2011-2012 Season
Bedford Music Club presents the following classical chamber music concerts between October 2011 and March 2012 in the town of Bedford. Concerts are open to the general public. Season tickets are available by contacting Bedford Music Club using the Email link on the Ticket or Contact pages. Individual tickets are available through Bedford Box Office or on the door.
Thursday 20 October 2011 (at 7.45pm)
Shai Wosner (piano)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in C major, Op. 2 No. 3
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in D major, Op. 10 No. 2
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in E flat major, Op. 31 No. 3
Israeli-born, but now resident in New York, Shai Wosner is quickly establishing a reputation for himself as a pianist of supreme clarity, precision and artistic insight. An outstanding interpreter of the music of the Classical period, he plays an all-Beethoven programme featuring four vividly contrasted sonatas from the composer’s early career.
‘Wosner is a major talent’ Chicago Tribune
Thursday 10 November 2011 (at 7.45pm)
Jennifer Pike (violin) / Jeremy Pike (piano)
Beethoven: Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 23
Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor
Debussy: Violin Sonata
Clara Schumann: 3 Romances, Op. 22
Kreisler: Schon Rosmarin
Sarasate: Habanera
Jennifer Pike came to fame in 2002 at the age of 12 as the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition, and has now successfully embarked on a major international career. Her programme puts established violin classics alongside lesser-known works, including a set of delicate pieces by Robert Schumann’s wife Clara.
‘Special, out of the ordinary, one of an elite with a miracle musical gift’ Sunday Express
Thursday 1 December 2011 (at 7.45pm)
Heath String Quartet
Beethoven: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95
Janáček: String Quartet No. 1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’
Schubert: String Quartet in A minor, D804 ‘Rosamunde’
Since their formation in 2002, the Heath Quartet has emerged as one of this country’s finest young ensembles, having won a host of awards and given concerts throughout the UK and abroad. They perform Beethoven’s terse Op. 95 quartet, Janáček’s intensely emotional First (inspired by a Tolstoy novella), and Schubert’s wistfully lyrical A minor.
‘One of the most interesting young quartets I have heard in recent years’ The Strad
This concert is supported by the Making Music Concert Promoters' Network scheme
Thursday 26 January 2012 (at 7.45pm)
Ensemble Amaranthos
‘London and Paris’
Rebel: Les caractères de la danse
Geminiani: Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 5 No. 2
Leclair: Trio Sonata in D major, Op. 2 No. 8
Handel: Concerto a quattro in D minor
Marais: La sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont de Paris
Telemann: ‘Paris’ Quartet No. 5 in A major
Ensemble Amaranthos brings together talented young players from five different countries to perform the masterworks of the Baroque chamber repertoire. In this richly elegant programme they offer a celebration of London and Paris, two great but contrasted 18th-century capitals that attracted composers and musicians from all over Europe.
‘A delight for the audience, drawing us into their own world’ Early Music Review
Thursday 23 February 2012 (at 7.45pm)
Fontanella
‘The Leaves be Green’
Fontanella is formed of five of the UK’s finest recorder players. Their programme explores the golden age of English consort music in pieces by Byrd, Dowland, Holborne and others, complementing it with modern-day works inspired by these early masters to make a rich celebration of England’s musical tradition.
‘As near to perfect consort-playing as you could wish for’ The Recorder Magazine
Thursday 22 March 2012 (at 7.45pm)
Anna Hashimoto (clarinet), Daniel Smith (piano)
Bozza: Fantaisie italienne
Hurlstone: 4 Characteristic Pieces
Weber: Grand duo concertant
Schumann: 3 Romances, Op. 94
Ireland: Fantasy Sonata
Bassi: Concert Fantasy on Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’
At the age of only 22, clarinettist Anna Hashimoto has already won a raft of awards and appeared with leading orchestras in Europe and Japan, as well as with a number of leading chamber musicians and ensembles. For us she plays a mixture of concert favourites, works by 20th-century English composers, and virtuoso firecrackers.
‘An artist surely on the verge of international celebrity’ Clarinet and Saxophone