Erda Ensemble: Marta Fontanals-Simmons (mezzo soprano) with Olivia Jageurs (harp) and Chloe Vincent (flute)

Part of the Roman River Festival 2025 - See all concerts here.

Join us for an evening of relaxing and inspirational music by candlelight in the warm embrace of Wivenhoe's St Mary's church - the velvet voice of mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons, accompanied by flutist Chloë Vincent, and harpist Olivia Jageurs, taking you on a compelling exploration of sound, mood, and storytelling across centuries with a richly varied and mellow programme weaving together folk traditions, contemporary works, and lyrical reflection.

This beautifully curated programme, spanning nearly a millennium as it traces cultural and creative threads through diverse musical landscapes, reflects a deep love for classical music—its heritage, its evolution, and its breadth of emotional and sonic language.

While most of tonight's repertoire will be new to our audience, as it is to us, seen through the eyes (and ears) of a classical music enthusiast, it offers a rich, reflective, and emotionally layered listening experience, with particular sensitivity to texture, voice, and nature. While some of it ventures far beyond the boundaries of traditional tonality and form, there is a fascination and connection in the continuity of expressive intent and craftsmanship. The presence of modern and contemporary works—by Anna Meredith, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Judith Weir, and others—might initially challenge, but their clarity and emotional immediacy echo the boldness of earlier innovators like Debussy, Britten, or Stravinsky. The juxtaposition of ancient chant, Romantic lyricism, and modern sonic landscapes encourages the listener to hear the classical tradition not as a static canon, but as a living, breathing art form—expanding, questioning, and reimagining itself. For the open-minded classical devotee, this programme is not a departure from tradition, but an invitation to engage more deeply with what tradition truly means.

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Mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons, flutist Chloë Vincent, and harpist Olivia Jageurs hit it off while performing Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at the Roman River Festival in 2021, discovering a shared passion for story-telling and reviving neglected works for their unusual combinations of instruments. They were invited back to perform their first concert as the Erda Ensemble at the Roman River Festival the following year. 

They remain constant innovators, arranging repertoire to suit their forces alongside performing music not yet published, as well performing new works by living composers. They have recently appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and BBC News. Recent and upcoming engagements include performances at Leeds Song Festival, Presteigne Festival, Debenham Chamber Music Festival, Music at Malling and the University of Manchester Concert Series as well as performing world premieres by Taylor-Leigh Payne and James Francis Brown.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Olivia has performed with major UK orchestras, including the London Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, and is renowned for her versatility across classical, contemporary, and commercial music.. She founded the innovative online concert series Harpy Hour and the harp-writing initiative 15 Second Harp, which was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2017. Chloë's diverse career spans orchestral, chamber, and commercial music; she has performed with ensembles like the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra as well as with Billie Eilish at the BRIT Awards and The Who at Wembley Stadium. British-Spanish mezzo-soprano Marta is acclaimed for her rich, expressive, "velvet" voice. She has performed at the Royal Opera House, Teatro Real, and Glyndebourne Festival. Notable roles include Siébel (Faust), Hel (The Monstrous Child), and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). She is also a trustee of the Jackdaws Music Education Trust.

PROGRAMME

Anon arr. Vaughan Williams Greensleeves
Ina Boyle 3 Ancient Irish Poems: Eve’s Lament; Lament for Youth; Winter Song
Cameron Biles-Liddell The Rippling Tide
Robert Peate Tyto Alba
Tayla-Leigh Payne Shall It Be Said...
Hildegard Von Bingen O Virtus Sapientiae

Interval

Cheryl Frances Hoad Vocalise
Anna Meredith Fin Like A Flower
Roxanna Panufnik A wind at Rook Haven
Paul Reade Kitchen Garden Suite
Vaughan Williams 4 Last Songs: (Hands, Eyes, Heart; Procris; Menelaus; Tired
Amy Beach Ecstasy

Doors will open at 7pm and the concert begins at 7.30. The James Dodds mini-exhibition will be available to view during this half hour window, the interval, and after the concert when we hope you will stay to enjoy a glass of wine, and meet the performers and the artist.

Duration: approx. 1 hour 45 mins (incl. 20-minute interval)

Marta Fontanals-Simmons | mezzo-Soprano
Olivia Jageurs | harp
Chloe Vincent | flute

Tickets £20 – £30 (£15 for under 30s)

Reduced visibility seats available.

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Celebrating 25 Years of Artists-in-Residence

Over the past quarter century Roman River Music has invited many highly recognised local artists to be part of the festival. Their work has been both incorporated into the stage sets for concerts and on the cover of our programmes. This year, rather than invite a new one to join this illustrious roster, we are looking back to fête all of those who have been so wonderfully part of Roman River Festival. At each of the larger concerts this year, the work of a particular artist will be on display and sale, and the artist themself will be there to discuss their work.

There's no more appropriate artist to join us at this glorious Wivenhoe concert than James Dodds. His work will be on display/sale under the stained glass window he designed for St Mary's relatively new annexe (a triumph of collaboration, and a fine example of how modern architecture can work beautifully with ancient buildings.)

James Dodds, born in 1957 in Brightlingsea, Essex, trained as a shipwright in Maldon before studying painting at Chelsea and the Royal College of Art. His work draws heavily from his East Anglian maritime background, focusing on the sea through painting, printmaking, and publishing his own hand-printed books of prints which display great imaginative and technical command of the use of the woodcut. In 2001, his major retrospective "Shipshape" toured several UK venues and internationally. In 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex in recognition of his "distinguished contribution to the local community as an artist and defender of our community and natural heritage." He regularly exhibits regularly at Bircham Gallery (Holt, Norfolk), Messums Gallery (London), Hayletts Gallery (Maldon, Essex), North House Gallery (Manningtree, Essex) and Mystic Seaport (Connecticutt, USA) and his prints are held in prominent collections like the V&A and the Britten-Pears Library.

https://jamesdodds.co.uk/

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