MBNA Chester Music Festival 2014 brochure by Chester Performs

“A godsend to the music circuit” THE TELEGRAPH

31 May—15 June The musicians’ festival... Uniquely created, produced and performed by leading international SOLOISTS AND chamber musicians Chester Cathedral | Chester Town Hall

www.chestermusicfestival.co.uk

WELCOME BACK...

MBNA Chester Music Festival

ENSEMBLE DEVA

“ Welcome once again to the MBNA Chester Music Festival. Following a wonderful debut in 2013, we are delighted to return with a programme of intimate chamber recitals, hot tickets, red letter days and super-impressive orchestral concerts.... All of the festival is made here in Chester, and uniquely, much of the creative responsibility for our programme rests with our musicians themselves.

Last year proved to be an amazing adventure in intimate music-making and cemented the reputation of the festival as a must-see date in the British music festival calendar.

Our own world-class Ensemble Deva is once again at the heart of the schedule. The charismatic and hugely popular violinist Giovanni Guzzo will return to lead the Ensemble, whilst we look forward to welcoming back familiar faces and rising stars. There are two really important milestones this year – 100 years since the start of WW1 and the loss of our own “Age of Innocence”; also the 150th birthday during the festival of one of our very favourite composers, Richard Strauss.

Both are commemorated in full in this programme with the help of world-class vocalists James Gilchrist, Kathryn Rudge and Lee Bisset.

We are so proud of our achievements so far. We look forward to welcoming you back to the city this summer to join us in the next step on our new adventure in music-making here in Chester.” Clark Rundell Music Director

The heart and soul of MBNA Chester Music Festival, Ensemble Deva is Chester’s own world-class ensemble and it’s here to stay! Led once again by the astounding Giovanni Guzzo – one of the world’s most exciting and charismatic young violinists – Ensemble Deva is made up of some of Europe’s most gifted chamber musicians. The Ensemble features soloists and section leaders from the country’s greatest symphony orchestras – Tim Jackson and Cormac Henry from the Liverpool Phil, Lynsey Marsh and Roberto Carillo-Garcia from the Halle and Rachael Clegg, Hannah Roberts and Richard Williamson from Manchester Camerata.

Add to them world-renowned soloists Martin Roscoe (piano), Craig Ogden (guitar), Ksenija Sidorova (accordion), Ruth Wall (harp) along with the highly respected composer Graham Fitkin, and Ensemble Deva is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with!

Most concerts take place on the specially constructed festival stage, built by us, inthe-round, in Chester’s wonderful Town Hall. It’s up close, personal, and impossible to ignore! Just the way great music should be. .

Save over £100 with an Ensemble Deva Pass Chester Performs Members can purchase an Ensemble Deva Pass. These can be purchased at a cost of £60 for six of the Ensemble concerts, or £90 for the full ten-concert programme – a saving of over £100! Ensemble Deva Passes are only available to Members. For more information about joining our membership scheme, visit www.chesterperforms. com/membership

Date

Time

Venue

Concert

Price

Saturday 31st May

8pm

Chester Cathedral

Bach Opening Gala Concert

£19.50

Sunday 1st June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Ensemble Deva – Intimate Classics I

£19.50

Monday 2nd June

1pm

Chester Town Hall

Lunchtime Concert – Yoon-Jee Kim & Jackie Jaekyung Yoo

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Age of Innocence – On Wenlock Edge

1pm

Chester Town Hall

Lunchtime Concert – Ian Buckle

8pm

Chester Town Hall

James Gilchrist in Concert

£19.50

Wednesday 4th June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Martin Roscoe and Friends

£19.50

Thursday 5th June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie Wood

£19.50

8pm

Chester Cathedral

Manchester Camerata play Mozart and Rosinni

£19.50

Friday 6th June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Lost! Fitkin / Wall

£19.50

Saturday 7th June

6pm

Chester Town Hall

Ruth Wall – Three Harps

8pm

Chester Cathedral

Manchester Camerata play Schumann and Mozart

Tuesday 3rd June

£10

£19.50 £10

£19.50

Bach Opening Gala Concert Saturday 31st May, 8pm Chester Cathedral

Chester Town Hall

Craig Ogden in Concert

£19.50

Sunday 8th June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Gran Caffé Venezia!

£19.50

Monday 9th June

8pm

Chester Cathedral

Mahler Symphony No.4

£19.50

Tuesday 10th June

1pm

Chester Town Hall

Lunchtime Concert – Hannah Roberts

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Kathryn Rudge in Concert

£19.50

Wednesday 11th June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Richard Strauss Birthday Gala Concert

£19.50

Thursday 12th June

1pm

Chester Town Hall

Lunchtime Concert – Sophie Rosa

£10

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Ensemble Deva – Intimate Classics II

£19.50

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Quartet for the End of Time

£19.50

2:30pm

Chester Town Hall

50 Moments That Rocked The Classical World

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Gwilym Simcock – Live in Chester

£19.50

Sunday 15th June

8pm

Chester Town Hall

Ensemble Deva – Finale!

£19.50

Saturday 19th July

8pm

Chester Cathedral

Spirit of England

Saturday 14th June

WHAT’S ON

£10

8pm

Friday 13th June

ENSEMBLE DEVA

Ensemble Deva led by Giovanni Guzzo (violin) Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050 Bach Musical Offering Bach Double Violin Concerto

£10

£27.50 / £22.50

YOON-JEE KIM & JACKIE JAEKYUNG YOO

Ensemble Deva, led by the astounding Giovanni Guzzo, open the festival with a baroque spectacular, in the beautiful surroundings of Chester Cathedral. Featuring some of Bach’s best loved classics, including the Double Violin Concerto, Brandenburg 5 and the Musical Offering. NB this concert takes places in the South Transept at Chester Cathedral. Tickets are very limited and early booking is highly recommended!

Ensemble Deva

Intimate Classics I Sunday 1st June, 8pm Chester Town Hall Ensemble Deva Rachael Clegg (oboe) Roberto Carrillo-Garcia (bass) Lynsey Marsh (clarinet) Jonathan Scott (piano) Manchester Camerata’s Principal Oboe, Rachael Clegg and her husband, the Halle’s Bass section leader Roberto Carillo-Garcia choose a personal programme of their favourite music to play with friends. Lunchtime Recital

Yoon-Jee Kim (piano) & Jackie Jaekyung Yoo (piano) Monday 2nd June, 1pm Chester Town Hall

05 Martin Roscoe and Friends

Age of Innocence On Wenlock Edge Monday 2nd June, 8pm Chester Town Hall James Gilchrist (tenor) with Ensemble Deva: Giovanni Guzzo & Sophie Rosa (violins) Richard Williamson (viola) Hannah Roberts (cello) Ian Buckle (piano) Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge Vaughan Williams Phantasy Quintet Coleridge-Taylor Ballade for Violin & Piano Ivor Gurney Ludlow & Teme Join us for what promises to be a delightful and charming evening with Ensemble Deva and much-loved English tenor James Gilchrist, as they perform two wonderful cycles of songs for tenor, piano and string quartet, both settings of A.E. Housman poems. Vaughan Williams’ 1909 On Wenlock Edge is mirrored by Ivor Gurney’s Ludlow & Teme which it inspired, even though the latter was completed in 1919, when the world looked very different. This is the first of three concerts in the festival recalling England’s loss of its “Age of Innocence” with the onset of the First World War, which erupted 100 years ago this summer.

Wednesday 4th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall Martin Roscoe (piano) with Ensemble Deva

Lunchtime Recital

Ian Buckle (piano) Tuesday 3rd June, 1pm Chester Town Hall Ravel’s haunting WW1 elegy to lost friends Le Tombeau de Couperin, plus music by John Ireland and Frank Bridge.

MARTIN ROSCOE

The incomparable Martin Roscoe is back with a highly personal programme of classics with contributions from friends in Ensemble Deva, in what promises to be a wonderful evening of music making of the highest standard.

James Gilchrist in Concert Tuesday 3rd June, 8pm Chester Town Hall James Gilchrist (tenor) Anna Tilbrook (piano) Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad, plus songs by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Loewe, Wolf and Gurney Tenor James Gilchrist returns for another concert capturing the spirit of the “Age of Innocence”, including WW1’s great loss to music George Butterworth’s setting of A Shropshire Lad.

Manchester Camerata Play Mozart and Rossini Thursday 5th June, 8pm Chester Cathedral Manchester Camerata Piero Lombardi Iglesias and Yoon Jee Kim (conductors) Yasmine Rowe (piano) Alejandra Rojas Garcia (bassoon)

Rossini Italian Girl in Algiers Mozart Concerto for Piano, K 271 Rossini Concerto for Bassoon Mozart Symphony no 38 (Prague) The soaring setting of Chester Cathedral plays host to this wonderful concert by Manchester Camerata, featuring the amazing Yasmine Rowe and Alejandra Rojas Garcia. NB This concert takes places in the South Transept at Chester Cathedral. Tickets are very limited and early booking is highly recommended!

“ …he is now unsurpassed among lyric tenors in sweetness and technical security, and for his musical intelligence.” GIOVANNI GUZZO

The Independent on James Gilchrist

07 “ Ruth Wall’s delicate web of sound...surprising and quietly magical” The Times

JACQUI DANKWORTH and CHARLIE WOOD In A Sentimental Mood Thursday 5th June, 8pm Chester TOWN HALL The incomparable Jacqui Dankworth and her husband Charlie Wood share a set of songs by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in the intimate festival setting of Chester Town Hall. A wonderful evening of soulful music: expect to hear such classics as Mood Indigo, Take the A Train and Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.

Lost! Fitkin / Wall

RUTH WALL THREE HARPS

Friday 6th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall

Saturday 7th June 6pm Chester Town HAll

Ruth Wall (Gaelic Wire-strung Clarsach and Lever Harp) Graham Fitkin (Moog Voyager, Red Box and Autoharp)

Ruth Wall (Gaelic wire strung harp, Renaissance bray harp and Scottish lever harp)

Internationally renowned harpist Ruth Wall and multi-award-winning composer Graham Fitkin perform Graham’s new score LOST! for lever and wire strung harps, 1950s Moog and autoharp. Fitkin Wall’s intimate, rhythmic and exhilarating new show was first performed at the National Portrait Gallery in June 2013

“ Beautiful and distinctive’ The Guardian

The amazingly talented Scottish harpist Ruth Wall is one of the only harpists today specialising on medieval wire strung harp, Renaissance bray harp and Scottish lever harp. She uses them all to full effect in a concert of beautiful early harp music from the British Isles, including music from the Scottish Highlands (on Gaelic wire strung harp), along with some amazing works on the buzzing Gothic bray harp, written specially for her by her partner, the leading composer Graham Fitkin.

Manchester Camerata Play Schumann and Mozart

Craig Ogden in concert

Saturday 7th June, 8pm Chester Cathedral

Craig Ogden is not only one of the world’s greatest guitarists - he’s Ensemble Deva’s resident guitarist too - and the night before taking part in the popular Gran Caffé Venezia! Concert, Craig showcases his amazing talents and his laid-back ability to talk to the audience. Expect a virtuoso programme of exciting intricacy as Craig returns to the festival for a solo recital that will thrill guitar lovers.

Manchester Camerata Wilbur Lin and Alpesh Chauhan (conductors) Helen Wilson (flute) Mikhail Nemstov (cello) Mozart Symphony no 31 (Paris) Ibert Concerto for Flute Schumann Overture, Scherzo and Finale Schumann Concerto for Cello

Saturday 7th June 8pm Chester Town Hall

KSENIJA SIDOROVA

WILBUR LIN

ALPESH CHAUHAN

Festival orchestra-inresidence Manchester Camerata in Chester Cathedral with Mozart’s ‘Paris’ Symphony (No.31) along with Schumann’s much loved Cello Concerto. Led by the astounding directors Wilbur Lin and Alpesh Chauhan. NB This concert takes places in the South Transept at Chester Cathedral. Tickets are very limited and early booking is highly recommended!

Gran Caffé Venezia! Sunday 8th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall Ensemble Deva featuring Giovanni Guzzo (violin) Ksenija Sidorova (accordion) Craig Ogden (guitar)

One of the sold-out highlights of last year’s festival was the dangerous, spontaneous explosion of virtuosity that was the Gran Caffé Venezia! Kill for a ticket this year as Giovanni, Ksenija, Craig and friends raise the roof once more with the kind of music you’d hear in a cafe in Venice – if once a year there just happened to be some worldclass musicians meeting there… NB This concert will sell out! Book early.

SPECIAL FREE FESTIVAL EVENT Michael Kennedy CBE in discussion

Richard Strauss @ 150 Kathryn Rudge in Concert

Wednesday 11th June, 6.30pm Chester Town Hall

Free to ticket holders of tonight’s Strauss Gala concert.

Tuesday 10th June 8pm Chester Town Hall LEE BISSET

Mahler Symphony no. 4 Monday 9th June, 8pm Chester Cathedral Ensemble Deva led by Giovanni Guzzo (violin) with Lee Bisset (soprano) Richard Strauss Till Eulenspiegel Richard Strauss DuetConcertino for Strings, Clarinet & Bassoon Mahler Symphony no. 4 Ensemble Deva are joined by the multi-award winning and internationally acclaimed

soprano Lee Bisset in this unique performance of Mahler’s wonderful and popular 4th Symphony, in the glorious surroundings of Chester Cathedral. In the week of Richard Strauss’s 150th birthday, Ensemble Deva will perform Strauss’s last completed work (Duet-Concertino), plus a rare chamber version of the ever popular Till Eulenspiegel. An undisputed highlight of this year’s festival! NB This concert takes places in the South Transept at Chester Cathedral. Tickets are very limited and early booking is highly recommended!

Kathryn Rudge (mezzosoprano) James Baillieu (piano) What a treat! Liverpool’s Kathryn Rudge is one of the hottest new properties on the British opera scene and was featured as the new face of classical music in The Times Rising Stars of 2012. She was the recipient of The Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss (see Michael Kennedy - Wed June 11th) and is already a favourite at Glyndebourne, ENO and the RLPO. Tonight she will shine in a programme of Schubert, Schumann, Quilter and Bridge.

Lunchtime Recital

Hannah Roberts (cello) and Simon Parkin (piano) Tuesday 10th June, 1pm Chester Town Hall Ensemble Deva favourite and stellar cellist Hannah Roberts in concert with her partner and collaborator Simon Parkin in a programme including cello sonatas by Debussy and Beethoven, along with Fauré’s Élégie.

We are delighted to welcome the wonderful, world-renowned Richard Strauss expert, critic, biographer and vocal mentor Michael Kennedy, in a special pre-concert talk on the very occasion of Strauss’ birthday 150 years ago.

Richard Strauss Birthday Gala Concert Wednesday 11th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall

Happy 150th Birthday Richard Strauss! Ensemble Deva are celebrating the day with two of his sonatas; Giovanni, Hannah and Martin will ensure that it will be an evening to remember for at least another 150 years.

Ensemble Deva Giovanni Guzzo (violin) Hannah Roberts (cello) Martin Roscoe (piano) Richard Strauss 5 Pieces Op 2 Richard Strauss Cello Sonata Op.6 Richard Strauss Stimmingsbilder Op.9 Richard Strauss Violin Sonata Op. 18

Lunchtime Recital

Sophie Rosa in Concert Thursday 12th June, 1pm Chester Town Hall Sophie Rosa (violin) Chester’s home-grown star of Ensemble Deva, the irrepressible and uber-talented Sophie Rosa, returns for another lunchtime feast.

TIM JACKSON

Ensemble Deva

Intimate Classics II Thursday 12th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall Ensemble Deva Tim Jackson (horn) Thelma Handy (violin) Ian Buckle (piano) Richard Strauss Andante for Horn and Piano Richard Strauss Allegretto in E for Violin and Piano Richard Strauss Daphne Etude in G for unaccompanied violin Brahms Violin Sonata in G, op 78 Brahms Horn Trio op.40 Ensemble Deva’s Liverpool contingent – the brilliant Tim Jackson, Ian Buckle and Thelma Handy (coleader of the Liverpool Phil) – in a superb and intimate programme of world-class Brahms and Strauss.

11 Gwilym Simcock Live in Chester Saturday 14th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall

GIOVANNI GUZZO

Quartet for the End of Time Friday 13th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall Ensemble Deva Giovanni Guzzo (violin) Lynsey Marsh (clarinet) Hannah Roberts (cello) Martin Roscoe (piano) Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time Shostakovich Piano Trio no. 2

Music from another war with Messiaen’s mystical, magical and utterly magnificent Quartet for the End of Time, written in Stalag VIII-A in 1941. Premiered in the camp, outside in the rain, the piece embodies the transcendent power of truly great music.

The exceptional, dazzling, British jazz superstar Gwilym Simcock is famous as a pianist who is able to move effortlessly between jazz and classical music, and here at the festival he will prove that he can, at times, inhabit both worlds at once. We are proud to present the premiere of Gwilym’s earthdefying new improvisations on Debussy’s Children’s Corner. Another festival highlight!

“ …I’ll be watching our finest young pianoplayer Gwilym Simcock - don’t miss him while you can still see him in venues without ushers”. Jamie Cullum The Guardian

Performed here in a little more comfort but with no less intensity, by four absolutely world-class musicians. Bound to be a major festival highlight.

Sunday 15th June, 8pm Chester Town Hall Ensemble Deva Rachael Clegg (oboe) Lynsey Marsh (clarinet) Giovanni Guzzo (violin) Richard Williamson (viola) Hannah Roberts (cello) Mozart Oboe Quintet Mozart Clarinet Quintet Two of the classical music world’s’ most popular and enduring pieces bring this year’s festival to a jubilant and explosive close. Time to fight for a ticket again!

“ first-rate...and a godsend to the music circuit” The Telegraph on Ensemble Deva

Elgar - Spirit of England with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Saturday 19th July, 8pm Chester Cathedral Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Chester Festival Chorus Chorus Director: Frances Cooke Elgar Spirit of England Op.80 1915-1917 Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem In 1915 Elgar started to give serious thought to writing a requiem for the WW1 slain, based on Binyon’s “For the Fallen” (‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old ...’). The resulting Spirit of England was dedicated to ‘to the memory of our glorious men, with a special thought for the Worcesters’ and is one of his most poignant, beautiful and deeply patriotic works.

50 Moments that Rocked the Classical Music World Saturday 14th June, 2:30pm Chester Town Hall

With Vaughan Williams’ later plea for peace, Dona Nobis Pacem, based on Walt Whitman’s poetry and written in 1936 as yet another war loomed, this concert is a doubly special, uniquely fitting finale for this year’s festival. It will be a moving and spirited evocation of the end of the Age of Innocence.

We are delighted to welcome Classic FM’s Sam Jackson and Darren Henley to the festival to talk about (and sign copies of) their new book, 50 Moments that Rocked the Classical Music World. Darren and Sam will give us an eclectic, fun and informative guide to the 50 moments that changed classical music forever, from technological advances in music recording and practical innovations, to landmark concerts, the births and deaths of the great composers, and much more.

Ensemble Deva – Finale!

GWILYM SIMCOCK

Early booking for prime seats in the Nave highly recommended.

BOOKING & TRAVEL Booking

Savings!

Concessions!

There are plenty of savings to be made by booking in advance via our ‘book it now’ prices. These discounts are limited and only available online so be quick.

There are also some great discounts available including £4 off evening concerts for under 20s and students, all under 12s free (when accompanied by an adult) and a limited number of ‘teens for a tenner’ available to book online.

You can also save £££s by purchasing an Ensemble Deva Pass. These can be bought at a cost of £60 for six of the Ensemble concerts, or £90 for the full ten-concert programme – a saving of over £100!

Book Online with no fees or charges at www. chestermusicfestival.co.uk Or, via our ticket agents (a 10% booking fee applies) either by phone on 0845 241 7868 or in person at Chester Visitor Information Centre

Ticket prices are simple: All full concerts are priced at £19.50 and all lunchtime recitals are £10.

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MBNA Chester Music Festival takes place in Chester Town Hall and Chester Cathedral. Seating is allocated on the night* and there is no price difference in seating. * Except on Saturday 19th July where you can reserve specific seats the earlier you book.

For access information, visit www.chestermusicfestival. co.uk

Pedestrian areas City Walls

For priority booking, festival passes and exclusive offers… join the Chester Performs membership scheme today! Alongside the MBNA Chester Music Festival, Chester Performs produce a year-round programme of high quality events and festivals including the critically acclaimed Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, the Essar Chester Literature Festival and new open air cinema season Moonlight Flicks.

Chester Town Hall Northgate Street, CH1 2HJ

Join us as a member and you’ll be the first we talk to about discounts, special events and new ideas. Along with the usual membership benefits, you’ll also find that we may make spare tickets available at special prices and invite you to exclusive events and social gatherings.

Chester Visitor Information Centre Town Hall Square

Membership is also the only way to access priority booking and our massive season ticket discounts such as the Ensemble Deva pass.

Chester Bus Station is a 2 minute walk away.

For more information and to sign up, visit www.chesterperforms.com/membership

Chester Cathedral Abbey Square, CH1 2HU

Chester Train Station is a 15 minute walk away

Parking

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Ticket Prices

Ensemble Deva passes are only available to Chester Performs members. For more information about joining our membership scheme, visit www.chesterperforms.com/ membership.

Festival Venues

There are secure car parks located across the city centre. Postcodes for your sat navs include:

MBNA Chester Music Festival

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