- Murray Perahia & the Academy of St Martin in the Fields perform an all-Mozart programme
- Andreas Scholl makes his Cambridge debut singing JS Bach with the Academy of Ancient Music & the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
- Award-winning trumpeter Alison Balsom in recital with pianist Tom Poster
- The Tallis Scholars perform Renaissance polyphony and Arvo Pärt
- A programme of percussion, electronics and video from Powerplant
- Education projects led by Colin Currie & Lyn Alcantara
From 9-20 November 2012 the Cambridge Music Festival celebrates three areas for which the city is universally renowned: music, education and technology, in a programme of concerts and events in venues across the city. This year marks the start of a new direction for the festival, which will now run annually, as opposed to every three years under new Director Justin Lee.
The festival opens on 9 November at West Road Concert Hall with a concert of Mozart from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and its Principal Guest Conductor Murray Perahia. Perahia has developed a celebrated partnership with the Academy, the only ensemble he conducts, producing acclaimed recordings and performances alike. The programme includes Mozart’s German Dances, Piano Concerto No.26 ‘Coronation’ and Symphony No. 39.
On 13 November award-winning trumpeter Alison Balsom presents a varied recital programme with regular duo partner pianist Tom Poster. One of the best trumpeters of her generation, Balsom studied at the Guildhall School with Håkan Hardenberger and performs music that ranges from Purcell to Cole Porter in Trinity College Chapel.
Andreas Scholl makes his debut with the Academy of Ancient Music on 14 November in King’s College Chapel, alongside the Choir of King’s College directed by Stephen Cleobury. As a boy chorister growing up in Germany, Andreas Scholl’s life was steeped in the music of JS Bach and performances of his music have formed the core of his international career. He sings a selection of the composer’s solo cantatas alongside choral music which includes the Sanctus in D and the motet Lobet den Herrn.
In 2013 the Schubert Ensemble celebrates its 30th birthday and its establishment as one of the leading exponents of music for piano and strings. On 15 November in St John’s College Chapel, the ensemble performs Schubert’s Trout Quintet, as well as Schumann’s Piano Quartet and Huw Watkins’ Piano Quartet (2012).
Joby Burgess and Powerplant perform a progamme where the worlds of minimalism and electronica collide in a lunchtime recital on 16 November at the Mumford Theatre. Burgess is one of Britain’s most diverse percussionists and in 2005 formed the multimedia collective Powerplant; a collaboration with sound designer Matthew Fairclough and visual artist Kathy Hinde. This concert features music by Steve Reich, Graham Fitkin, Javier Alvarez, Matthew Fairclough and Gabriel Prokofiev’s ‘suite for global junk’.
On 20 November in St John’s College Chapel The Tallis Scholars and Peter Philips perform a programme of Renaissance polyphony – including music by Tallis, Lassus and Vivanca, alongside two motets from Arvo Pärt. The Tallis Scholars are one of the groups to have established sacred vocal music as one of the great repertoires of Western classical music, and they close the Cambridge Music Festival with their unique sound.
Education projects
Young people from the city centre, Abbey and Kings Hedges schools are working on two major Festival education projects. The first is on 17 November with Lynette Alcantara, a member of the BBC Singers as well as Choral Animateur for the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. She leads a singing workshop and concert with local primary schools and King’s Junior Voices at 2pm at St Andrews Street Baptist Church.
On 18 November at 4.30pm world-renowned percussionist Colin Currie joins Cambridgeshire Youth Percussion Ensemble and first time players from local primary schools for a celebration of drumming and percussion. The programme will include a specially-composed work by Mark Aldous for all performers.
Listings
9 November 2012, 7.30pm,
Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Murray Perahia (piano & director)
Tickets: £15, £30, £45
13 November 2012, 8.00pm, Trinity College Chapel
Alison Balsom (trumpet) & Tom Poster (piano)
Tickets: £10, £18, £25
14 November 2012, 6.45pm, King’s College Chapel
Academy of Ancient Music/Choir of King’s College, Cambridge/Stephen Cleobury/Andreas Scholl
Tickets: £25, £40, £50, £60
15 November 2012, 8.00pm, St John’s College Chapel
The Schubert Ensemble
Tickets: £10, £18, £25
16 November 2012, 1.10pm, Mumford Theatre, Anglia Ruskin University
Powerplant: Joby Burgess/Matthew Fairclough/Kathy Hinde
Admission free
17 November 2012, 2.00pm, St Andrews Street Baptist Church
Green Songs with Lyn Alcantara
Tickets: £5 (pre-school children free)
18 November 2012, 4.30pm, Cambridge Corn Exchange
Shake, Rattle & Roll with Colin Currie
Tickets: £5 child, £10 adult
20 November 2012, 8.00pm, St John’s College Chapel
The Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
Tickets: £10, £18, £25
Tickets available from the City Centre box office, Wheeler Street, Cambridge CB2 3QB (01223 357 851) or www.cammusic.co.uk
Cambridge Music Festival
Cambridge Music Festival originally grew out of a major celebration in 1991 to mark the bicentenary of the death of Mozart. Local music groups, invited artists, schools and many parts of the community came together for a series of over 70 events across four weeks, organised and directed by Gillian Perkins. Such was its success, the festival was formally constituted as a legal entity and a major festival mounted every three years until Gillian’s retirement in 2009. Festival themes in this period have been inspired by composers and aspects of Cambridge life: Elgar & British music; Schubert & Vienna; Architecture; Singing and French music; Mozart, Maths & Music; Music & Evolution. The education and community work has attracted particular acclaim including nominations for national awards such as the Royal Philharmonic Awards in 2006 for the ‘Orchestra in a Village’ project. The new director, Justin Lee, plans an annual festival from 2012 based on a framework of Music, Education and Technology – three areas for which Cambridge is renowned worldwide.
Justin Lee
Justin Lee has worked in the music business for 20 years, principally in orchestra management - from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to the Academy of Ancient Music - in a range of roles including General Manager and, most recently, as CEO of Southbank Sinfonia, Britain’s leading orchestral academy. During this time, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and to the board of the Association of British Orchestras (resigned 2011). He became director of the Cambridge Music Festival in late 2011, and was recently appointed to programme the chamber music series at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge. Justin studied at Oxford (Music) and the London School of Economics (Business).
For further press information please contact:
Rebecca Driver Media Relations
Email: rebecca@rdmr.co.uk | isobel@rdmr.co.uk
Tel: 020 7448 5336