Sage Gateshead Classical Season 2016/17

Classical Season 2016/17

Lars Vogt Music Director Julian Rachlin Principal Guest Conductor Thomas Zehetmair Conductor Laureate

sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661

In association with

Welcome People have been singing and dancing for the entire span of recorded human history and beyond – in fact you could argue that song and dance are the twin hearts of music-making. It is therefore no surprise that composers have always been fascinated by human voice and movement. This season we celebrate Song and Dance, showcasing some of the most moving vocal music ever written, and putting a spring in your step with waltzes and ballet scores.

Lars Vogt is one of the most accomplished Beethoven pianists of our time. Royal Northern Sinfonia is thrilled to be performing and recording all five piano concertos in a special project this season. In addition, Julian Rachlin is bringing his interpretation of the Violin Concerto, and the Tetzlaffs return for the Triple Concerto, creating a veritable Beethoven concerto ‘full house’. The project culminates in the final concert of the RNS season when we recreate the famous all-Beethoven Academy concert of 1808, with added dinner interval!

RNS is especially delighted to be welcoming five guest orchestras this season, with musical friends visiting from as far afield as St Petersburg and Stuttgart, as well as those closer to home.

I hope you will agree the 16/17 season is something to make a song and dance about, and I look forward to welcoming you at many of the concerts.

Why not take up our special package offer, and book all 21?

Our Series We have a huge variety of music and styles to offer you this season. To help you find the right concerts for you, follow our easy-to-see colour coded series: RNS AT HOME The heart of our season – Royal Northern Sinfonia invite you to join them ‘at home’ for their main series of concerts in Sage One. RNS PRESENTS We welcome visiting orchestras (and one opera company!) from near and far, to perform for you in Sage One. RNS NIGHTS OUT Royal Northern Sinfonia’s popular gala series in Sage One – easy listening including film music, Cole Porter and music from West End Shows.

Small is Beautiful Exactly what it says! Smaller chamber groups from within RNS perform beautiful music for you in Sage Two. FOR YOUNG EARS Concerts designed with our younger audience members in mind. Great family outings in Sage One. Package performance Pre-concert talk, 6.30pm Post-concert spotlight performance Dine with a Twist

Thorben Dittes Director, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Classical Music Programme

Buses from Alnwick and Hexham Buses from Teesside Buses from Carlisle

2

how to save Packages

season offers

The best way to enjoy classical music in Sage One is to choose a package. Select your favourite concerts marked from our RNS At Home and RNS Presents series, save up to 25% on the cost of your tickets, and get ready to enjoy our 2016/17 season.

If you live in Gateshead and have never been to a classical music concert we have free tickets available this season – Gateshead classical firsttimers come and hear your orchestra! Full details from Ticket Office.

5-9 concerts – save 10% 10-14 concerts – save 15% 15-20 concerts – save 20% 21 concerts – save 25%

gateshead residents

Bar 5 for UNDER 30s

If you are under 30 our Bar 5 scheme entitles you to a ticket for just £5 plus a FREE bottle of Heineken.

Supported by

Book the full package and hear wonderful music for as little as £9 per concert!

Look out for the symbol in the listings to create your personalised package, or book all 21 and save 25%.

Browse... Choose... Save... Enjoy.

As a Classical Package Booker you can spread the cost of your package over six months for packages over £200, and have access to FREE EXCHANGES within the 2016/17 season (all concerts marked - 24 hours notice required).

BOOK YOUR SAGE ONE PACKAGE NOW Contact our Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661, or book online at classicalseason.com.

17 and UNDER (with accompanying adult) or UNEMPLOYED Tickets are available for £5 in advance for RNS At Home and on the day for RNS Presents and RNS Nights Out subject to availability. Full details from Ticket Office and on our website.

DINE WITH US

Complete your Sage Gateshead experience by booking a pre-show dinner.

Our Brasserie and Cafe are always open on concert evenings (and afternoons!), and we have some delicious dinner options on offer to accompany your concert package.

For something extra special look out for our ‘Dine with a Twist’ symbol on our concert listing.

Full details on our website.

3

Beethoven’s

Concertos They’re often heroic, never less than elegant, always pioneering.

no fewer than seven pianos during his lifetime). It’s not all strength and power, of course: there’s plenty of limpid lyricism in his music too.

Beethoven’s concertos - five for piano, one for violin, plus two other, more unusual ones (more on which later) - are cornerstones in the orchestral repertoire.

And with good reason - for the audacious musical innovations the composer pulled off in them, but also for their sheer abundance of drama, melody and invention.

And wit, sparkle, and classical refinement – all qualities to the fore in the First Piano Concerto (29 Oct) – whose refined, Haydn and Mozart-inspired elegance was conceived to wow Viennese audiences, and certainly did. At the other end of the spectrum is the best known of the lot, the Fifth Piano Concerto ‘Emperor’ (18 Nov), which Vogt teasingly teams up with another well-known imperial work: Johann Strauss II’s rousing Emperor Waltz.

Staunchly progressive and republican Beethoven would have balked at the nickname his Fifth Piano Concerto gained (probably from a publisher), but it fits the concerto’s overwhelming virtuosity, from the daring finger fireworks that Beethoven launches the work with, through to the aching beauty of the slow movement.

Is it too much of a good thing to experience every one of them in Royal Northern Sinfonia’s 2016-17 season?

Not a bit of it. The project was Music Director Lars Vogt’s own idea, and it’s a project especially close to his heart as one of the great Beethoven performers of our time. But hearing the full set also shows up the contrasts between the pieces, highlights the composer’s musical boldness – and, most importantly, allows listeners simply to immerse themselves in his genius.

4

The five piano concertos, of course, were intended for Beethoven himself to play – or most of them, at least. We know him now as a composer, but in his time he was equally idolised as a powerful, extravagant pianist, infamous for cracking keys and breaking strings, such was the intensity of his playing (he’s rumoured to have gradually destroyed

There’s a lot of ground and a lot of history in between those two concertos.

Vogt reveals some of it on 17 March, contrasting the elegance of the Second Piano Concerto (actually written before the first, but published after) with the brooding intensity and drama of the stormy Third Piano Concerto, which Beethoven famously premiered himself before he’d even had a chance to write out the solo part, relying on what his

terrified page-turner later described as ‘Egyptian hieroglyphics’ to remind him what he was meant to be playing.

However, many consider Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto to be his finest. It’s certainly – surprisingly – his gentlest and most thoughtful, and Beethoven shocked audiences at its premiere by letting the piano speak first, dispensing with the conventional orchestral introduction.

There’s little calm about the concert it’s part of, though, as Vogt is bravely recreating the gargantuan event from 1808 in which Beethoven unveiled his Fourth Concerto, featuring the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, bits of the Mass in C – and also one of those concerto oddities, the Choral Fantasy, an uncategorisable mix of piano flashiness and choral drama that bears an uncanny resemblance to the famous Ode to Joy (10 June).

The other concerto oddity in Beethoven’s output – although it’s nowhere near as oddball as the Choral Fantasy, it has to be said – is the Triple Concerto, in which Beethoven replaces the traditional solo instrumentalist with a little trio of violin, cello and piano, in a gloriously serene, contemplative work, for which Vogt is joined by siblings Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff (30 Sept).

Which leaves one remaining concerto – the Violin Concerto – which falls, of course, to Principal Guest Conductor and world-renowned violinist Julian Rachlin

Music Director Lars Vogt performs all five Beethoven Piano Concertos this season

(10 Feb). What to make of that concerto’s enigmatic opening drum-taps? Maybe they’re the echoes of Napoleon’s forces storming Vienna, or maybe simply a one-two-three-four cue to start. It’s another typical Beethoven innovation, in another surprisingly spacious, serene piece, though not without its fiery fiddle virtuosity.

We know and admire Beethoven’s symphonies, of course, as well as his piano sonatas, string quartets and plenty more besides. But are his concertos the pieces that sum him up best?

There’s a case for thinking so. Just as the composer forged his own doggedly individual path in his music, convinced of the rightness of what he was writing, it’s no surprise that he delivered some of his most eloquent, profound music in works that pit an individual against the might of a group, in this case an orchestra – sometimes battling to be heard, interrupting, challenging, sometimes gently collaborating, cajoling, coming to radiant agreement. © David Kettle

5

Making a

Song and Dance

What is music for, deep down, if not for song and dance?

From ancient cultures around the world to today’s electro club tracks, music has been about making our bodies move, and expressing our innermost emotions through our voices. It’s a basic human need for expression, and for participation.

There’s plenty to sing and dance about in classical music too, of course – as Royal Northern Sinfonia sets out to explore in a season brimming with foot-tapping rhythms and songful melodies.

Take the raw simplicity of folk dance, for example – reimagined by Kodály in his sumptuous, swaggering Dances of Galánta across the shimmering colours of a classical orchestra, which kicks off the Sinfonia’s season (16 Sep). Or the stomping rustic Ländler, forerunner of the waltz, refined for Germany’s ballrooms as the catchy German Dances by Josef Haydn (3 Feb).

Now the quintessential classical dance, the waltz was considered positively risqué in 18th-century Vienna, but soon embraced as that country’s defining dance music.

With their own orchestras and an output of hundreds of the things, the Strauss 6

family were kings of the form: Lars Vogt conducts Johann Strauss II’s noble Emperor Waltz (18 Nov) and, of course, a full Viennese extravaganza ushers in the New Year (1 Jan).

Plenty of other composers, however, have taken up the waltz. Richard Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier (whose Second Waltz Sequence is performed by the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder on 10 May) looks back with affection to Vienna’s golden days, but Sibelius’ melancholy Valse triste (9 Oct) was originally music for a play, where a dying woman waltzes with spectral partners, while in Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre, performed by RNS under Jessica Cottis (5 May), it’s Death himself who scrapes a melody from a cranky violin. In his La valse, performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko (21 Oct), Ravel looked back at Vienna’s glorious decadence from the wrong side of the First World War. The result is a lilting waltz tune that’s swept up into a horrifying whirlwind of destruction.

There’s music specifically conceived for dance, too – whether that’s a double bill of balletic love stories from the St Petersburg Philharmonic (21 Jan) in Ravel’s luxuriant Daphnis and Chloe and Prokofiev’s stirring Romeo and Juliet, or later in the homespun Americana of Copland’s Appalachian Spring alongside

Stravinsky’s fiery Russian fairytale The Firebird from RNS (5 May). And don’t forget the sultry, smoky moves of Latin America, conjured in the decadent tango of Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires led from the violin by Julian Rachlin (14 Oct).

There’s an equally broad exploration of song across the season. The remarkably restful Fauré Requiem, performed by RNS and Chorus of RNS under Alexandre Bloch (6 Nov), might be a Christian mass for the dead, but its aching melodies take it far from the church into a rightly cherished celebration of the living. Sitting halfway between the church and the opera house are two imposing choral oratorios from Handel: the beloved Messiah, conducted by Reinhard Goebel (10 Dec), and the colourful, dramatic Israel in Egypt (13 Apr).

Composers have for centuries taken the simple song and transformed it into something sophisticated for the concert hall: just take the stunning maritime vocal settings of Elgar’s Sea Pictures, performed by contralto Claudia Huckle and the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder (10 May), or Richard Strauss staring his impending death unflinchingly in the face in his unutterably moving Four Last Songs, performed by soprano Erin Wall and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard (25 March). Straight from the opera house itself comes Puccini’s final opera, the lush, savage Turandot – complete with world famous aria Nessun dorma – from Opera North (20 May).

It’s Gustav Mahler, however, who brings the two worlds of song and dance together – which only feels right from a composer who thought his symphonies should contain the whole world. Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, the culmination of RNS’s opening concert (16 Sept), heads

through another waltzing devil to an exquisite song of a finale, a child’s naive view of heaven complete with dancing angels. The season closes with the same composer’s mighty First Symphony, from the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach (24 Jun), which constructs an unforgettable drama of death and rebirth around more of those stomping Germanic Ländler, and even the disarming inclusion of the song we know as Frère Jacques. It’s hard to think of music that better meshes song and dance, to such deeply expressive effect. © David Kettle

“From the Trout to the Salmon” James Craig, cello

7

Royal Northern Sinfonia Summer Chamber Music 2016: Mahler Miniatures Gustav Mahler is best known for the intensely emotional world of his expansive symphonies. In anticipation of the new season, which RNS will open with its first full performance of a Mahler symphony, this summer we are exploring Mahler’s genius through the prism of music in smaller forms. Ranging from Mahler’s own piano quartet, through his arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden for string ensemble, to a tremendous chamber version of his first symphony, these concerts are guaranteed to lift the roof off Sage Two. We also mark our new partnership with Ryedale Festival, where RNS is associate ensemble this summer, by inviting its artistic director to join our musicians for an evening of joyful chamber music making – straight from the Yorkshire dales.

Sat 2 Jul 8pm | Sage Two

Wed 20 Jul 8pm | Sage Two

ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

STRAUSS Prelude to ‘Capriccio’

STRAUSS (arr. Dean) Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks

CORIGLIANO Aria for Oboe and String Quartet MOZART Oboe Quartet in F

SIBELIUS En Saga MAHLER (arr. Farrington) Symphony No.1

SCHUBERT/MAHLER Death and the Maiden

Wed 13 Jul 8pm | Sage Two

Wed 27 Jul 8pm | Sage Two

Ryedale Festival at Sage Gateshead

ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Christopher Glynn piano

MOZART Duo for Violin and Viola in G

ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

MAHLER Adagietto from Symphony No.5 (arr. string quartet)

MAHLER Piano Quartet in A minor HAYDN String Quartet No.57 MACMILLAN Cumnock Fair MOZART Piano Quartet in G minor

KODÁLY Serenade BRAHMS String Quintet No.2 Summer Chamber Music Tickets: £12.50 (plus handling fee)

Sat 30 Jul 7.30pm | Sage One

RNS SUMMER PROMS

Martin Yates conductor Benjamin Baker violin ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA Including Prom favourites Walton’s Crown Imperial, Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs and of course Rule, Britannia! Come along, wave your flag, and join in the fun!

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37 (plus handling fee) 8

“Catching the perfect soundwave�

Daniel Hammersley, cello

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

9

CLASSICAL SEASON 2016/17 RNS AT HOME

RNS NIGHTS OUT

Fri 16 Sep 7.30pm | Sage One

Fri 23 Sep 8pm | Sage One

OPENING NIGHT

RNS MOST WANTED

Lars Vogt conductor/piano Rebecca Evans soprano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

stephen bell conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

KODÁLY Dances of Galánta MOZART Piano Concerto No.27 MAHLER Symphony No.4 Join us for opening night, which kicks the RNS season off in style with whirling Hungarian gypsy dances! Mozart’s elegant final piano concerto provides a moment of rest before Mahler’s symphony describes a child’s vision of heaven - all based on a song featuring dancing angels.

Following our successful Star Wars concerts last season, this September we are getting our cowboy boots and lassoos out for an evening of the best Western film music, from The Magnificent Seven to High Noon, and Elmer Bernstein to John Williams. Ride into the sunset with Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35 RNS AT HOME

Fri 30 Sep 7.30pm | Sage One TETZLAFF TRIPLE Small is Beautiful

Wed 21 Sep 8pm | Sage Two rhythms of life ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA BACH Cello Suite No.1 MENDELSSOHN Songs without Words LIGETI Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances LIGETI Ballad and Dance BRAHMS Piano Quartet No.1 From Bach’s courtly minuets, and Mendelssohn’s drawing room songs to the social dances of Budapest ballrooms, this concert shows art music’s connection with the rhythms of real life, culminating in Brahms’ frenzied gypsy Rondo.

Lars Vogt conductor/piano Christian Tetzlaff violin Tanja Tetzlaff cello ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA WIDMANN Con Brio DVOŘÁK Rondo for Cello and Orchestra SCHUMANN Overture, Scherzo and Finale DVOŘÁK Romance for Violin and Orchestra BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto The astonishingly gifted Tetzlaff siblings join their close friend, RNS Music Director Lars Vogt for Beethoven’s playful concerto.

With typical generosity they add a couple of Romantic solo gems by Dvořák to the mix, which also includes two intriguingly different takes on the overture.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

Tickets: £12.50

10

Did you know we have our own Sage Gateshead beer?

FOR YOUNG EARS

RNS AT HOME

Sat 1 Oct 2pm | Sage One

Fri 14 Oct 7.30pm | Sage One

classics 4 kids with lars

VIOLIN FANTASY

Lars Vogt conductor/piano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Julian Rachlin director/violin ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Wondering how to get your kids started in classical music? Music Director Lars Vogt starts off our new series of 45 min long concerts which present orchestral repertoire in a fun and accessible way.

TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence

Tickets: Adults £10, Children £5

LISZT (arr. Dreznin) Concerto Fantasy ‘After Reading Dante’ PIAZZOLLA Four Seasons of Buenos Aires Julian Rachlin demonstrates what playing the violin is all about – from directing Tchaikovsky’s gloriously sun-drenched Italian holiday memories, through performing the musical acrobatics of Liszt’s virtuoso masterpiece, to leading the passionate, sultry tangos of Argentina.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

RNS AT HOME

Sun 9 Oct 5pm | Sage One RACHLIN RETURNS Julian Rachlin conductor/violin ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA SIBELIUS Valse triste MOZART Violin Concerto No.3 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.5 One of the great violinists of our time, Julian Rachlin took Sage One by storm last season playing Tchaikovsky. Tonight we are treated to more Tchaikovsky, alongside Sibelius’ haunting Valse triste and Mozart’s beautiful third concerto.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

RNS PRESENTS

Fri 21 Oct 7.30pm | Sage One ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Vasily Petrenko conductor Alexandre Tharaud piano ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA RAVEL La valse RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.2 RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances Anyone who watched the film classic Brief Encounter will remember the opening theme of Rachmaninov’s epic concerto forever.

Vasily Petrenko will showcase a very different side to the soulful Russian in the second half, with his dazzling showpiece dances.

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

11

RNS AT HOME

RNS AT HOME

Sat 29 Oct 7.30pm | Sage One

Fri 18 Nov 7.30pm | Sage One

GERMAN GREATS

DANCING WITH EMPERORS

Lars Vogt conductor/piano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Lars Vogt conductor/piano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

WEBER Der Freischütz Overture

STRAUSS J Emperor Waltz

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.1

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.5 ‘Emperor’

BRAHMS Symphony No.1

DVOŘÁK Symphony No.5

Three pieces which define the German Romantic tradition – Weber’s homage to the mythical world of forests and huntsmen is followed by Beethoven’s supremely confident first concerto, before we hear Brahms’ first symphonic step out of the shadows of Beethoven – which was promptly dubbed ‘Beethoven’s 10th’.

Beethoven’s concerto regularly features near the top of classical music charts for a very good reason – it deserves its subtitle just as much as Strauss’ famous sequence of waltzes, which are mirrored in this concert by the infectious dance rhythms of Dvořák’s symphony.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

RNS AT HOME

Small is Beautiful

Sun 6 Nov 3pm | Sage One

Tue 22 Nov 8pm | Sage Two

SHAKESPEARE MEETS FAURÉ

hungarian dances

Alexandre Bloch conductor MALIN CHRISTENSSON soprano BENJAMIN APPL baritone ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA CHORUS OF ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

JESSICA DUCHEN author/narrator BRADLEY CRESWICK violin MARGARET FINGERHUT piano

MENDELSSOHN A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Overture, Intermezzo, Nocturne, Scherzo FAURÉ Incidental Music from Shylock FAURÉ Requiem Brush up your Shakespeare – à la française!

Mendelssohn’s effervescent overture sets the scene for Fauré’s own brilliantly characterful response to The Merchant of Venice, providing a lively contrast to the serene, consoling beauty of his much-loved Requiem.

Celebrated classical music writer Jessica Duchen presents her internationally acclaimed novel Hungarian Dances as a narrated concert with soloists Bradley Creswick and Margaret Fingerhut. It tells the tale of a Gypsy girl who becomes a famous classical violinist, but at a terrible personal price. The story travels through 90 years of Hungarian history from 1919 to 2009, and along the way explores the rich crosscurrents between Gypsy violin playing and classical traditions.

Tickets: £12.50

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

12

Did you know you can book your dining with your concert tickets?

“Shopping in the morning and Mahler in the evening the perfect day!�

Jenny Chang and Alanna Tonetti-Tieppo, violin

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

13

RNS NIGHTS OUT

CHRISTMAS AT SAGE GATESHEAD

Fri 25 Nov 7.30pm | Sage One

Sat 10 Dec 7pm | Sage One

THE MUSIC OF ABBA

MESSIAH

MICHAEL ENGLAND conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Reinhard Goebel conductor Deborah York soprano CHRISTOPHER LOWREY countertenor NICHOLAS MULROY tenor Callum Thorpe baritone ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA CHORUS OF ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Are you a Dancing Queen or a Super Trouper?

Get your 70s/80s glad rags on and experience all the ABBA hits from Mamma Mia to Waterloo in full orchestral splendour. Singing along encouraged!

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

HANDEL Messiah Hallelujah! ‘Musical spark plug’ and early music specialist Reinhard Goebel joins RNS and Chorus for our annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. With its uplifting choruses and sublime melodic arias, this seasonal favourite is guaranteed to get you in the mood for Christmas.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35 In memory of Ian Tilling

“Happiness is...

Sand, Sea and Sinfonia” Bradley Creswick, leader/violin, Sian Hicks, double bass and Vic RNS NIGHTS OUT

Sat 3 Dec 7.30pm | Sage One MILOŠ: FROM BACH TO BEATLES Bradley Creswick director Miloš Karadaglić guitar ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA The Montenegrin guitarist has taken the world by storm with his passionate performances. Tonight he performs a selection of personal favourites, ranging from Bach and Granados to Piazzolla and the Beatles. If you love the guitar, this is not be missed!

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

CHRISTMAS AT SAGE GATESHEAD

Wed 14 Dec 7.30pm | Sage One THE BEST OF THE WEST END AT CHRISTMAS MICHAEL ENGLAND conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA All your West End favourites – from Oliver to Wicked, West Side Story to Phantom of the Opera in full orchestral sound. Stars of the London stage join RNS for a glitzy night of showtunes topped off with seasonal favourites - what more could any musicallover want for Christmas?

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

14

Did you know we have a fizz bar?

CHRISTMAS AT SAGE GATESHEAD

CHRISTMAS AT SAGE GATESHEAD

Sun 18 Dec 7.30pm | Sage One

Sun 1 Jan 3pm | Sage One

LET IT SNOW WITH CLAIRE MARTIN

NEW YEAR WITH JULIAN RACHLIN

Timothy Henty conductor Claire Martin vocals ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Julian Rachlin conductor/violin ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

British jazz star Claire Martin joins RNS for a night of jazz standards and Christmas Classics by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. Join us in Winter Wonderland – it’s time to Let it Snow!

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

There is no better way to start the New Year than with RNS, and the waltzes of the Strauss dynasty. This year will be extra special as Julian Rachlin leads the celebrations from the violin with Kreisler showpieces and some musical bon-bons from Russia. Book early – this concert always sells out!

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

CHRISTMAS AT SAGE GATESHEAD

Small is Beautiful

Thu 22 Dec 5pm

sat 14 Jan 8pm | Sage Two

Fri 23 Dec 11am, 2pm, 5pm

SERENADE

Sat 24 Dec 11am, 2pm

ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Sage One THE SNOWMAN

STRAUSS J (arr. Dean) Die Fledermaus Overture

Alan Fearon conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

HINDEMITH Kleine Kammermusik MARTINŮ Nonet

A firm family favourite, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas at Sage Gateshead without it! Book early for this one – it sells out fast.

BRAHMS Serenade No.1 in D (reconstruction of Nonet version)

Tickets: 22/23 Dec: £16, £18, Family £50

24 Dec: £18, £20, Family £60 Family ticket: Four tickets to include at least one adult and one child.

Brahms’ Serenade began life as a nonet, with the smaller forces highlighting individual melodic lines as well as its essentially ‘entertaining’ nature - a characteristic shared by the other pieces in this programme perfect for starting a New Year!

Tickets: £12.50

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

15

RNS PRESENTS

hold the date

Sat 21 Jan 7.30pm | Sage One

Sat 28 Jan & Sun 29 Jan | Sage Two

ST PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

NEW YEAR, NEW ARTISTS ECHO RISING STARS CHAMBER WEEKEND

Yuri Temirkanov conductor Nikolai Lugansky piano ST PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Hold this date. More new artists for the new year, selected from the European Concert Hall Organisation’s Rising Stars. Check our website for full details in the autumn.

PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini RAVEL Daphnis and Chloe Come dance the night away with Russia’s finest! Be swept off your feet by Prokofiev’s Romeo, join the ball of the Capulets and the Montagues (in Sunderland...), luxuriate in the romance of Rachmaninov’s Variation 18... before it all ends with Ravel’s spectacular sunrise.

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

RNS AT HOME

Fri 27 Jan 7.30pm | Sage One NEW YEAR, NEW ARTISTS Lars Vogt conductor Danae Dörken piano Asya Fateyeva saxophone Gabriel Schwabe cello ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA MOZART Piano Concerto No.21 GLAZUNOV Saxophone Concerto SCHUMANN Cello Concerto

RNS AT HOME

Fri 3 Feb 7.30pm | Sage One SCHUBERT SONG AND DANCE Karina Canellakis conductor Katrien Baerts soprano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA haydn German Dances SCHUBERT (arr. Glanert) Jahreszeiten JÖRG WIDMANN Versuch über die Fuge (UK Premiere) SCHUBERT Symphony No.5 You can’t have a theme focussing on song without featuring some of Schubert’s magnificent contributions, while Jörg Widmann’s new work proves that a new generation of composers is ready to pick up the baton.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

plus winning pieces from Young Composers’ Competition Three glorious concertos with three terrific stars of tomorrow. Three contributions from young composers writing especially for RNS – and your vote counts in awarding the final prize! Curious about the future of classical music? Join us and find out more.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

16

“‘Bigg’ nights sound better with Sinfonia!”

Steven Hudson, oboe and Jessica Lee, clarinet

Did you know you can pre-order your pre- and post-show drinks?

RNS NIGHTS OUT

FOR YOUNG EARS

SUN 5 Feb 3pm | Sage One

Sat 11 Feb 2pm | Sage One

the COLE PORTER SONGBOOK

classics 4 kids WITH JULIAN

RODERICK DUNK conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Julian Rachlin conductor/violin ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

RNS celebrates the genius of Cole Porter!

Join us for an enchanting matinee of classic songs from hit musicals Kiss me Kate, High Society and Anything Goes. There is no better way to ban the winter blues than by listening to unforgettable melodies, such as I get a kick out of you, Let’s do it, and Night and Day.

Julian Rachlin continues our new series of 45 min long concerts which present orchestral repertoire in a fun and accessible way. A great way to get your kids started in classical music.

Tickets: Adults £10, Children £5

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37 RNS NIGHTS OUT RNS AT HOME

Fri 17 Feb 7.30pm | Sage One

Fri 10 Feb 7.30pm | Sage One

SAMLING ‘coming of age’ GALA: a night at the viennese opera

RACHLIN’S BEETHOVEN Julian Rachlin conductor/violin ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto BEETHOVEN Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’

Sir Thomas Allen director NICHOLAS CHALMERS conductor Samling Artists ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Beethoven wrote only one violin concerto, but he sure made it count! Julian Rachlin directs from the violin, before taking up the baton for the ‘Eroica’ – a work which changed the history of music forever and invented the symphony as we know it today all at once.

To celebrate Samling’s 21st Anniversary, Sir Thomas Allen invites you to spend a glamorous night in Vienna, with a bevy of Samling Artists as our guides. We explore opera in the Austrian capital from the sublime arias of Mozart, to the laughter of Strauss and evergreen melodies of operetta.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

17

18

Did you know we have an after-show bar?

Small is Beautiful Wed 22 Feb 8pm | Sage Two

RNS NIGHTS OUT

Fri 10 Mar 8pm | Sage One

A CAPELLA

RNS AT THE OSCARS

HUGH BRUNT conductor Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia

Stephen Bell conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

The new RNS Chorus Director Hugh Brunt has chosen a special programme to introduce himself to Sage Gateshead audiences and to show off the talent of his singers in the purest possible way - a capella. Programme to include works by Arvo Pärt, Górecki and John Tavener.

It’s Oscars night at Sage Gateshead! Join the crowds on the red carpet and enjoy a night full of Oscar-winning film scores from Out of Africa to Titanic, and Star Wars to Lord of the Rings.

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

Tickets: £12.50

“Playing in toon at perfect pitch” James Slater, viola

RNS AT HOME

RNS AT HOME

Wed 1 Mar 7.30pm | Sage One

Fri 17 Mar 7.30pm | Sage One

lark ascending

BEETHOVEN DOUBLE

Bradley Creswick director/violin Timothy Orpen clarinet ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Lars Vogt conductor/piano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

ELGAR Introduction and Allegro

PROKOFIEV Symphony No.1 ‘Classical’

FINZI Clarinet Concerto VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending TIPPETT Divertimento on Sellinger’s Round VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme

by Thomas Tallis Vaughan Williams’ famous bird in flight is often regarded as quintessentially English music. However, as the rest of this programme shows, there are plenty more paths to the unique musical tradition of these isles, ranging back all the way to Tallis.

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.2 HAYDN Symphony No.11 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.3 The two concertos this evening illustrate Beethoven’s musical journey, from youthful inventiveness much influenced by Mozart and Haydn, to the more dramatic voice of his maturity. This development took place in the musical ferment of classical Vienna, which still provided inspiration for Prokofiev’s symphony over one hundred years later.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

19

Small is Beautiful Wed 22 Mar 8pm | Sage Two

STRING MASTERS ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude and Scherzo STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for String Quartet MOZART String Quintet No.5 SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht (for string sextet) Schoenberg’s stunning musical love poem is one of the most luscious pieces for strings ever written – and a perfect foil for Mozart’s exuberant quintet, as well as the string sounds of 20th century masters Shostakovich and Stravinsky.

RNS AT HOME

Thu 13 Apr 7.30pm | Sage One ISRAEL IN EGYPT Nicholas McGegan conductor Samling artists ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA CHORUS OF ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA HANDEL Israel in Egypt There has never been a more engaging and dramatic musical depiction of jumping frogs, showers of hailstones, and the parting of the Red Sea than in Handel’s choral masterpiece.

Experience the epic biblical narrative in vivid musical technicolour!

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

Tickets: £12.50

RNS PRESENTS

RNS AT HOME

Sat 25 Mar 7.30pm | Sage One

Fri 21 Apr 7.30pm | Sage One

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

ROMANTIC VIENNA

Thomas Dausgaard conductor Erin Wall soprano BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Thomas Zehetmair conductor Peter Francomb horn ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde

SCHOENBERG Ten Early Waltzes

STRAUSS R Four Last Songs

STRAUSS R Horn Concerto No.1 BRUCKNER Symphony No.4 ‘Romantic’

ELGAR Symphony No.1 The Tristan Prelude was what established Wagner as a musical revolutionary, while Strauss’ much-loved posthumous songs have been interpreted as a musical goodbye. Elgar, in turn, wanted his first symphony to reflect “a wide experience of human life” and “a massive hope in the future”.

Richard Strauss’ father was a famous horn player, inspiring the young Strauss to write his first concerto. Horn calls also open Bruckner’s most popular symphony, setting the scene for medieval knightly jousts and joyful hunting scenes.

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

20

Did you know we have our own Sage Gateshead beer?

FOR YOUNG EARS

RNS PRESENTS

Sat 22 Apr 2pm | Sage One

Wed 10 May 7.30pm | Sage One

classics 4 kids WITH THOMAS Thomas Zehetmair conductor ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA Continuing our new series of 45 min concerts for children, Thomas Zehetmair joins RNS for an afternoon of orchestral fun.

Tickets: Adults £10, Children £5

THE HALLÉ Mark Elder conductor Claudia Huckle mezzo soprano THE HALLÉ WAGNER Die Meistersinger Suite ELGAR Sea Pictures STRAUSS R Waltz Sequence No.2 from Der Rosenkavalier DVOŘÁK Symphony No.8 Wagner’s opera about a singing contest, and Strauss’ bittersweet waltzes set the stage for the Bohemian folk melodies and rhythms of Dvořák’s lyrical symphony, as well as Elgar’s powerful song cycle inspired by the sea.

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

RNS AT HOME

Small is Beautiful

Fri 5 May 7.30pm | Sage One

fri 12 may 8pm | Sage two

dancing birds

Bostridge & Vogt

Jessica Cottis conductor Steven Hudson oboe ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

Ian Bostridge tenor Lars Vogt piano

COPLAND Appalachian Spring Suite ROSS EDWARDS Oboe Concerto ‘Bird Spirit Dreaming’ SAINT-SAËNS Danse Macabre STRAVINSKY The Firebird Suite Dance runs as a theme all the way through this ballet-inspired programme. Even Ross Edwards’ beguiling Oboe Concerto specifies choreography for the oboist as well as the music, making it the perfect partner for Stravinsky’s magical fairytale ballet.

Schubert Schwanengesang (Heine and Rellstab settings) Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte Lars Vogt brings another starry musical friend and collaborator to Gateshead, for performances of two major Romantic song cycles, both considered masterpieces of the genre. Coming at the close of an international tour, these will be unmissable performances.

Tickets: £18.50

Tickets: £12, £18.50, £27.50, £35

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

21

RNS PRESENTS

sat 20 May 7.30pm | Sage One TURANDOT OPERA NORTH PUCCINI Turandot Following the huge success of their Ring Cycle, Opera North return with Puccini’s overwhelmingly powerful final opera, Turandot. Conducted by Music Director Aleksandar Markovic in a new concert staging.

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

RNS AT HOME

Sat 10 Jun 6pm | Sage One A BEETHOVEN FEAST Lars Vogt conductor/piano SALLY MATTHEWS soprano ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA CHORUS OF ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA BEETHOVEN Symphony No.6 ‘Pastoral’ Ah Perfido! concert aria Gloria from Mass in C Piano Concerto No.4 Symphony No.5 Sanctus and Benedictus from Mass in C

RNS PRESENTS

Sat 24 Jun 7.30pm | Sage One SWR SYMPHONIEORCHESTER STUTTGART Christoph Eschenbach conductor BEETHOVEN Symphony No.8 MAHLER Symphony No.1 Having opened the season with the most intimate Mahler symphony with RNS, we close it with the composer’s mighty first symphony. Based on another Mahler song, in the hands of renowned German conductor Christoph Eschenbach and his superb Stuttgart orchestra.

Choral Fantasy Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 first met an audience at the world premiere concert to beat them all, which took place on 22 December 1808 in Vienna – an all Beethoven evening, full of new works, including Symphonies 5 & 6 and the Choral Fantasy. We will restage the entire extravagant affair, with added dinner interval, under the direction of RNS Music Director Lars Vogt.

Don’t miss one Beethoven night to remember!

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

Tickets: £15, £23, £29, £37

“We can’t wait for Lars’ concerto cycle...”

Iona Brown, violin and Michael Gerrard, Viola

22

Did you know you can book your dining with your concert tickets?

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply (see page 29)

23

Sun 23 Oct 7.30pm Northern Rock Foundation Hall SAMLING ACADEMY CONCERT

Coming of age

Celebrating 21 years

“Samling is indeed unique, and it is the best that you can get.”

Sir Thomas Allen, Patron of Samling

Samling nurtures young classical singers and piano accompanists through performance and learning opportunities. From students to emerging professionals, hundreds of artists have benefited since Samling was founded in 1996.

Samling Artist Programme, an intensive residential masterclass programme led by world-class artists, teachers and experts, attracts outstanding young professional singers and pianists from around the world. There are now nearly 300 Samling Artists, many of whom have forged impressive international careers.

Samling Academy extends the reach of the professional Samling Artist Programme to young singers in the North East of England aged 14-21. Working with project partners Sage Gateshead, Newcastle and Durham Universities, the Academy’s success is exemplified in its participants successfully auditioning for Samling Artist Programme as young professional artists.

Over the past 20 years Samling has created a culture in the North East for classical singing and performance built on the Artist Programme which drives the whole enterprise; a self-sustaining musical community nationally and internationally recognised as exceptional.

24

Samling Academy is developing a new generation of classical singers in the North East of England through unique training and performance opportunities with worldclass artists. The culmination of six days of intensive study, this concert features this year’s Academy participants performing a mix of opera and song.

Tickets £12 (plus handling fee)

Sat 26 Nov 1.30-4.30pm and 5.15-6pm Sage Two SAMLING MASTERCLASS AND CONCERT Internationally-renowned Austrian mezzo soprano Angelika Kirchschlager is joined by Patricia MacMahon and Malcolm Martineau OBE to pass on their knowledge and experience to some of the finest emerging classical singers and pianists. This public Masterclass is followed by a short Concert in which eight Samling Artists show how they have learned from the masters.

Tickets £15 (plus handling fee)

Fri 17 Feb 7.30pm | Sage One samling ‘COMING OF AGE’ GALA See concert listing on page 17 for details.

Sat 11 Mar 1.30-4.30pm and 5.15-6pm Sage Two SAMLING MASTERCLASS AND CONCERT Much-loved baritone Roderick Williams joins Samling for the first time to lead the prestigious Artist Programme, together with Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny and Grammy award-winning pianist Christopher Glynn. This public Masterclass and Concert features eight rising stars of classical music.

Tickets £15 (plus handling fee)

www.samling.org.uk

Newcastle International Chamber Music Series Newcastle Chamber Music Society

Wed 11 Jan 7.30pm | Sage Two

Playing chamber music with friends is among the most rewarding activities for any musician, whether talented amateur or top professional - why else would Thomas Zehetmair form a string quartet or Nicola Benedetti a piano trio?

Many great composers were regular chamber musicians, and found it the natural form for expressing their deepest feelings, resulting in a uniquely rich repertoire.

For a series subscription saving at least £24 (no handling fee), contact the Newcastle Chamber Music Society: Call the secretary 0191 281 6446 e-mail ncmsoc@gmail.com visit www.ncmsoc.webspace.virginmedia.com

ARONOWITZ ENSEMBLE

Tickets for individual concerts will be available from Sage Gateshead from August 2016.

Students aged 16 or under can bring an accompanying adult free - quote the student’s school and date of birth at the box office.

Wed 12 Oct 7.30pm | Sage Two CREMONA QUARTET HAYDN Quartet in G, Op.77 No.1 MOZART Quartet in A, K464 BEETHOVEN Quartet in E flat, Op.127 Named after the home of Stradivari and the greats of violin making, the Cremona Quartet performs classics of the repertoire on classic Italian instruments.

Wed 9 Nov 7.30pm | Sage Two FINE ARTS QUARTET ANTHEIL Quartet No.3 MOZART Quartet in F, K590 DAVID DEL TREDICI Contentment RAVEL Quartet in F With only one change of leader in its 70 years, this ensemble from Chicago is famed for the beauty of its sound - perfect for Ravel’s sophisticated textures.

SCHUBERT Adagio and Rondo Concertante D 487 for Piano Quartet FAURÉ Piano Quartet No.2 in G minor BRAHMS Piano Quartet No.2 in A A chance to hear some rarely-played piano quartets performed by this versatile young British ensemble.

Wed 8 Feb 7.30pm | Sage Two CHIAROSCURO QUARTET HAYDN Quartet in C, Op.76 No.3 ‘Emperor’ BERWALD Quartet No.3 in E flat BEETHOVEN Quartet in C sharp minor, Op.131 Led by Alina Ibragimova, whose solo Bach performances were televised from the 2015 BBC Proms, this quartet will recreate the sounds that the composers would have heard.

Wed 29 Mar 7.30pm | Sage Two BUSCH TRIO SCHUBERT Fantasie in C, D934 for violin and piano MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio No.2 in C minor SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No.2 in E minor An emotional journey which Schubert begins in mystery and Shostakovich ends in desolation; in between, Mendelssohn gives us exhilaration and exultation.

Wed 3 May 7.30pm | Sage Two KELEMEN QUARTET HAYDN Quartet in D, Op.20 No.4 SCHUMANN Quartet No.3 in A SCHUBERT Quartettsatz BARTÓK Quartet No.5 This Hungarian ensemble frames its programme with two contrasting masterworks composed in its native land.

25

Lars Vogt Music Director Julian Rachlin Principal Guest Conductor Thomas Zehetmair Conductor Laureate Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of Sage Gateshead, is the UK’s only full-time chamber orchestra. Founded in 1958, RNS has built a world-wide reputation for the North East through the quality of its music-making and the immediacy of the connections the musicians make with audiences. The orchestra regularly flies the flag for the region at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh Festival and further afield, last year touring to Brazil and in Europe.

In recent seasons RNS has worked with conductors and soloists Christian Tetzlaff, Christian Lindberg, Olli Mustonen, Paul McCreesh, Robert Levin, a host of world class singers including Sally Matthews, Karen Cargill and Elizabeth Watts, and also collaborated with leading popular voices such as Sting, Ben Folds and John Grant. It

26

has commissioned new music, recently by Benedict Mason, David Lang, John Casken and Kathryn Tickell, and in the 2015/16 season launched a new Young Composers Competition.

RNS has always been actively involved in local communities and in education. This season the orchestra will perform across the region in Kendal, Middlesbrough, Carlisle, Berwick, Barnard Castle and Sunderland as well as in Gateshead. Musicians support young people learning musical instruments through Sage Gateshead’s Centre for Advanced Training and through In Harmony, a long-term programme in Hawthorn Primary School in which every child in the school learns a musical instrument and plays in an orchestra.

First Violin Bradley Creswick

Flute Section Leader Flute

The Huntington Chair

The Robinson Family Chair

Kyra Humphreys

Eilidh Gillespie

The Rathbone Investment Management Chair

The Rossiter Family Chair

Principal

Partners

The Sylvia Fuller Chair

Support the work of Royal Northern Sinfonia through an association with one of the orchestra’s Principal Chairs.

Second Violin

Clarinet

Tristan Gurney

Timothy Orpen

Principal Partners benefit from:

Iona Brown Anonymous

Jane Nossek Alexandra Raikhlina Sarah Roberts

The Rosemary Hinton Chair

Jenny Chang Sophie Appleton Alanna Tonetti-Tieppo

Oboe Steven Hudson

The Richardson Family Chair

Michael O’Donnell

Jessica Lee Bassoon Stephen Reay

The Pyman Family Chair

Viola

Robin Kennard

Michael Gerrard The Layfield Chair

Malcolm Critten James Slater Tegwen Jones Cello

Horn Peter Francomb

Personalised priority booking and member events Exclusive invitations to watch the orchestra rehearse

The Friends of Royal Northern Sinfonia Chair

Chances to personally connect with your chosen musician

Trumpet

Food, drink, parking and shop discounts

Section Leader Cello

Richard Martin

Daniel Hammersley

Marion Craig

The Share Family Chair

A direct association with one of the Royal Northern Sinfonia musicians

The Alan Johnson Chair

The Molly Rice Chair

James Craig

Timpani

Gabriel Waite

Marney O’Sullivan

The Christine Swales Chair

Principal Partner membership starts from £125 per month.

If you would like more information, please contact Natalie Heath, Fundraising Coordinator: 0191 443 5038

Double Bass Sian Hicks

27

chorus of

Friends of ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA president: sir thomas allEn CBE

Hugh Brunt Chorus Director For 40 years Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia has been an integral, ever-present part of the RNS musical family, drawing on talented and committed singers from across the North of England. Choruses allow an orchestra to present the great, standout works from musical history: Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s passions and Haydn’s masses, and performances of these have formed the core repertoire for Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia. However its role in Sage Gateshead’s classical programme is altogether more ambitious, matching the breadth of repertoire of the orchestra itself. Regular performances of the classics are frequently placed alongside modern masterpieces.

Auditions for new chorus members take place regularly. If you would like to join the RNS Chorus, we could like to hear from you at

singing@sagegateshead.com

Support Royal Northern Sinfonia by becoming a Friend and play a part in the success of our local international orchestra.

Benefits include:

A quarterly Newsletter Priority booking for the Classical Season Invitations to informal Friends gatherings with recitals by orchestra members and a buffet supper 10% discount on RNS CDs Pick up a leaflet or go to sagegateshead.com for more details.

Or you can contact Friends Coordinator, Joyce, on 0191 443 4564 joyce.porter@sagegateshead.com

28

You can also join at Ticket Office

Booking and Travel

TAKE THE BUS!

Bookings can be made online at sagegateshead.com, in person at our Ticket Office (from 12.00), or by calling 0191 443 4661. If you would prefer to book by post please request a booking form from Ticket Office, or download a form from sagegateshead.com/ bookingform.

Bookings for individual concerts will incur a handling fee of 7.5%. A package handling fee of £3 applies per transaction. No additional fees apply when booking individual tickets along with your package.

Concessions not available online. Proof of eligibility required when collecting tickets.

We regret that no refunds can be given except where an event is cancelled. However, Ticketplan refund protection is available at £2 per ticket (see website for more details). We will always attempt, where possible, to exchange unwanted tickets for concerts if we have the tickets returned to us at least 24 hours prior to the performance, for an administration fee of £2.50 (this fee does not apply to package bookers exchanging within the same season).

Full terms and conditions available on our website.

A A

HEXHAM via Chollerford, Wall, Acomb, Eastwood and Corbridge ALNWICK via Amble, Warkworth, Felton, Morpeth, Wideopen and Gosforth CARLISLE via Brampton TEESSIDE via Guisborough, Great Ayton, Stokesley, Coulby Newham To book, call Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661 FREE METRO TRAVEL Thanks to the generosity of Nexus, you can travel on the Metro to and from Gateshead for free, 2 hours before and after the concert.

Simply retain your concert ticket for inspection on the Metro.

CAR PARK There is a car park at the rear of the building with lift access and priority spaces for blue badge holders.

Charges apply.

B

A

A A

C B A

Buses run from:

B D

A

Catch the bus to selected concerts at Sage Gateshead, at just £8 return.

A B C D STAGE

A

BA

AB

BA

AB

A A

STAGE

book at: sagegateshead.com | 0191 443 4661 Handling fees apply

29

Thank You

Sage Gateshead values its partnerships with individuals, trusts and foundations, companies and its core revenue supporters Arts Council England, North East and Gateshead Council. As a registered charity this support is vital to allow us to continue and develop our work.

Trust and Foundation Supporters The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The John S Cohen Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation Gillian Dickinson Charitable Trust The Hadrian Trust The Kavli Trust The Monument Trust Netherton Park Trust PRS for Music Foundation The Shears Foundation The Sir James Knott Trust The Squires Foundation The Vardy Foundation The WA Handley Charitable Trust Youth Music Project Supporters Newcastle City Council, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Darlington Borough Council, DCSF Music Manifesto and Music and Dance Scheme Founding Patrons The Sage Group plc The Barbour Foundation Northern Rock Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation Joan and Margaret Halbert

public funding

Platinum corporate Partners

Gold corporate Partners

Silver corporate Partners

Bronze corporate Partners

RSM, O’Brien Waste Recycling Solutions, Sanderson Weatherall, Solution Group, Northern Elevator Limited, Switch Gas & Electric

Stuart Halbert Foundation Anne Reece Clore Duffield Foundation Mr & Mrs M Howard Bowland Charitable Trust Ms W Oloman The Sir James Knott Trust founding Endowment and Greggs plc 10th Birthday endowment Donors The David Boardman Trust The Shears Foundation Roland Cookson Fund The David Goldman Programme 1989 Willan Trust The Go-Ahead Group plc 400 Club Northern Arts Board Christopher Beadle and Colin Ferguson Fenwick Ltd Cunard Northumbrian Water Christopher French The Barbour Foundation Mr J Cuthbert The Vardy Foundation Gillian Dickinson Charitable Trust

John Bell Charitable Trust John and Florence Adamson Charitable Trust Northern Arts Board Anne Reece Mr Anthony Sargent CBE The Squires Foundation Lord Falconer of Thoroton Legacy Bequests Stuart Ayre Vivien Mary Moor

Proud to be Classic FM’s ORchestra in North East England

DIGITAL RADIO | CLASSICFM.COM | 100-102FM

Classical Season 2016/17

/royalnorthernsinfonia @rnsinfonia Images: Mark Savage, Snowman Enterprises Ltd 1982, 2016

Founding Patrons The Sage Group plc The Barbour Foundation Northern Rock Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation Joan and Margaret Halbert