Issue No.75
FRIENDS’ NEWSLETTER
May 2018
10 YEARS OF MUSIC IN THE ROUND
CONTENTS PAGE ONE 10 years of MitR
PAGE TWO Focus on Ensemble 360 PAGE THREE Meet the musician PAGE FOUR Ellen Sargen PAGE FIVE MitC update PAGE SIX Man with a Movie Camera PAGE SEVEN Our impact PAGE EIGHT Dates for your diary
After 10 years working with Music in the Round, Executive Director Deborah Chadbourn is moving to a new role this summer. Here, she looks back at her musical highlights. Looking back at ten years of music ‘in the-round’ is a daunting task. I can’t do justice to all the repertoire that Ensemble 360 and guest artists have played with such passion and insight, but here are a few concert highlights...
2008: Huw Watkins’ Broken
Consort and Kurtág’s string quartet Op.1, performed by the Elias, intrigued me. Britten’s string quartet no.3, played by the Belcea, moved me to tears, whilst Peter Hill and Ben Frith playing Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for piano four-hands was breathtaking. Giddy Goat, by Paul Rissmann, wonderfully narrated by Polly, had us all singing Rock Rounders - the first of many office sing-alongs to pieces by our Children’s Composer in Residence.
2009: Shostakovich Piano
Quintet, performed by Tim and the Elias, was compelling, and contrasted that same autumn with the joyous Martinů Nonet, which shows off Ensemble 360’s combined talents so well.
2010: Back into the Crucible
for the Festival, celebrating what Peter called the ‘Classical Revolutionaries’, ending with his dramatic entrance after Schubert’s Octet to a packed, rapturous audience. In December, the Prazak Quartet arriving from Prague through record-breaking snow to perform Haydn’s Emperor Quartet for 24 people - all treated to a glass of wine by Paul Allen. One intrepid Friend memorably skied to the tram to cultural borders and have such get to the concert! fun in doing so. Gemma’s Terezin Day was We marked World a sobering reminder, as timely today as ever, that while humans War I with The Dark Hour, may forget their humanity, music Associate Composer Charlie Piper’s poignant new piece. The helps us cling to it. following evening, Penelope Wilton and Tom Durham read I was struck by Sally heart-rending extracts from Helen Beamish’s piece, St Andrew’s and Edward Thomas’ writing. Bones, as were many in the audience hearing her work for Peter’s memorial the first time. concerts in November were wonderful celebrations of his Gleeful participation immeasurable legacy; who could in Shahid Khan’s inspiring forget Martin’s performance of Songbook allowed audiences The Lark Ascending? (plus Ben and Gemma) to cross
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