Tag Archives: Trevor Pinnock

New What’s On brochure now out!

August 25, 2016 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Our Autumn What’s On is now out, and is bursting with events throughout October to December here in Colyer-Fergusson.

Our termly Lunchtime Concert series launches with percussion ensemble Kopanya in October; the acclaimed musicians of the Kentish Piano Trio bring Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ Trio in November; and eminent sitar-player Ustad Dharambir Singh is joined by Pt Sanju Sahai on tabla for a recital in December,

The University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra will be rounding-off the Shakespeare 400 anniversary in style with a concert including the suite from Walton’s famous film score for Henry V, and the Musical Theatre Society will present their ever-popular showcase. The season ends in rousingly festive style with the Big Band’s Christmas Swing-Along.

Whatever you do, make sure you have Friday 25 November inked firmly in your diary for what promises to be a memorable concert, as internationally-renowned bass, Sir Willard White, joins forces with the Brodsky Quartet to pay tribute to the relationship between Frank Sinatra and the Hollywood String Quartet; the evening will also include folksongs by Britten and Copland, Barber’s evocative Dover Beach, a selection from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, the Great American Song Book …and much more. Early booking is most definitely advisable! As ever, we also welcome the many visiting musicians to Colyer-Fergusson, including events promoted by both the Canterbury Festival and Sounds New and a birthday concert for Trevor Pinnock.

Sponsors of the Lunchtime Concert series

You can find out more about all these events online here, or download the new brochure here. We look forward to welcoming you to Colyer-Fergusson this season!

Notes on Music

Acclaimed harpsichordist records new disc in Colyer-Fergusson

March 15, 2016 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Last Wednesday proved another milestone in the life of the Colyer-Fergusson building, when the first CD to be recorded in the Hall arrived on our desks.

In August 2014, the internationally-renowned harpsichordist and conductor (and Honorary Graduate of the University of Kent) Trevor Pinnock spent two days recording works by Cabazon, Byrd, John Bull, Sweelinck, JS Bach, Frescobaldi, Handel and Scarlatti. It was wonderful to hear such amazing music drifting over the Hall relay into our offices and we were even invited to sit in on some of the takes. The extraordinary acoustics of the Hall proved so sympathetic that Trevor and the recording team actually finished a day early.

Trevor has very kindly acknowledged the Colyer-Fergusson Hall and the University Music department team in the CD leaflet; the disc, Trevor Pinnock – Journey; Two Hundred Years of Harpsichord Music is available on the Linn label here.

Notes on Music

Baroque masters next week at Colyer-Fergusson

October 1, 2015 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Next week brings a brace of Baroque performances from some renowned musicians to Colyer-Fergusson.

Our new Lunchtime Concert series launches next Wednesday with a recital from Baroque recorder specialist, Naomi Okuda Wooderson, accompanied by Tom Foster; the programme includes Bach, Telemann and Handel, and features our new harpsichord in its first formal outing. Admission is free, with a retiring donation.

The Baroque theme continues at the weekend with a performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas under the direction of distinguished performer and conductor, Trevor Pinnock, in a preview of the concert which will be appearing at London’s Wigmore Hall the following week. The chorus for the performance is none other than Tenebrae, one of the country’s foremost vocal ensembles; the concert also promises a Purcellian miscellany of songs and dances.

Details about both concerts can be found on our What’s On page online here. To whet your appetites, here’s Sarah Connolly singing that famous lament…

Sponsors of the Lunchtime Concert series

Notes on Music

Autumn events calendar now online

September 10, 2015 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Drum-roll, please: our new events calendar for the Autumn term is now available online.

The termly Lunchtime Concert Series opens next month with a recital of Baroque recorder music by Naomi Okuda Wooderson, and a musical aperitif from our ensemble-in-residence, CantiaQuorum, of music by Saint-Saens, Stravinsky and Torelli prior to their evening concert; we launch our December seasonal music with A Baroque Christmas, including movements from Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Winter from the Cecilian Choir, String Sinfonia and soloists; the Christmas theme continues with a rare performance of Vaughan Williams’ The First Nowell by the Chorus and Orchestra, together with works by Sibelius and Shostokovich, and the term is rounded out with the now-customary Christmas Swing-along from the Big Band. There’s also an antidote to wintry blues from Kasai Masai as they bring the infectious rhythms and melodies of Congolese music for the final Lunchtime Concert, and the Musical Theatre Society will be inviting you to ‘Do a Little Duet’ with them too.

We welcome a host of visiting ensembles and musicians to Colyer-Fergusson throughout the term, including Trevor Pinnock as he brings Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and there are two events as part of this year’s Canterbury Festival; find out about all these and more online here – printed brochures will be arriving around the start of the term. Find out what’s in store…

Notes on Music

Forthcoming concerts round-up: Trevor Pinnock and Nova Music Ensemble

October 17, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

A busy few weeks ahead; tonight’s concert sees period-instrument pioneer and Honorary Graduate Trevor Pinnock bringing an all-Bach recital to Colyer-Fergusson as part of our fiftieth-anniversary celebrations; next weekend, we are delighted to be welcoming Nova Music Opera to the hall for their concert as part of this year’s Canterbury Festival in a double-bill of contemporary chamber opera by Stephen McNeff and Cecilia McDowall.

And as October ends with a flourish, the start of November also marks the launch of our ensemble-in-residence, CantiaQuorum, in a pair of concerts featuring music by Stravinsky, Walton, Bach and Copland.

Plenty to console us as the clocks go back next weekend; for tickets and further details, see all that’s happening on our What’s On guide here.

Here’s composer Stephen McNeff talking about his chamber opera Prometheus Drowned, coming to us next weekend.

Notes on Music

Bach banquet with acclaimed pioneer next week

October 9, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Internationally-acclaimed harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock brings an all-Bach programme to Colyer-Fergusson Hall next Friday, 17th October, at 7.30pm.

A former choirboy at Canterbury Cathedral and pupil at Simon Langton School, Trevor was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University in 1995, and comes to Kent next week as part of its year-long fiftieth anniversary celebrations including honorary music graduates. As a harpsichordist and conductor, he is renowned for his pioneering performances on historical instruments with The English Concert, the orchestra which he founded in 1972 and led for the next thirty years.

Next week’s concert includes the Toccata in E minor, the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor and the French Suite No 6 in E major, and promises to be a real treat for Bach devotees. More details here.

To whet your appetite, here he is in the flamboyantly-opening Toccata in C minor, BWV 911.

Notes on Music

Our Autumn music series now online

August 26, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Hold onto your hats: the new What’s On for September to December has now been published online.

Embracing everything from ancient instruments to contemporary chamber opera, the Colyer-Fergusson Hall will be abuzz this Autumn, bringing some of the very best music across the next four months.

The Lunchtime Concert series begins with Rags to Riches, as pianist Helen Crawford brings her period-costume-bedecked performance of ragtime music on Weds 8 October; we’re delighted to be launching the new ensemble-in-residence, CantiaQuorum, who open their residency with Bach and Copland on Weds 5 November, as a curtain-raiser to their first formal concert later in the month with Stravinsky and Walton. December’s lunchtime concert involves the Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments exploring the common ground between Renaissance, Baroque and traditional Norwegian music.

We’re also participating in the University’s fiftieth-year celebration through 2014-15, including featuring alumni and Honorary Doctorate recipients; and as the latter, we are delighted to welcome acclaimed harpsichordist and conductor, Trevor Pinnock, in October in a recital of music by Bach.

Chorus and Orchestra perform music by Mozart and Beethoven, and the term concludes with the usual Big Band seasonal cracker in December (see what I did there…).

A warm welcome, too, to all those visiting performers coming to the Colyer-Fergusson Hall, including Nova Music Ensemble who come in October as part of the Canterbury Festival, bringing contemporary chamber operas by Cecilia McDowall and Stephen McNeff.

There’s plenty to look forward to: check all that’s coming up online here.

Notes on Music

Fugal force

August 22, 2014 Daniel Harding Leave a comment

Exciting to have had harpsichordist and conductor Trevor Pinnock recording in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall this week. The founder of the English Concert and exponent of works for harpsichord has been in the building to record his forthcoming disc.

We’re delighted that Trevor will be giving a recital here in October, details of which will be published soon when our concert diary goes live online next week – a sure sign that term cannot be far away…