Harrogate International Festivals Sunday Series 2016

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Old Swan Hotel

Help secure the future of Harrogate International Festivals by becoming a Festival Friend. Festival Friends receive many benefits and special privileges including:

Dating back to the 1840s, the Old Swan Hotel is one of Harrogate’s oldest and most cherished hotels. The hotel’s Victorian splendour and traditional elegance is complemented by a modern and contemporary environment.

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Simón Bolivar String Quartet Saturday 12th March | 7.30pm | Tickets: £16-25* *Sunday Series Subscribers enjoy a 10% discount

Alejandro Carreño, violin Ismel Campos, viola

Boris Suárez, violin Aimon Mata, cello

Created from within the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar, the Simón Bolívar String Quartet is made up of principal musicians of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. The Quartet has given concerts across Venezuela, throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, performing in concerts as well as taking part in education and community events. In this celebratory concert, the quartet play a selection of major string quartets, including Bartok’s technically varied String Quartet No.4 and concluding with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No.2 in A minor, written when the composer was just 18 years old.

Advance details of Festival programmes Priority booking for the Sunday Series and Harrogate Music Festival Festival newsletter Membership card Invitation to exclusive Friends events Priority entrance to concerts with unreserved seating at the Festivals Access to the Friends lounge at the Sunday Series with complimentary tea and coffee Access to the Friends lounge at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

The membership scheme starts at just £30 annually.

The hotel has 175 free car parking spaces and full disabled access. If travelling by train, the Old Swan Hotel is located a five minute walk or a short taxi drive from the railway station.

Enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon after the Sunday Series performances with a traditional three course lunch. Lunch is available at the hotel on all performance dates and booking is recommended. For more information or to reserve your table please call the Old Swan Hotel directly on 01423 500 055.

Coffee and Tea will be available to purchase during the interval of all Sunday Series concerts for the Festival rate of £1.30.

Sunday Series

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2016

As a charitable arts organisation we rely on the generous support of our funders, friends, donors and sponsors to create the quality and range of work we deliver. Your donation will support the production of our internationally acclaimed portfolio of activity delivered throughout the year and the incredible work of HIF+, our Learning and Participation work.

For more information, or to become a Friend, please contact the Festival Office on 01423 562 303 or download a membership form from the website:

Chamber concerts and coffee at the Old Swan Hotel Cédric Tiberghien, piano | 24 January Premier Partners

Box Office: 01423 562 303

Navarra String Quartet | 7 February Michael Collins, clarinet | 6 March

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Hyeyoon Park & Benjamin Grosvenor, violin & piano | 20 March

Schubert String Quartet No.12, “Quartettsatz” Bartok String Quartet No.4, Sz.91 Mendelssohn String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.13 “...the quartet electrified its audience with playing of refreshing spontaneity and, above all, a passionate commitment.” Eastern Daily Press

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John Lill, piano | 3 April Harrogate International Festivals is a registered charity no. 244861.

All information in this leaflet is correct at the time of going to print. Harrogate International Festivals reserve the right to make such alterations as may become necessary.

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Box Office: 01423 562 303

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HARROGATEINTERNATIONALFESTIVALS Welcome to the 23rd Sunday Series in this remarkable year.

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of Harrogate International Festivals’ inception. To celebrate half a century showcasing the finest international musicians, we’re delighted to present an exceptional programme of chamber music concerts. Experience the world’s brightest talents here in the heart of Yorkshire.

Opening the series is the internationally renowned pianist Cédric Tiberghien, followed by the multi-award winning Navarra String Quartet. The series also features clarinet virtuoso Michael Collins, a pairing of two of the most promising musicians of their generation, Hyeyoon Park and Benamin Grosvenor, and a man who needs little introduction: pianist John Lill, who closes the series.

To celebrate this special year we are also pleased to present a one-off evening performance by the acclaimed Simón Bolívar String Quartet. Turn to the back cover for more information including a special ticket offer.

We look forward to welcoming you to the 2016 Spring Sunday Series in the beautiful surroundings of the Old Swan Hotel.

Navarra String Quartet Sunday 7 February | 11am Tickets: £18, £16.50 Magnus Johnston, violin Marije Johnston, violin Simone van der Giessen, viola Brian O’Kane, cello Since its formation in 2002, the Navarra Quartet has built an international reputation as one of the most dynamic and poetic string quartets of today. Winners of the Florence International Chamber Music Competition, the quartet recently launched their own chamber music festival in the picturesque town of Weesp, close to Amsterdam. The young, UK-based quartet will showcase their impeccable ensemble phrasing in this emotive programme including one of the works that earned Haydn the sobriquet “the father of the string quartet.”

Haydn Ravel Beethoven

String Quartet in C Major Op.20 No. 2 String Quartet in F Major String Quartet No.15, Op.132

“They have a warmly-rounded and very expressive sound, perfectly suited to Haydn: ...they are already in the first rank of his music’s exponents...” The Independent

Hyeyoon Park, violin Benjamin Grosvenor, piano Sunday 20 March | 11am Tickets: £18, £16.50 Hyeyoon Park and Benjamin Grosvenor are two of the most promising musicians of their generation. At the age of 17 Hyeyoon was the youngest ever winner of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and she received the prestigious London Music Masters Award 2012-2015. Benjamin first came to prominence as the outstanding winner of the Keyboard Final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition at the age of eleven and has since performed at the BBC proms on four occasions, most recently in 2015 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop. Together they will perform a selection of the finest Violin Sonatas by some of music’s greatest composers.

Beethoven Ravel Poulenc Brahms

Violin Sonata No.8 in G, Op.30 Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Violin Sonata Violin Sonata No.3 in D minor, Op.108

“[Benjamin Grosvenor]…a skill and talent not heard since Kissin’s teenage Russian debut.” Gramophone Magazine

Cédric Tiberghien, piano

Michael Collins, clarinet

Sunday 24 January | 11am

Sunday 6 March | 11am

Sunday 3 April | 11am

Tickets: £18, £16.50

Tickets: £18, £16.50

Tickets: £18, £16.50

Michael Collins’ dazzling virtuosity and sensitive musicianship have earned him recognition as one of today’s most distinguished artists and a leading exponent of his instrument. At 16, he won the woodwind prize in the first BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and now has the distinction of being the most frequently invited wind soloist to the BBC Proms. Michael demonstrates the clarinet’s virtuosic and lyrical capabilities in this dazzling programme, accompanied by pianist Michael McHale.

Unanimously described as one of the leading pianists of his generation, John Lill’s rare talent emerged at an early age - he gave his first piano recital at the age of nine – and his concert career spans over 55 years. John was awarded an OBE in 1977 and a CBE for his services to music in the 2005 New Year’s Honours’ List, and continues to tour around the world performing with some of the world’s leading orchestras.

As a leading interpreter of Beethoven, John will be performing a selection of his piano sonatas, including the popular ‘Moonlight’ Sonata.

Cédric Tiberghien studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Frédéric Aguessy and Gérard Frémy and was awarded the Premier Prix in 1992, aged just 17. His flourishing international career spans five continents taking him to some of the world’s most prestigious halls, playing with the world’s finest orchestras.

Cédric will be playing a varied programme in this solo recital, including Bartók’s percussive, folk-inspired Piano Sonata and Chopin’s poetic 24 Preludes.

Mozart Bartók Bartók Chopin

Sonata in C minor, K457 3 Burlesques, Op.8c, Sz. 47 Piano Sonata, Sz.80 - BB.88 24 Preludes, Op.28

“Few players of this music combine such clarity and articulation with shimmering sparkle and virtuosic flair; this is sophisticated pianism” BBC Music Magazine

Box Office: 01423 562 303

Michael McHale, piano

Howells Brahms Debussy Saint-Saëns Weber

Clarinet Sonata Clarinet Sonata No.2 in Eb, Op. 120 Première Rhapsodie Clarinet Sonata, Op.167 Grand Duo Concertante

“Perhaps no clarinettist around today is capable of floating a purer, smoother, more beautifully contoured melodic line than Michael Collins” BBC Music Magazine

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John Lill, piano

Beethoven Beethoven Beethoven Beethoven

Sonata in C minor, Op 13 ‘Pathétique’ Sonata in F minor, Op 57 ‘Appassionata’ Sonata in C# minor, Op 27/2 ‘Moonlight’ Sonata in C minor, Op 111

TICKETS

Cédric Tiberghien

£18

£16.50

Navarra String Quartet

£18

£16.50

Michael Collins

£18

£16.50

Hyeyoon Park & Benjamin Grosvenor £18

£16.50

John Lill

£18

£16.50

SERIES SUBSCRIPTION*

£81

£74.25

£18 tickets are situated in the Ballroom and front rows of the Garden Room, and £16.50 seats are situated towards the back of the Garden Room. *Series Subscribers enjoy a 10% discount when booking for all five Sunday Series concerts. **30% discount is available for under 16s, students in full-time education and the unemployed. Appropriate identification must be shown. Subject to availability. Please note this offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers.

BOOKING INFORMATION Tickets can be booked through the Harrogate International Festivals Office via the following methods: Telephone 01423 562 303 Online www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com In Person 32 Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1DB Payment Method Payment can be made by cash, major credit/debit cards (excluding American Express) or cheque. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Harrogate International Festivals’ and should be for the full value of your tickets and include applicable fees (see below).

Postage & Transaction Fees ALL bookings are subject to a £1.75 transaction fee. A £1 fee is charged for postal orders, however you can choose to collect your tickets at the concert or from our box office prior to the event.

Opening Times The Festival Office is open Monday - Friday, 9.30am - 5.00pm for telephone and in person bookings or general queries.

For more information please contact the Festival Office on

01423 562 303 or email info@harrogate-festival.org.uk

‘“As near to perfection as we can hope for.” The Guardian

Box Office: 01423 562 303

www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com