Spring Concerts at The Old Library, Colchester, Essex

Spring Concert Series at The Old Library, Colchester 
Wed 20 Mar, Thu 18 Apr, Thu 16 May 2024

CONCERT III - Clarinet Quintets

Thursday 16 May 2024, 7.30pm

Programme

Clara Schumann, arr. Bill Thorp Ich stand in dunklen Träumen, op.13 no.1 (1844)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A, K.581 (1789)

Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, op.115 (1891)
Johannes Brahms, arr. Bill Thorp Wie Melodien zieht es mir, op.105 no.1 (1886)

Sijie Chen violin | Will McGahon violin | John Crockatt viola | Orlando Jopling cello | Katherine Spencer clarinet

There will be a pre-concert conversation with the members of the quintet at 6:30pm which is free to attend.

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PAST CONCERTS, 2024

CONCERT I - BACH CHACONNE

Wednesday 20 March 2024, 7.30pm

Charlotte Spruit violin
Sergio Bucheli lute

Programme

G. F. Telemann Fantasia no. 1 for solo violin in B-flat major
J.G. Pisendel Sonata per violino solo in A minor
N. Matteis Selection from Ayres for the Violin (Book I)
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R. de Visée Suite for violin and lute in G Major
J. S. Bach Partita no 2 for Solo Violin in D Minor, BWV 1004

The Chaconne from J.S. Bach's Violin Partita in D Minor is a remarkable piece of music, well-known for its depth and complexity. This piece stretches over 256 measures and is built on a simple, yet poignant four-bar theme. Bach takes this theme through numerous variations, changing it in subtle and intricate ways. The music moves between major and minor modes, creating a rich and varied landscape.

Charlotte Spruit was born in 2000 in the Netherlands and is a chamber musician and soloist. She has performed at venues like the Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall and with musicians such as Janine Jansen and Rachel Podger. She has been a soloist with orchestras including the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and is pursuing her Master's degree at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2023, Charlotte was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International Auditions held at Wigmore Hall.

In 2022, Charlotte won the first prize, audience prize, and Genuin Classics prize at the Leipzig International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. She has also won other national and international competitions, including the Anton Kersjes Violin Prize in 2020. Charlotte participates in festivals such as the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht and has collaborated in performances that combine painting and music. She plays an 18th-century Italian violin from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

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CONCERT II - TUDORS, TIDES, AND TARANTULAS

Thursday 18 April 2024, 7.30pm

Richard Dowling tenor
Michael Butten guitar

Programme

The evening will take you on a musical journey through Italy and Scotland to a celebration of Tudor England.

ITALY
Donizetti Com’è gentil from Don Pasquale
Rossini L’Esule and La Danza

SCOTLAND
Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness
Britten O Waly, Waly

ENGLAND - Part I: Purcell
If music be the food of love
Not all my torments
She loves and she confesses too
I’ll sail upon the Dog Star

INTERVAL

Part II: Dowland
Fantasia
Come again sweet love doth now invite
Flow my tears
Can she excuse my wrongs
Fine knacks for ladies

Part III: Britten
The 2nd lute song from Gloriana

Part IV: Walton
O stay sweet love
Lady when I behold the roses
My love in her attire
I gave her cake and I gave her ale

Richard Dowling is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music's Opera Course, where he performed as Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress. Richard has been a key member of Wild Arts since its creation, playing a crucial part in its growth and ambitions. He performed as Ferrando in our production of Così fan tutte in 2022 and will be returning in 2024 for its revival. Richard also performed with English Touring Opera in Benjamin Britten’s John Donne Sonnets, Mozart’s Così fan tutte as Ferrando, Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions and a triple bill including a mixture of Purcell, Carissimi and Gesualdo. 

Internationally, Richard travelled to Tokyo with Diva Opera to perform as Pedrillo in Mozart's Entführung aus dem Serail. He has collaborated with various opera companies including Garsington Opera and Mid Wales Opera, portraying roles in operas by Britten, Rossini, and Donizetti. Before pursuing a career in music, Richard completed a PhD in Chemical Engineering at The University of Manchester.

Michael Butten studied at Junior Academy, where he twice won the Lower Strings Prize, before being awarded a scholarship at the Academy to continue his studies with Michael Lewin. In his first year he won the Julian Bream Prize, adjudicated by Julian Bream, and, shortly afterwards, gained the Nervi/Bodrato Prize as the youngest semi-finalist at the Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition in Alessandria. On completing his BMus degree with first class honours, he received from the Academy one of the Regency Awards and in June 2014, as a postgraduate, became the first guitarist to win the R.A.M. Club Prize. He won the 1st prize in the 2016 Ivor Mairants Guitar Award, and is a Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Upon leaving the Academy in 2016 he also won the David Russell Prize.

​Of particular interest to Michael is the often neglected guitar music of British composers, British renaissance lute repertoire and the link often found between the music of both periods. He is currently preparing a solo recording devoted to the music of John Dowland.

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Tickets

Front row seats are available.

Tickets to all the concerts for everyone under the age of 21 are just £10.

Drinks will be available for purchase before the concert from 6.00pm.

Disabled access

The Old Library has disabled access at the rear of the building. Please ask for a member of staff upon arrival and someone will come and assist you.

How to get there

The Old Library is a 20 minutes walk from Colchester mainline train station. Lots of buses go along Colchester High Street, a few yards away.

There is free parking for ticket-holders behind the venue, in the carpark on St Runwald Street. There is no vehicular access via the High Street, so approach via St Peter's Street and Short Cut Road. If you can offer a lift to someone unable to drive, and to cut down on car journeys, please let us know. Thank you.

Dinner

We recommend the Church Street Tavern and the North Hill Noodle Bar, both a 5-minute walk away (and we miss Falafel and More!).

We look forward to seeing you at the concerts.

The Wild Arts team