Notes on Music

Head down until the weekend

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We’re almost mid-way through the final rehearsals for the two Gala concerts coming up across this weekend; programmes have been signed off to the Print unit, final tests are being run on the acoustic curtains in the concert-hall, and the Christmas tree in the foyer went up at the end of last week, so that’s the key features dealt with.

Concert and Big Bands are about to rehearse in an hour or so for the last time on the James Rae commission, Chamber Choir raised the roof of the concert-hall in exuberant fashion last night, and Chorus and Orchestra will come together tomorrow night in Orff’s epic Carmina Burana.

Hot on the heels of the two concerts, there’s also the University Carol Service on the Monay, for which the Chamber Choir will be providing some of the carols; and then there’s the Estates Team Choir lunchtime debut on Wednesday lunchtime, with the Cecilian Choir and The Canterberries also singing; and then Carols Round The University Christmas Tree on Wednesday evening, together with the University Brass Ensemble.

Thursday: and relax… See you at some point before then…

Keeping It Real: reviews.

Brilliant Brodsky show Ravel’s true Modernist colours

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Last Friday night’s visit from the Brodsky Quartet was eagerly awaited for two very special reasons; not only was it their chance-driven ‘Wheel of 4-Tunes’ concert celebrating the group’s fortieth birthday, it was also the first formal concert in the new Colyer-Fergusson concert hall.

The Brodsky Quartet in the new concert-hall

The programme, chosen on the night by the spin of the wheel, included turns (no pun intended!) from Professor Keith Mander, a member of the public, Music Society Secretary and cellist Aisha Bové, and our very own Sophie Meikle. The pieces the wheel chose were by Piazzolla, Barber, Golijov, and Ravel, and displayed the quartet in their customary eclectic form, whether tango-ing in idiomatic style with Piazolla or exquisitely painting the famous ‘Adagio’ from Barber’s String Quartet.

The final piece in the concert was Ravel’s String Quartet, and it was here that the Brodsky’s revealed their final masterstroke; equally robust and rainbow-hued, Ravel’s piece was shown, in the wider context of the other pieces which had appeared in the programme, to be a modernist piece, bristling with harmonic dissonances, spiky textures, sudden changes of mood and pace, and bold gestures that are often obscured by performance that prefer to embrace Ravel’s Impressionist tendencies. Whilst the quartet was fully alive to the rich and exotic harmonies and sinuous melodic lines that give Ravel this label, they also brought out Ravel’s more striking characteristics in a performance that drew fierce applause from a delighted audience.

Music Society Secretary, cellist and soprano Aisha Bove spins the Brodsky wheel
Keeping It Real: reviews.

New building comes alive with music for Open View

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Yesterday’s Open View event, hosted by architects Tim Ronalds, saw the new Colyer-Fergusson Building come alive with music, visitors and guests, as musicians performed in all the available spaces throughout the building.

Guests in the new foyer

Between 3-8pm, the entire place was abuzz with jazz, choral music, solo percussion and piano, acoustic guitar and string quartet music, an aural backdrop as invited guests toured the new facilities, and saw (and heard!) it in action. It was also the first opportunity to test-drive the new performance stage in the foyer, which proved to be a fantastic space with terrific acoustics, ranging from the delicate close-harmony singing of vocal trio ‘The Canterberries’ to the liquid soprano-sax improvisations from sax teacher, Peter Cook. There was even a guest appearance from Ned, the acoustic consultant from the firm Arup Acoustics, on sax (and congas) as well; truly an occasion in which music could be made by many.

Percussion Scholar Carina Evans
Pianist Scholar Sharon Yam puts the Steinway through its paces
Saxophonist Scholar Tim Pickering and your loyal correspondent try out the new foyer-stage
Guitarist Andrew Kitchin
Pianist Scholar Susan Li gets to grips with Rachmaninov in the concert-hall
Through a glass; darkly: string players in one of the upper rehearsal rooms
The Canterberries in ‘All I Want for Christmas’
Second-year Emma Murton rehearsing the Chamber Choir

With thanks to all the musicians who took part, and brought the entire building to life.

Now Hear This!

The Brodskys are here on Friday

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The inimitable Brodsky Quartet will be here on Friday, celebrating its fortieth anniversary with a concert combining classical music with the slick feel of a game-show. The programme will be decided on the night by the spin of a wheel, with each of the ‘four tunes’ selected from their extensive repertoire by chance.

You can read a review of a similar concert the quartet gave a few months ago in an earlier post I wrote here.

Tickets on the Gulbenkan website; come and be part of something extraordinary.

Jazz Booth

All that jazz: catching up with Sector7

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Ahead of their Lunchtime Concert in the Gulbenkian Theatre on Monday 3 December, I caught up with Sarah Ellen Hughes, singer with the group, and asked her about what we can look forward to.

 

DH: Tell us a little about the group.

SEH: Sector7 originated as a jazz group, but now plays a selection of gospel, folk, jazz and soul, that has been brought to the table by the diversity of the members. We have 4 singers in the group and a rhythm section, allowing us to explore some a cappella work, but also some groove-based music with the band too.

DH: And what excites you about the music you perform ?

SEH: Vocal harmony is always exciting, and having four strong voices performing things in sometimes incredibly difficult and intricate harmonies is great to be a part of. We also have a new member at the moment, who is a beatboxer, so we’ve been able to incorporate that into a few tunes which is brilliant!

DH: So, what can we look forward to in your gig in a few weeks’ time ?

We’re going to be playing a selection of Christmas music and some Sector7 originals. There are plenty of great Christmas standards out there that we’re going to put a twist on and arrange in our own way. But we don’t want to do a Christmas overload as it’s only the first week of December, so we’ll also be playing some songs from our EP:

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Thanks to Sarah for her time; find out more about the concert on our online diary here.

Notes on Music

Making waves at Medway: the Medway Chamber Choir

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President of this year’s Medway Music Society, Jack McDonnell, reports in with news of a new musical initiative at Medway this year…

 

Under the management of 2nd year Popular Music Student Rhian Powell with the UMSA Music Society, Universities at Medway Chamber choir are back in full swing of rehearsals for a string of upcoming performances.

On Tuesday 13th of November, the choir took part in an evening of a pilot filming for a TV show called ‘The Venue’ at the Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham (see picture, below). The Choir performed an arrangement of popular carol “Ding Dong Merrily on High” as well as the national anthem to an audience of film makers and Medway Locals which were well received by Director Lee Philips. The film is due to go online at the beginning of December.

The Medway Chamber Choir

UMCC are currently meeting on Monday evenings at 6pm in the Medway Building Studios, working towards the UMSA Carol Service on December 3rd.

Jack McDonnell

Good luck to our counterparts over in Medway – let us know when the film goes online!

Keeping It Real: reviews.

Children in Need at Kent: the video

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Courtesy of KentTV, here’s footage of the Children in Need events from last Thursday, with your loyal correspondent conducting the scratch Ringtone Orchestra in Three Movements in Ring-Tonality, followed by an awful lot of people doing the ‘Time Warp’ next door in the Gulbenkian Theatre.

Thanks to everyone who took part, and to KTV.