Hackensack saw some blistering improv again from Spillett, underpinned by solid bass Wells, each in turn supported by some deft and inventive drumming from Trevor Tomkin.
The high-octane set came to a close with McCoy Tyner’s robust Blues on the Corner, which was greeted by an enthusiastic reception from a large audience.
Here’s the group in rehearsal earlier in the morning;
The collaborative#EarBoxseries exploring the resonances between visual art and music continued yesterday, with a recital of piano music by Philip Glass by Your Loyal Correspondent over in Studio 3 Gallery in the School of Arts’ Jarman Building.
It was fantastic to play for such an attentive audience, who listened to a selection of the piano Etudes, Opening, and parts of the music to The Hours and The Truman Show. The dim-lit gallery space allowed room for contemplation and reflection, in a programme of music where the use of pattern, repetition and shifting tonal colours responded to the Palindrome exhibition currently adorning the gallery’s walls.
Thanks to Katie McGown for the photos. #EarBox will return: watch this space…
Find out more about Studio 3 Gallery and the latest exhibition here.
Because it does. Doesn't it ? Blogging about extra-curricular musical life at the University of Kent.
It was a real pleasure to have them visit, and we hope they will come back again soon.
Our thanks to Katie McGown and the team at Studio 3 for the invitation to continue the #EarBox series of collaborative events, of which there will be more. Meanwhile, the singers are back on Monday 8 June, the second day of our Summer Music Week, in Colyer-Fergusson Hall; find out more 
