Worcester Concert Club

Sunday 3 October 2010 at 3.00pm

Fitzwilliam String Quartet

Founded in 1968, the Fitzwilliam first became well known through its close personal association with Dmitri Shostakovich giving the Western premières of his last three quartets. They were the first ever group to perform and record all fifteen which gained many international awards including Gramophone magazine's "Hundred Greatest-ever Recordings".

See the quartet's website for more details.

Sunday 14 November 2010 at 3.00pm

Llŷr Williams (piano)

"One of the truly great musicians of our time" Hilary Finch in The Times

Llŷr is welcomed to Worcester once more, now fresh from solo recitals of distinction at the Lucerne Festival and in the Wigmore and Carnegie Halls. His present project is a complete Beethoven Sonata cycle which is expected to rival the best available.

See the artist's website and entry on Wikipedia for more details.

Sunday 12 December 2010 at 12.00pm

The classic seasonal tale of The Snowman is the centrepiece of Victoria and Clive's hour-long presentation for the young and the young at heart!

The session also includes a brief introduction to the trumpet and other members of the trumpet family, alongside a selection of popular and festive music.

A trumpet and piano recital follows at 3.00pm.

Sunday 12 December 2010 at 3.00pm

Victoria Curran (trumpet) and Clive Matthews (piano)

Since its formation in 2007, this duo has since established a fine reputation with concerts at the Alrewas Arts Festival, the Garrick Theatre Lichfield, Welshpool Music Club and the Riverhouse Arts Centre. They also specialise in concerts for children: Babar - the little elephant was recently given at the Garrick Theatre and they present The Snowman at Huntingdon Hall this year in a midday workshop.

Check out the artists' website for more details.

Sunday 23 January 2011 at 3.00pm

Raphael Wallfisch (cello) and John York (piano)

"... among the best cello-duo teams: their names are a guarantee of excellence" International Record Review

With over 17 years of collaboration, their repertoire ranges from Bach to MacMillan including John's own Cello Sonata. "Whatever works to the best, most satisfying and most generous effect ... that is the Wallfisch-York style!"

Check out the artist's website for more details.

Sunday 20 February 2011 at 3.00pm

Patricia Rozario OBE (soprano) and Craig Ogden (guitar)

"Patricia Rozario floats effortlessly with a voice of liquid gold" Gramophone

"... an expressive and eloquent vocalist" The Independent

Her recent Spanish Songs CD was greeted with "Rozario is in her element, finely phrased and delicately nuanced, and Ogden responds with unforced vitality" BBC Music Magazine. Ogden's solo Music from the Novels of Louis de Bernieres rose to No. 10 in the classical charts and was the Daily Telegraph CD of the week stating "... this disc is pure joy".

Programme includes: Spanish Songs for voice and guitar by R. Gerhard (from 'Cantares'), F. Sor ('Five Seguidillas') and J. Rodrigo with guitar solos by I. Albeniz ('Asturias' and 'Sevilla'), F. Sor ('Introduction, Theme and Variations Op. 9') and F. M. Torroba.

Check out Patricia Rozario's and Craig Ogden's websites for more details.

Sunday 20 March 2011 at 12.00pm

Workshop for intermediate woodwind players

Andy Watts leads a workshop for recorders, flutes, oboes and bassoons based around the music of Handel and his contemporaries for players of grade 5 standard and above.

Andy Watts' biography

Sunday 20 March 2011 at 3.00pm

Baroque Virtuosi

Mark Baigent (Baroque oboe), Ben Sansom (Baroque violin), Micaela Schmitz (harpsichord) and Andy Watts (Baroque bassoon)

This is a new group but its artists are familiar to many of us as soloists who have delighted Cheltenham audiences in Warwick Cole's Corelli concerts and elsewhere. They are expert in the use of period instruments and in period performance styles.