Seeing Double with Nicola Benedetti

Credit Marco Borggreve

SEEING DOUBLE WITH NICOLA BENEDETTI

AVISON CONCERTO GROSSO NO.5 IN D MINOR VIVALDI CONCERTO IN D FOR 2 VIOLINS RV 513 VIVALDI CONCERTO IN D MINOR FOR 2 VIOLINS RV 514 VIVALDI CONCERTO IN A MINOR FOR 2 OBOES RV 536 JS BACH CONCERTO IN D MINOR FOR 2 VIOLINS BWV1043 PURCELL RONDEAU FROM ABDELAZER

Director/Harpsichord Jonathan Cohen

Double Bass Christine Sticher

Violin Soloist Nicola Benedetti

Oboe Katharina Spreckelsen* Sarah Humphrys*

Violin I Kati Debretzeni* Iona Davies Julia Kuhn Alice Evans Daniel Edgar Violin II Rodolfo Richter* Claire Holden Andrew Roberts Deborah Diamond Henry Tong

Harpsichord Steven Devine

*solo performers

Viola Annette Isserlis Martin Kelly Katie Heller Marina Ascherson Cello Jonathan Manson Andrew Skidmore

We are grateful for the support of Jenny and Tim Morrison and our friends at Snape Maltings

PROGRAMME NOTES Richard Bratby

CONCERTO GROSSO NO.5 IN D MINOR Charles Avison (1709-1770) Largo Allegro Andante moderato Allegro Charles Avison was born, worked and died (of a chill contracted during a freak May snowstorm) in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Baroque Newcastle was a thriving port and merchant city, on the cusp of industrial prosperity, and although Avison studied with Francesco Geminiani in London, “this ingenious and polished man” (in Charles Burney’s words) declined numerous offers of lucrative positions elsewhere in England.

And in an age of ever more efficient communications, he was quick to assimilate new musical styles – particularly from Italy.

Avison’s twelve concerti grossi of 1744 were based almost entirely on the hugely-popular keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti. It was a shrewd move: the concertos became highly popular too, and are even mentioned in Tristram Shandy. After a (possibly) wholly original introductory Largo, this fifth of the set deftly reimagines three Scarlatti sonatas: in Avison’s opinion (and that of his contemporaries), an act not of plagiarism but of removing “the Mask which concealed their natural beauty and elegancy”.

CONCERTO IN D FOR 2 VIOLINS RV 513 Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Allegro molto Andante Allegro They called him Il Prete Rosso (the red priest) and with his curly auburn hair and electrifying violin playing, it’s fair to say that Antonio Vivaldi wasn’t your typical clergyman. Certainly, he cut quite a dash at the Ospedale della Pietà, the extraordinary institution – part convent, part music college – that offered shelter to Venice’s orphaned girls, and where Vivaldi worked as a music teacher for much of his career.

It's still astonishing to think that many of Vivaldi’s concertos – for all their later, Europe-wide success – were originally composed for teenage girls. He wrote some 27 concertos for two violins, and although the precise date of this one is unknown, it’s typical of his approach. Over three movements, the two instruments echo, converse and converge, in a musical equivalent of the constantly shifting patterns of reflected light and water that – even today – give Venice so much of its glitter, its mystery and its splendour.

CONCERTO IN D MINOR FOR 2 VIOLINS RV 514

CONCERTO IN A MINOR FOR 2 OBOES RV 536

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Allegro non molto Adagio Allegro molto Antonio Vivaldi became a priest in 1703, and spent nearly three decades working at the Venetian institution – part convent, part music college – known as the Conservatorio dell’ Ospedale della Pietà. Dubbed Il Prete Rosso (the red priest) for his hair colour, his skill as a violinist shaped his compositions and, in Italy at least, overshadowed them– the playwright Goldoni described him as “excellent jouer de violon et compositeur médiocre”. Posterity has tended to disagree.

And not just posterity: even JS Bach is known to have studied and learned from Vivaldi’s concertos. The two violins echo, converse and converge with a urgent, dancing brilliance that’s very Venetian (it’s a city of illusions, reflections and glittering splendour) and very Vivaldi. “I have heard him boast that he has composed a concerto, in all its parts, faster than a copyist could write it out” recalled the French traveller Charles de Brosses. Unsurprisingly, this one sounds as if the ink is still fresh upon the page.

Concerto in A minor for two oboes in A minor, RV536

Allegro Largo

Allegro In the early 18th century, the teenage residents of the Ospedale della Pietà, Venice’s great orphanage for gentlewomen, received the best musical training that money could buy. Concerts and tuition were overseen by Antonio Vivaldi, but the staff also included a series of virtuoso oboists: Ludvico Erdman, Onofrio Penati and the German-born Ignazio Siber. Vivaldi had ample opportunity to ask advice about the latest advances in oboe playing – and a regular supply of brilliant young soloists, too.

So there’s a real sense of theatre about this concerto, one of at least three that Vivaldi is known to have composed for two oboes.

The two soloists frequently play in close harmony, like trumpets, and the concerto even begins with miniature fanfares. The two soloists lilt their way through the central Largo – a stately processional with distant echoes of the Venetian lagoon – before jumping back into the orchestral bustle of the final Allegro, in tones both melancholy and ceremonial.

CONCERTO IN D MINOR FOR TWO VIOLINS BWV1043 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Allegro Andante Allegro assai We think of Bach as an organist, but a baroque kapellmeister was expected to be a master of all trades, and he took pride in his violin playing. “In his youth, and until the approach of old age, Father played the violin cleanly and resonantly”, recalled his son Carl Philipp. Generations of performers of Bach’s solo suites and partitas have testified to his almost supernatural understanding of what makes string instruments sing.

So it doesn’t really matter that we don’t know the precise origin of his D minor double concerto. The surviving manuscript parts (in Bach’s own hand) are dated 1730, during which time Bach was director of the Collegium Musicum, a concert-giving society in Leipzig. What’s certain is that Bach had been studying Vivaldi, and had written a concerto as brilliant as anything from Venice, yet as sincere and inspired as anything he ever created - whether in the invigorating counterpoint of the first movement, the bristling energy of the last, or the long, rapturous aria at the concerto’s deeply expressive heart.

ABOUT THE INSTRUMENTS IN THIS FILM SERIES

Introducing the Baroque Cello

"If you think of it like peanut butter, gut strings would be the rough kind with bits, when you feel more of the original material�

Our Principal Cello Luise Buchberger introduces the Baroque Cello.

Introducing the Baroque Oboe

'The lack of keys on this instrument should never be seen as a disadvantage.'

Our Principal Oboe Katharina Spreckelsen on why the quirks of the Baroque oboe make it so exciting.

We have a free YouTube channel where you can watch more of our musicians talk about their period instruments.

BEHIND THE SCENES Kati Debretzeni, OAE Leader, violin "The recording of this concert at Snape Maltings was a special and moving occasion - the first time many of us had performed to a live audience since the lockdown in March. The audience, socially distanced and filling half the hall, offered rapt attention and rapturous reception and from chats with many of them outside after the concert it became clear that hearing live music meant as much to them as it did to us.

A special highlight for me personally was the chance to perform with Nicola Benedetti- albeit tinged with sadness, as it only came about due to Alina Ibragimova’s absence, following the tragic loss of her father two days beforehand. The piece we played together, Vivaldi’s concerto for two violins RV514 had plenty to offer in terms of musical dialogue, the rapid-fire cascades of the outer movements passing to and fro between us, framing the touching and delicate second movement. It was a privilege and a delight to play it with Nicky, a memory I will cherish for a long time to come."

NICOLA BENEDETTI BIOGRAPHY Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought-after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences and her wide appeal as an advocate for classical music has made her one of the most influential artists of today.

This season, Nicola will collaborate with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for live concerts at the BBC Proms and with digital projects for the Philharmonia and Paavo Järvi and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Maxim Emelyanychev. Additionally, Nicola performs with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and James Gaffigan, the Spanish National Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony with Pablo Heras-Casado. She is also Artist in Residence for the St Louis Symphony and will perform several concerts, recitals and masterclasses throughout the season. In Spring 2021 Nicola will give the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda, before the same work is performed with the RSNO and WDR Köln.

Last season’s highlights include Nicola’s debut with the Wiener Symphoniker, a tour of Asia with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati, plus returning performances with Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas with both the New World Symphony and the London Symphony orchestras, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a European tour with Thomas Søndergård and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Nicola has continued her role as a dedicated, passionate ambassador and leader in music education. Her commitment to supporting the UK’s music practitioners was underlined in July 2018, when Nicola took over as President of the European String Teachers’ Association.

She has formalised her vision and expanded her commitment to the education of young people and support of music teachers by establishing a charitable organisation: The Benedetti Foundation. Launched in January 2020, The Benedetti Foundation, puts on transformative workshops for young people and teachers, showcasing what music education at its best can look and feel like. The Foundation has delivered four live sessions throughout the UK and in May 2020, during lockdown, the Foundation went online with a “virtual sessions” providing over 7,000 musicians across the globe online tutorials and inspirational workshops.

Winner of the GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2020, as well as Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively for Decca (Universal Music). Her latest recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto entered at number one in the UK’s Official Classical Album Chart. Other recent recordings include her GRAMMY award-winning album written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin.

Nicola was appointed a CBE in 2019, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music (2017), and an MBE in 2013. In addition, Nicola holds the positions of Vice President (National Children’s Orchestras), Big Sister (Sistema Scotland), Patron (National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, Music in Secondary Schools Trust and Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).

Nicola plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.

Image credit: Simon Fowler

SOLOIST BIOGRAPHIES

Kati Debretzeni

Rodolfo Richter

Born in Transylvania, Kati studied the violin with Ora Shiran in Israel, and the Baroque violin with Catherine Mackintosh and Walter Reiter at the Royal College of Music in London.

Kati has taken a starring role in several OAE performances. She performed alongside the dancers in our fresh take on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons when we collaborated with renowned choreographer Henri Oguike in 2013 and fused authentic performance with contemporary choreography. Also, Kati directed our concert with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly from the violin in 2017, which was an unusual, challenging and rewarding feat.

British/Brazilian violinist Rodolfo Richter is a frequent guest director and soloist around the world, including engagements with Tafelmusik (Toronto), Arion (Montréal), Portland Baroque Orchestra, Tesserae (Los Angeles), Seville Baroque Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music and B’Rock.

He has been praised by the international press as ‘one of the most inspirational baroque violinists of his generation’ and performs and collaborates regularly with artists like Sonia Prina, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Roel Dieltens, Bernarda Fink, Giuliano Carmignola, Karina Gauvin, Alexander Melnikov and Richard Egarr.

For 10 years he held the position of leader of both the Academy of Ancient Music and B’Rock as well as professor of baroque violin at the Royal College of Music in London. Currently he tours around the globe with his Richter Ensemble and is the musical director of the Early Music Course and Festival at the Oficina de Música de Curitiba in Brazil.

Katharina Spreckelsen

Sarah Humphrys

Katharina Spreckelsen is one of the leading baroque oboists of her generation. She was born in Germany and after studying with the late Michel Piguet in Basle, Katharina moved to London for further studies with Paul Goodwin at the Royal College of Music.

Originally from Devon in the UK, Sarah Humphrys studied baroque oboe, recorder and shawm at the Royal College of Music in London, and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. She now enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player and teacher.

She soon became a much sought-after player with many European Ensembles. Katharina was principal oboist with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Gabrieli Consort & Players and Florilegium and she now divides her time between The English Concert, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Christian Curnyn’s Early Opera Company.

Sarah performs throughout Europe with her two chamber groups- Ensemble Meridiana, the recipients of 3 major international chamber music awards, and Fontanella, recorder quintet.

Sarah also plays regularly in venues all over the world with period instrument ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Gabrieli Consort, I Fagiolini, the Sixteen, La Nuova Musica and the English Concert.

Katharina has recorded extensively. She can be heard on many of Ton Koopman’s Bach Cantata recordings. With the Gabrieli Consort & Players she has recorded Oratorios by Handel, sacred works by J S Bach and Haydn’s Creation.

With The English Concert she appears notably on discs with David Daniels, Elizabeth Watts, Danielle De Niese and Lucy Crowe.

Katharina is professor of baroque and classical oboe at the Royal Academy of Music. Over the past twenty years she has fostered a new generation of baroque oboists, many of whom are now her colleagues

Sarah has performed as a principal player in seasons at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre since 2003 and has played on soundtracks including Shrek 3 and Wolf Hall.

Jonathan Cohen Jonathan Cohen has forged a remarkable career as a conductor, cellist and keyboardist.

Well known for his passion and commitment to chamber music Jonathan is equally at home in such diverse activities as baroque opera and the classical symphonic repertoire. He is Artistic Director of Arcangelo, Music Director of Les Violons du Roy, Artistic Director of Tetbury Festival and Artistic Partner of Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

During the 20-21 season he returns to Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (BBC Proms) and Handel and Haydn Society. He makes his debut at Staatsoper Berlin performing Orfeo with Freiburger Barockorchester and Vocalconsort Berlin in a production by Sasha Waltz Company.

Other debuts include Kobe City Chamber Orchestra and Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and he continues his fruitful collaboration in Quebec with Les Violons du Roy.

Jonathan founded Arcangelo in 2010, who strive to perform high quality and specially created projects. He has toured with them to exceptional halls and festivals including Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin, Kรถlner Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Salzburg Festival and Carnegie Hall New York. They made their Proms debut at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2016 and returned to the Proms in 2018 to present Theodora to a sold-out Royal Albert Hall. They continue with a busy recording schedule to continued acclaim with recent releases such as "Arianna" with Kate Lindsey on Alpha records and Grammy nominated Buxtehude trio sonatas.

“Not all orchestras are the same” Three decades ago, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch. They began by throwing out the rulebook. Put a single conductor in charge?

No way. Specialise in repertoire of a particular era? Too restricting. Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born.

And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowed to keep questioning, adapting and inventing as long as it lived. Those original instruments became just one element of its quest for authenticity.

Baroque and Classical music became just one strand of its repertoire. Every time the musical establishment thought it had a handle on what the OAE was all about, the ensemble pulled out another shocker: a Symphonie Fantastique here, some conductor-less Bach there. All the while, the Orchestra’s players called the shots.

At first it felt like a minor miracle. Ideas and talent were plentiful; money wasn’t. Somehow, the OAE survived to a year. Then to two. Then to five. It began to make benchmark recordings and attract the finest conductors. It became the toast of the European touring circuit. It bagged distinguished residencies at Southbank Centre and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. It began, before long, to thrive. And then came the real challenge.

The ensemble’s musicians were branded eccentric idealists. And that they were determined to remain.

In the face of the music industry’s big guns, the OAE kept its head. It got organised but remained experimentalist. It sustained its founding drive but welcomed new talent. It kept on exploring performance formats, rehearsal approaches and musical techniques. It searched for the right repertoire, instruments and approaches with even greater resolve. It kept true to its founding vow.

In some small way, the OAE changed the classical music world too. It challenged those distinguished partner organisations and brought the very best from them, too. Symphony and opera orchestras began to ask it for advice. Existing period instrument groups started to vary their conductors and repertoire. New ones popped up all over Europe and America.

And so the story continues, with ever more momentum and vision. The OAE’s series of nocturnal Night Shift performances have redefined concert parameters. Its former home at London’s Kings Place has fostered further diversity of planning and music-making. The ensemble has formed the bedrock for some of Glyndebourne’s most ground-breaking recent productions.

In keeping with its values of always questioning, challenging and trailblazing, in September 2020, the OAE became the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School, Camden. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightment to live, work and play amongst the students of the school.

Remarkable people are behind it. Simon Rattle, the young conductor in whom the OAE placed so much of its initial trust, still cleaves to the ensemble.

Iván Fischer, the visionary who punted some of his most individual musical ideas on the young orchestra, continues to challenge it. Mark Elder still mines it for luminosity, shade and line. Vladimir Jurowski, the podium technician with an insatiable appetite for creative renewal, has drawn from it some of the most revelatory noises of recent years. And, most recently, it’s been a laboratory for John Butt’s most exciting Bach experiments. All five of them share the title Principal Artist.

Of the instrumentalists, many remain from those brave first days; many have come since. All seem as eager and hungry as ever. They’re offered ever greater respect, but continue only to question themselves. Because still, they pride themselves on sitting ever so slightly outside the box. They wouldn’t want it any other way. ©Andrew Mellor

OAE TEAM

Orchestra Consultant Philippa Brownsword

Life President Sir Martin Smith

Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead

Choir Manager David Clegg

Finance and Governance Director Pascale Nicholls

Librarian Colin Kitching

Board of Directors Imogen Overli [Chairman] Steven Devine Denys Firth Adrian Frost Nigel Jones Max Mandel David Marks Rebecca Miller Roger Montgomery Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Matthew Shorter Dr. Susan Tranter Crispin Woodhead

Development Director Emily Stubbs Projects Director Jo Perry Education Director Cherry Forbes Communications Director Elle Docx General Manager Edward Shaw Education Officer Andrew Thomson Projects Officer Sophie Adams Finance Officer Fabio Lodato Digital Content Officer Zen Grisdale

Leaders Huw Daniel Kati Debretzeni Margaret Faultless Matthew Truscott Players’ Artistic Committee Steven Devine Max Mandel Roger Montgomery Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Principal Artists John Butt Sir Mark Elder Iván Fischer Vladimir Jurowski Sir Simon Rattle Sir András Schiff Emeritus Conductors William Christie Sir Roger Norrington

Marketing and Press Officer Anna Bennett Box Office and Data Manager Carly Mills Head of Individual Giving and Digital Development Marina Abel Smith Development Operations Officer Kiki Betts-Dean

Life President

OAE Trust Adrian Frost [Chairman] Paul Forman Steven Larcombe Alison McFadyen Caroline Noblet Imogen Overli Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Diane Segalen Maarten Slendebroek Sir Martin Smith Caroline Steane Honorary Council Sir Victor Blank Edward Bonham Carter Cecelia Bruggemeyer Stephen Levinson Marshall Marcus Julian Mash Greg Melgaard Susan Palmer OBE Jan Schlapp Susannah Simons Lady Smith OBE Rosalyn Wilkinson Mark Williams

ABOUT SNAPE MALTINGS With a history as an industrial site stretching back over 175 years, the roots of Snape Maltings as it exists today were planted by the composer Benjamin Britten and landowner George Gooderham, who both recognised the potential of the striking Maltings buildings and their stunning location.

Having bought the already busy shipping port at Snape Bridge in 1841, Victorian industrial entrepreneur Newson Garrett built Snape Maltings over the following decades in order to malt barley and ship it by Thames barge to breweries in London and elsewhere. The business expanded quickly and thrived throughout for decades as demand from breweries increased. A purpose-built branch of the East Suffolk railway line was built to Snape Maltings to support the business and from 1859 to 1960 up to three trains a day would run to and from the Maltings. At full industrial use Snape Maltings grew to some seven acres of buildings and was one of the largest flat floor maltings in the country.

In 1965, after 120 years, the malting of barley ceased, the direct result of inefficiencies of a large complex and the site was purchased by Suffolk farmer George Gooderham.

Meanwhile the composer Benjamin Britten had founded the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts, five miles from Snape, in 1948 and the festival quickly established an international reputation, outgrowing its small venues in Aldeburgh and other locations around the Suffolk coast. In the course of the 1950s and 60s Britten explored ways to build a larger venue to host the festival, and in 1965 he leased the largest building at Snape Maltings from George Gooderham to convert into the 810-seat Snape Maltings Concert Hall, which was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth in 1967. This became the home of the Aldeburgh Festival and a venue internationally renowned for the superb quality of its acoustic. It was one of the earliest examples of an industrial building being repurposed for arts use.

The Hall suffered serious fire damage two years later, re-opening in time for the Aldeburgh Festival in 1970. The conversion of the building was undertaken by Arup Associates, with the acoustics supervised

by Derek Sugden.

From 1967 to 2015 there were parallel developments on the site, with the Gooderham family gradually creating an independent retail complex and Britten and his successors expanding beyond Snape Maltings Concert Hall to create a musical campus that would enable his vision of a place for not only an international performance programme but also work with young artists, education and community engagement. The retail and residential complex went under the banner of Snape Maltings, while the organisation running the music and arts activity became known as Aldeburgh Music, making clear that the work was the year-round expansion of the ideas and vision at the heart of Britten’s Aldeburgh Festival.

The festival always had a distinctive feel, thanks to its mixture of stunning natural environment, international stars, up-and-coming artists and local community involvement. Britten died in 1976, but his pioneering vision for a place international in its scope yet rooted in its local community has inspired his successors to convert many more former maltings buildings on the site to create one of the world’s great centres of music, a place filled with the energy of artists creating work throughout the year.

The site continues to evolve today, with significant development planned for 2020-25. New artist accommodation and music studios will help transform Snape Maltings into a place where musicians and researchers live and work throughout the year, exploring new ground in music and its power to improve people’s lives.

For more information about this beautiful venue, please visit https://snapemaltings.co.uk/

SUPPORTERS OAE Thirty Circle

We are particularly grateful to the following members of the Thirty Circle who have so

generously contributed to the re-financing

of the Orchestra through the OAE Trust.

Thirty Circle Patrons Bob and Laura Cory

Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Thirty Circle Members

Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter

Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones

Selina and David Marks

Julian and Camilla Mash

Mark and Rosamund Williams

OAE Experience scheme

Ann and Peter Law

Corporate Partners

- Principal Keyboard Jenny and Tim Morrison - Second Violin

Champagne Deutz

Caroline Noblet

Mark Allen Group

Andrew Nurnberg

Lubbock Fine Chartered Accountants

Swan Turton

Corporate Associates

- Oboe

- Principal Oboe

Professor Richard Portes - Principal Bassoon

Aston Lark

Olivia Roberts

Gelato

John and Rosemary Shannon

Bannenberg and Rowell

Season Patrons

John Armitage Charitable Trust Julian and Annette Armstrong Adrian Frost

Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones

Selina and David Marks

Imogen and Haakon Overli

Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Mark and Rosamund Williams

One Anonymous Donor Project Patrons

Anthony and Celia Edwards Bruce Harris

Philip and Rosalyn Wilkinson

One Anonymous Donor Aria Patrons

Mrs A Boettcher

Stanley Lowy

Gary and Nina Moss

Rupert Sebag-Montefiore

Maarten and Taina Slendebroek

Caroline Steane Eric Tomsett

Chair Patrons

Mrs Nicola Armitage

- Education Director

Hugh and Michelle Arthur - Double Bass

Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter -Principal Trumpet

Ian S Ferguson and Dr Susan Tranter

-

Double Bass

James Flynn QC

- Principal Lute/Theorbo

Paul Forman

- Principal Cello, Principal Horn, Violin

Jonathan and Tessa Gaisman - Viola

Michael and Harriet Maunsell

- Violin

- Principal Horn

Roger and Pam Stubbs - Clarinet

Crispin Woodhead and Christine Rice - Principal Timpani

Education Patrons

Mrs Nicola Armitage

Patricia and Stephen Crew Rory and Louise Landman

Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd

Andrew & Cindy Peck

Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA Rising Stars Supporters

Annette and Julian Armstrong Mrs Rosamund Bernays Denys and Vicki Firth Bruce Harris

Ms Madeleine Hodgkin Mrs Sarah Holford

Nigel Jones and Francoise Valat-Jones Peter & Veronica Lofthouse Mark and Liza Loveday Mr Andrew Nurnberg

Old Possum's Practical Trust Imogen and Haakon Overli

The Reed Foundation Associate Patrons

Charles and Julia Abel Smith Noël and Caroline Annesley

Sir Richard Arnold and Mary Elford

Catherine and Barney Burgess Katharine Campbell

David and Marilyn Clark David Emmerson

Peter and Sally Hilliar

Steven Larcombe

Moira and Robert Latham

Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd

Alison McFadyen

Roger Mears and Joanie Speers

Julian Markson

MM Design - France

Cynthia and Neil McClennan

Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust

John Ransom

Peter Rosenthal

Alan Sainer

Sue Sheridan OBE

Mr and Mrs Tony Timms

The Patrick Rowland Foundation

David Wilson

Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity

David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon John Nickson and Simon Rew Andrew and Cindy Peck

Ivor Samuels and Gerry Wakelin Emily Stubbs and Stephen McCrum

Shelley von Strunckel

Stuart Martin

Paul Rivlin

Palazzetto Bru-Zane

Matthew & Sarah Shorter Mrs Joy Whitby

Two Anonymous Donors

Young Patron

Gold Friends

Marianne and William Cartwright-Hignett

Gerard Cleary

Ed Abel Smith

Elizabeth George David Gillbe

Mr and Mrs C Cochin de Billy

Sam Hucklebridge

Anthony and Carol Rentoul

Peter Yardley-Jones

Chris Gould

David and Ruth Samuels Mr Anthony Thompson

Henry Mason

Young Ambassador Patron

Two Anonymous Donors

Jessica Kemp

Silver Friends

Rebecca Miller

Dennis and Sheila Baldry

Tony Burt

Breandán Knowlton

Apax Foundation

Anthony and Jo Diamond

Ashley Family Foundation

Malcolm Herring

Boshier-Hinton Foundation

Rupert and Alice King

Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust

Mr and Mrs Michael Cooper

Arts Council England

Rachel & Charles Henderson

Barbour Foundation

Brian Mitchell Charitable Settlement

Alison and Ian Lowdon

The Charles Peel Charitable Trust

Her Honour Suzanne Stewart

Chivers Trust

Susannah Simons

Chapman Charitable Trust

Two Anonymous Donors

Derek Hill Foundation

Bronze Friends

Dyers Company

Tony Baines

Robin Broadhurst

Graham and Claire Buckland Dan Burt

D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Ernest Cook Trust

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation

Sir Anthony & Lady Cleaver

Garfield Weston Foundation

Roger Easy

Geoffrey Watling Charity

Michael A Conlon Mrs SM Edge

Mrs Mary Fysh

Stephen & Cristina Goldring Martin and Helen Haddon

Garrick Charitable Trust Henocq Law Trust

JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation J Paul Getty Jnr

General Charitable Trust

Ray and Liz Harsant

John Lyon’s Charity

Mrs Auriel Hill

Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust

The Lady Heseltine

Orchestras Live

Parabola Foundation

Paul Bassham Charitable Trust Peter Cundill Foundation PF Charitable Trust

Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust Radcliffe Trust

Rainbow Dickinson Trust RK Charitable Trust

Schroder Charity Trust Sir James Knott Trust Sobell Foundation

Stanley Picker Trust

The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust The Loveday Charitable Trust

The R&I Pilkington Charitable Trust The Shears Foundation

The Vernon Ellis Foundation

Trusts & Foundations

Christopher Campbell

Patricia Herrmann

National Foundation for Youth Music

Old Possum’s Practical Trust

Six Anonymous Donors

Michael Brecknell

Michael Marks Charitable Trust

Stephen and Penny Pickles

Mr J Westwood

Robert Wilkinson

Metropolitan Masonic Charity

Linbury Trust

The OAE continues to grow and thrive through the generosity of our supporters.

We are very grateful to our sponsors and Patrons and hope you will consider joining them. We offer a close involvement in the life of the Orchestra with many opportunities to meet players, attend rehearsals and even accompany us on tour.

For more information on supporting the OAE please contact Emily Stubbs Development Director

emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk

0208 159 9318

WE MOVED INTO A SCHOOL We are thrilled to announce that we are now the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School in Camden, North London. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows us to live, work and play amongst the students of the school.

Three offices have been adapted for our administration team, alongside a recording studio and library. We use the Grade II listed school assembly hall as a rehearsal space, with plans to refurbish it under the school’s ‘A Theatre for All’ project, so for the first time, we will all be in the same place: players, staff and library!

Crispin Woodhead, our chief executive who came up with the idea of a new partnership, says: “Our accommodation at Kings Place was coming to an agreed end and we needed to find a new home. I felt that we should not settle for a conventional office space solution. We already had a strong relationship with many schools in Camden through our education programme and our appeal hit the desk of Kat Miller, director of operations at Acland Burghley School. She was working on ways to expand the school’s revenue from its resources and recognised that their excellent school hall might be somewhere we could rehearse.

It felt like a thunderbolt and meant we wanted to find a way for this place to be our home, and embark on this new adventure to challenge and transform the way we engage with young adults.”

The school isn't just our landlord or physical home. Instead, it will offer the opportunity to build on twenty years of work in the borough through OAE’s long-standing partnership with Camden Music. Having already worked in eighteen of the local primary schools that feed into ABS, the plans moving forward are to support music and arts across the school into the wider community. This new move underpins our core ‘enlightenment’ mission of reaching as wide an audience as possible.

A similar project was undertaken in 2015 in Bremen, Germany. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie moved into a local comprehensive school in a deprived area and the results were described as “transformational”, with improved academic performance, language skills, mental health and IQ scores; reputational benefits; greater interest in and engagement with music among pupils; strengthened links between school, orchestra and community; and even, according to some of the musicians who took part, an improvement in the Kammerphilharmonie’s playing.

Margaret Faultless, OAE leader and violinist, said: “As classical musicians, it can often feel as though we exist in a bubble. I think I can speak for the whole Orchestra when I say that we’re all looking forward to this new adventure. We are all used to meeting with people from outside the classical music world of course, but the value of our new project lies in the long-term work we’ll be doing at the school and the relationship that will hopefully develop between the students, their parents and teachers and the orchestra.”

“The members of the Bremen Kammerphilharmonie said their experience actually improved them as an orchestra and I think the same will happen to us over the next five or so years, and it will remind all of us of the reasons we make music, which are sometimes easy to forget, especially in our strange and troubled times.” continues Margaret. “I am certainly looking forward to learning from the young people at Acland Burghley and in turn introducing them to the joys of our music and music-making.”

The move has been made possible with a leadership grant of £120,000 from The Linbury Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Their support is facilitating the move to the school and underwriting the first three years of education work.

OAE EDUCATION A PROGRAMME TO INVOLVE, EMPOWER AND INSPIRE Over the past twenty years OAE Education has grown in stature and reach to involve thousands of people nationwide in creative music projects. Our participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and we pride ourselves in working flexibly, adapting to the needs of local people and the places they live.

The extensive partnerships we have built up over many years help us engage fully with all the communities where we work to ensure maximum and lasting impact. We take inspiration from the OAE's repertoire, instruments and players.

This makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone is involved; players, animateurs, composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders all have a valued voice.

SUPPORT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMME The work we do could not happen without the support of our generous donors.

If you would like to support our education programme please contact Marina Abel Smith, Head of Individual Giving and Digital Development marina.abelsmith@oae.co.uk 0208 159 9319

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Acland Burghley School, 93 Burghley Road, London NW5 1UH 0208 159 9310 | info@oae.co.uk Photography | Zen Grisdale