St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Saturday February 24th 2024 ·
7:30pm
Elena Urioste
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Violin
Tom Poster
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Piano
As a violinist, Elena Urioste has given acclaimed performances as a soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States. Abroad, Elena has appeared with the London Philharmonic, Hallé, CBSO, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC Symphony Orchetsra and many others. She has collaborated with celebrated conductors including Sir Mark Elder and Vasily Petrenko and has performed as a featured soloist in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, the Concertgebouw, and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Elena is a former BBC New Generation Artist (2012-14) and has been featured on the covers of Strings, Symphony, and BBC Music magazines.
Elena believes that we should all strive to spend less time looking at screens, that Oxford commas should be required, and that people should clap whenever they feel moved to do so during concerts.
Tom Poster is a musician whose skills and passions extend well beyond the conventional role of the concert pianist. He has been described as “a marvel, [who] can play anything in any style” (The Herald), “mercurially brilliant” (The Strad), and as having “a beautiful tone that you can sink into like a pile of cushions” (BBC Music). Tom has performed over forty concertos from Mozart to Ligeti with many of the leading orchestras around the world. He has premiered solo, chamber and concertante works by many leading composers, made multiple appearances at the BBC Proms, and his exceptional versatility has put him in great demand at festivals internationally.
During the 2020 lockdown, this dynamic husband and wife duo created the #UriPosteJukebox series which brought a staggeringly diverse selection of music to audiences across the world through 88 daily online performances, for which they won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Inspiration Award. Their subsequent recording, The Jukebox Album, received glowing reviews and a BBC Music Magazine Award nomination.
They also founded the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. With a flexible line-up featuring many of today’s most inspirational musicians, and an ardent commitment to diversity through its creative programming, Kaleidoscope broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3.
St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Friday November 24th 2023 ·
7:30pm
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
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Piano
Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is the third of the Kanneh-Mason clan to establish herself as a soloist. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2021 with the Chineke! Orchestra, performing the Florence Price Concerto and was heralded by the press as “demonstrating musical insight, technical acuity, and an engaging performing persona” (Music OMH).
Jeneba was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018, winner of the Murs du Son Prize at the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France, 2014, and The Nottingham Young Musician 2013. She was also winner of the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at The Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy, where she studied with Patsy Toh.
Jeneba was named one of Classic FM’s ‘Rising Stars’ and appeared on Julian Lloyd Webber’s radio series in 2021. She has also been featured on several television and radio programmes, including Radio 3, In Tune, The BAFTAs, The Royal Variety Performance, the documentary for BBC4, Young, Gifted and Classical, and the Imagine documentary for BBC1, ‘This House is Full of Music’. She has recorded for the album, Carnival, with Decca Classics.
St Andrew's Church, Wiveliscombe ·
Saturday September 30th 2023 ·
7:30pm
The Chamber Orchestra of the West first performed in Wiveliscombe in 2021 and blew us away with their vitality, musicianship and energy.
This newly formed professional orchestra is the brainchild of Jackie Shave who is one of the most versatile and dynamic musicians of her generation. She is an acclaimed leader, director and virtuoso chamber musician and is noted for her many collaborations with other musicians and artists of all genres. She has been guest leader of many of the UK’s orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Scottish and BBC Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared at the Wigmore Hall over 50 times, spent 15 years leading the Brindisi Quartet and is former leader and director of the Britten Sinfonia, Associate Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre.
The musicians who make up the Chamber Orchestra of the West have played together for years in different formations. They create diverse and dynamic programmes which are incredibly inspirational. The music spans the centuries, from Hildegard von Bingen to present day composers and new commissions.
Please have a look at their website and listen to the short video. Their energy and vision is both captivating and inspiring.
St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Friday April 28th 2023 ·
7:30pm
Adrian Butterfield
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Violin
Sarah McMahon
·
Cello
Rachel Brown
·
Baroque flute
Silas Wollston
·
Harpsichord
Since making their debut at Handel’s Parish Church, St. George’s Hanover Square, as part of the London Handel Festival in 2000, the London Handel Players have thrilled audiences across the world with their performances and recordings. They appear regularly at Wigmore Hall and at many of the leading festivals in the UK, Europe and North America, performing baroque chamber music and concertos and collaborating with the world’s greatest singers. They have performed across Canada and the United States, making their New York debut at the Frick Museum in 2012 and returning to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2014.
The members of the group pursue busy solo, directing and conducting careers, work with many of the major early-instrument ensembles in the UK and abroad and are professors at the conservatoires in London. They also appear frequently on BBC Radio 3.
Committed teachers at every level, the London Handel Players present master classes and workshops for students, keen amateurs and children, including an annual project with schools in conjunction with the Handel House Museum and the London Handel Festival.
St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Friday March 31st 2023 ·
7:30pm
Lara Melda
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Piano
Lara Melda won the BBC Young Musician competition in 2010 at the age of 16, performing Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in the final round with Vasily Petrenko and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff.
Lara made her BBC Proms and Royal Albert Hall debut as one of the soloists performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Andrew Gourlay in an evening devoted to previous Young Musician winners.
She has performed with the Britten Sinfonia (Barbican), Royal Northern Sinfonia (The Sage), Aurora and English Sinfonia, as well as touring New Zealand.
After graduating from the Royal College of Music with a first class honours degree in 2016, she made her Wigmore Hall debut in 2017 and followed this with three more sold out recitals there in 2018, 2019 and 2021. During the pandemic Lara continued giving concerts on online platforms.
Lara Melda performs regularly in Turkey where she received the prestigious ‘Promising Young Artist’ award and ‘Woman of the Year Arts award’.
St Andrew's Church, Wiveliscombe ·
Sunday February 5th 2023 ·
3:00pm
Jess Gillam
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Saxophone
Zeynep Ozsuca
·
Piano
Saxophonist and presenter Jess Gillam is animating the music world with her outstanding talent and infectious personality. She has been forging her own adventurous path since she shot to fame becoming the first saxophonist to reach the final of BBC Young Musician and the youngest ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms. Passionate and inspiring and bringing joy to people through music, Jess invites audiences on journeys of musical discovery through her electrifying performances and eclectic programming.
As well as performing around the world, Jess is a presenter on TV and Radio. She became the youngest ever presenter for BBC Radio 3 with the launch of her own weekly show, This Classical Life. The show is in its third year now and in 2020 won the prestigious ARIA Award for Best Specialist Music Show.
She has been the recipient of a Classic BRIT Award, has been nominated for The Times Breakthrough Award and was awarded an M.B.E. in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2021 for Services to Music.
Her infectious enthusiasm and passion for classical and non-classical music lights up every stage and she has performed in prestigious concert halls and with world-class orchestras around the globe.
St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Saturday June 11th 2022 ·
7:30pm
In 2021, Ariel won third prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition, was a prize winner in the inaugural Young Classical Artists Trust (London) and made his debut at Wigmore Hall.
His other awards include 1st Prize at the 2018 Grand Prix Animato Competition in Paris and 1st Prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition, as well as a finalist award at the Rubinstein Competition.
Ariel has a busy season ahead playing recitals in Miami, London and Rome and is performing concerti by Mozart and Brahms in Israel and the USA. He is set to have a long and prosperous career ahead of him and we are thrilled to welcome him to Milverton as he begins this journey.
St Andrew's Church, Wiveliscombe ·
Saturday May 14th 2022 ·
7:30pm
Voces8 is a British a capella octet founded in 2003 by two brothers, Paul and Barnaby Smith, former choristers at Westminster Abbey, who both still manage and sing with the group.
This inspiring group of 8 singers perform a diverse repertoire ranging from English and European Renaissance music right through to traditional folk song, Classic Jazz, plus a huge selection of their own arrangements and many commissioned new works.
Voces8 are leaders in this genre with a huge International following and a reputation for crystal clear diction and hair raising dynamics!
VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues in its 15-year career, including Wigmore Hall, Tokyo Opera City, Sydney Opera House and now Wiveliscombe! Their recordings regularly reach the top of the classical charts.
VOCES8 is passionate about music education engaging in a broad range of outreach work that reaches up to 40,000 people a year, the group runs an annual programme of workshops and masterclasses at the Foundation’s home in London.
VOCES8 will be running a workshop at St Andrews Church, Wiveliscombe on 14th May, starting at 2pm. Full details here.
St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Friday April 1st 2022 ·
7:30pm
Jean Johnson
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Clarinet
Roeland Jagers
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Viola
Ilona Timchenko
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Piano
Metamorphoses is a new ensemble of world class musicians, comprising clarinet, viola and piano. A lovely combination of instruments and a fabulous programme.
Clarinettist Jean Johnson has played in some of world’s finest venues as a chamber musician and in duo with her husband, pianist Steven Osborne.
Dutch-born viola player Roeland Jagers is a member of the Rubens Quartet, who also appears regularly as a soloist in concert halls and music festivals in Europe and the U.S.
Prize-winning, Crimean-born pianist Ilona Timchenko appears regularly as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a recitalist and accompanist to a number of well-known instrumentalists and vocalists.
St Michael's Church, Milverton ·
Friday March 4th 2022 ·
7:30pm
Niall Keatley
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Trumpet
Alan Thomas
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Trumpet
Andrew Sutton
·
Horn
Amos Miller
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Trombone
David Gordon Shute
·
Tuba
Celebrating its 30th anniversary season in 2023, Onyx Brass has been described as one of the classiest brass ensembles in the country. They skilfully combine virtuosic playing with an entertaining and articulate style sprinkled with their trademark good humour.
The group’s extensive discography (16 albums and counting!) is regularly featured on BBC R3 and has received huge critical acclaim.
New music and education are both at the heart of the ensemble’s remit: it has commissioned and premièred over 200 new works, and has led workshops and masterclasses from primary schools through to the Juilliard School.
