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Deniz Sensoy (violin) & Alessio Enea (piano) – Monday 5 May

Deniz Sensoy violin | Alessio Enea piano

Debussy   Beau Soir
Ravel   Tzigane
Amy Beach   Romance, Op. 23
Franck   Violin Sonata in A major

 

This is the launch of our new ‘Young Artist Spotlight’ concerts, destined to be a sparkling feature of the Leamington Music Festival going forward. Turkish violinist Deniz Sensoy has already achieved notable recognition for her talent – she was named one of Classic FM’s Rising Stars for 2024, awarded the 2024/25 London Symphony Orchestra Conservatoire Scholarship, and recognized as a Britten Pears Young Artist among other accolades.

This is a perfect programme to complement our celebrations of Ravel who took inspiration in his early days from Debussy, and no violin recital in a French-infused Festival would be complete without Franck’s awesome Violin Sonata.

 

The finer details…

Interval: none

Estimated finish: 1.30pm

Tickets:
Centre section: £18 full price | £3 child/student
Side sections: £13 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student

Organ Recital – Elli-Mae McGlone – Monday 5 May

Elli-Mae McGlone organ 

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Bach   Prelude in B minor, BWV 544
Howells   Sarabande (in Modo Elegiaco) from Six Pieces for organ
Widor   Adagio from Symphony No. 5, Op. 42, No. 1
Duruflé   Sicilienne from Suite pour Orgue, Op. 5
Leighton   Et Resurrexit (Theme, Fantasy and Fugue for organ), Op. 49

 

Elli-Mae McGlone is currently an undergraduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, studying under Daniel Moult and Nicholas Wearne.

Born in Doncaster, she began to learn the piano at the age of 5 and later became Organ Scholar at Doncaster Minster under Darren Williams. During her gap year, Elli-Mae took the Organ Scholarship at St Edmundsbury Cathedral gaining experiences in service playing, conducting, as well as teaching. She was fortunate enough to perform for an event led by Vanessa Redgrave and Terry Waite whilst at the Cathedral. She has also had many opportunities to excel as a soloist over the years; from a young age, she has taken part in numerous regional piano competitions and more recently won the BOA Leonard Gibbons Organ Competition 2022 (an internal competition for RBC organ students).

Elli-Mae has performed in concert at venues such as Bristol Cathedral, Leeds Minster and St. Lawrence Jewry, London, and is very much looking forward to performing more concerts as musical life opens up.

Generously supported by the Friends of All Saints Music

Free entry | Retiring collection

Carducci String Quartet & Emma Johnson (clarinet) – Sunday 4 May

Carducci String Quartet
Matthew Denton & Michelle Fleming violins
Eoin Schmidt-Martin viola | Emma Denton cello

Emma Johnson clarinet

 

Puccini   Crisantemi
Bliss   Clarinet Quintet
Emma Johnson   Isolation Lament and Dance for solo clarinet and tapping foot
Mozart   Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581

 

The Carducci Quartet first played for Leamington Music in 2009 and this is their ninth concert for us; Emma Johson has also long been an audience favourite and returns to us after a wonderful concert in the 2022 Festival.

Arthur Bliss’s Clarinet Quintet is one of his most notable achievements; it is arguably the finest work in the medium from the 20th century and one that is performed and recorded far less frequently than it deserves. It certainly holds its weight in comparison with Mozart’s Quintet which makes for a wonderful and thought-provoking pairing in this programme.

Generously supported by Jennifer Lorch

 

The finer details…

Interval: 20 mins

Estimated finish: 9pm

Tickets:
Centre section: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Side sections: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student

Arthur Bliss: From Rebel to Romantic – Sunday 4 May

A revealing talk by Andrew Burn (Chairman of The Bliss Trust) documenting Bliss’s life and works in a fascinating review.

 

The finer details…

Interval: none

Estimated finish: 3.30pm

Tickets:

Unreserved Seating

£8 adults / £3 students & children

 

Leamington Music gratefully acknowledges the support of the Bliss Trust for the Festival (www.blisstrust.org)

Roderick Williams (baritone) & Andrew West (piano) – Sunday 4 May

Roderick Williams baritone | Andrew West piano

 

‘A taste of exotic’

Schubert   Kennst du das Land (Mignons Gesang), D321
W. Denis Browne   Arabia
Bliss   Siege
Rebecca Clarke   A Dream
Amy Woodforde-Finden   Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar (Kashmiri Song)
Duparc   L’invitation au voyage
Sally Beamish   Four Songs from Hafez
Harry T. Burleigh   Five Songs of Laurence Hope

 

The return of another Festival favourite (and a National Treasure to boot!). Roderick Williams never ceases to delight with both his performances and his thoughtful programming. This time he features the music of Leamington-born composer William Denis Browne among other works inspired by distant lands.

Generously supported by Helen & Stan Ireland and Diane Holt

 

The finer details…

Interval: None

Estimated finish: 1pm

Tickets:
Unreserved Seating

£23 (full price) / £11.50 (under-35s)
£3 (students & children)

Sinfonia of Birmingham – Saturday 3 May

Sinfonia of Birmingham

Michael Seal conductor
Helen Benson flute
Alida Fabris harp

Ravel   Mother Goose Suite
Mozart   Flute & Harp Concerto in C major, K299
Berlioz   Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

 

A welcome return to the Festival for this wonderful orchestra and CBSO Associate Conductor Michael Seal. Last playing for us in the 2023 Festival with a thrilling performance of Rachmaninoff’s mighty Second Symphony, Sinfonia of Birmingham goes even bigger this year with Berlioz’s fantastical masterpiece. The inclusion of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite was a must and we are lucky to hear Mozart’s Flute & Harp Concerto – a rare gem indeed.

 

The finer details…

Interval: 20 mins

Estimated finish: 9pm

Tickets:

Unreserved Seating

Front Nave: £23 (full price)
Rear Nave: £13 (full price) / £9 (under-35s)
Student/Child: £3 (all seats)

Mark Bebbington (piano) – Saturday 3 May

Bliss   Masks
Ravel   Sonatine
Bliss   Triptych
Poulenc   Improvisation No. XV, “Hommage à Edith Piaf”
Poulenc   Napoli – suite for piano

 

Coventry-born, and a noted pupil of Aldo Ciccolini, The Times has called Mark Bebbington “truly a remarkable pianist”. His international career has taken off in recent years, and we welcome this great champion of British music back to Leamington. Mark continues our Festival Ravel celebrations and begins for us those of Arthur Bliss who died 50 years ago this year.

Generously sponsored by Wiglesworth

 

The finer details…

Interval: none

Estimated finish: 1pm

Tickets:
Centre section: £18 full price | £3 child/student
Side sections: £13 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student

Dominic Alldis Trio – Friday 2 May

Dominic Alldis Trio
Dominic Alldis piano | Oli Hayhurst double bass | Justin Tambini drums

Late-night Jazz

 

The Dominic Alldis Trio explores the meeting point of two musical worlds: classical and jazz. Taking inspiration from the Jacques Loussier Trio, Bill Evans Trio, Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the Modern Jazz Quartet, they bring a fresh and contemporary approach to famous themes from classical music, opera, and folk songs, with French music a speciality.

Generously supported by Mary & John Adams

 

The finer details…

Interval: none

Estimated finish: 11pm

Tickets:
Unreserved Seating

£18 (full price) / £9 (under-35s)
£3 (students & children)

Trio Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch – Friday 2 May

Trio Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch
Hagai Shaham violin | Arnon Erez piano
Raphael Wallfisch cello

Ben-Haim   Variations on a Hebrew Melody
Shostakovich   Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67
Ravel   Piano Trio in A minor

 

Festival favourite Raphael Wallfisch brings his Trio back to Leamington for the first time since 2015 when they delighted our audience with all of Brahms’ wonderful piano trios. The Trio have performed, broadcast, and recorded widely throughout Europe, Canada, and Israel including concerts in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, and Spain.

Composed in his ‘Mediterranean Style’ – a blend of Mizrahi-Jewish, Bedouin, and Arabic folk music conjuring a local national colour – Paul Ben-Haim’s Variations on a Hebrew Melody open the concert. We then continue celebrations of Shostakovich in the 50th year after his death and hear our first work of Ravel’s in this Festival, celebrating 150 years since his birth.

The finer details…

Interval: 20 mins

Estimated finish: 9pm

Tickets:
Centre section: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Side sections: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student