SOUNDS OF NOW: GRITSTONE TURNTABLE (DOUBLE BILL)

Leafcutter John & Graham Dunning

Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield
Saturday 30 November 2024, 8.00pm
Tickets:
£17
£10 PIP / UC / DLA
£5 Students & Under 35s
Book Tickets
Leafcutter John's gritstone turntables

Sheffield-based electronic musician Leafcutter John performs his new project GRIT in this double-bill concert with experimental turntablist Graham Dunning.

Responding to his love of the Peak District and climbing, GRIT sees Leafcutter John use his home-made quad turntable to conjure reeling melody and rhythm from the very texture of gritstone.

Graham Dunning’s work also explores sound as texture, timbre and something tactile. Drawing on bedroom production, tinkering and recycling found objects, Graham works with a DJ turntable as the engine of a ramshackle mechanical music system. He builds extensions and interfaces to sequence patterns, trigger synths, strike percussion and generate textures in this extraordinary, techno-infused performance, which is in turns abstract, clattering, cosmic and polyrhythmic.

Graham Dunning, turntable artist

Please note the Sounds of Now: Meltwater event originally scheduled for this date has been postponed until autumn 2025. More details to follow.

“Alongside Aphex Twin and Bogdan Raczynski, [Leafcutter John] is one of the UK’s most fearlessly inventive electronicists.”

Time Out London

MENDELSSOHN, MOZART & MORE

Consone Quartet

White Rock Studio, Hastings
Monday 30 September 2024, 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 – £20

Book Tickets
Musicians from the Consone Quartet with their instruments
R SCHUMANN (extracts arr. Friedrich Hermann) Bilder aus Osten, Op.66 (8′)
HAYDN String Quartet in F sharp minor Op.50 No.4 (21’)
MENDELSSOHN Theme and Variations and Scherzo from Four Pieces Op.81 (10′)
MOZART String Quartet in D “Hoffmeister” (25’)

Former BBC New Generation Artists, the Consone Quartet’s musicians are captivating and virtuosic performers, whose concerts are marked by warmth, honesty and expressiveness. Here two of their favourite composers, Haydn and Mozart, sit alongside Romantic masterpieces that followed generations later.

 

PART OF THE CLASSICAL SERIES
presented by The Guildhall Trust
 and Music in the Round.

MOZART MASTERPIECES FOR HORN & STRINGS

Ensemble 360

White Rock Studio, Hastings
Monday 12 May 2025, 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 – £20

Book Tickets
String quartet players of classical music group Ensemble 360, with their instruments

MOZART Horn Quintet (16’)
MOZART String Quintet in G minor (35’)
MOZART Clarinet Quintet (31’)

Praised by The Guardian as “one of the most adaptable chamber groups in the country”Ensemble 360 is renowned for its virtuoso performances, bold programming and engaging interpretations of music. Here they present three of Mozart’s best loved works, including the deeply expressive Horn Quintet which is playful, lyrical and gloriously optimistic and the string quintet which charts a journey from haunting melancholy to triumphant hope.

 

PART OF THE CLASSICAL SERIES
presented by The Guildhall Trust
 and Music in the Round.

FANFARE! TRUMPET CLASSICS

Aaron Azunda Akugbo & Zeynep Özsuca

White Rock Studio, Hastings
Monday 3 February 2025, 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 – £20

Book Tickets
Aaron Akugbo, rising-star trumpet player

HONEGGER Intrada (4’)
L BOULANGER Nocturne et Cortège (8’)
VIVALDI Agitata da due venti (6’)
BOZZA Aria (4’)
FRANÇAIX Sonatine (8’)
HUBEAU Sonata (15’)
PRICE The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (3’)
PRICE Song to the Dark Virgin (3’)
MAHLER Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (3’)
ROPARTZ Andante et Allegro (6’)  

Having made waves with recent performances at Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms, rising star trumpeter Aaron Akugbo comes to Hastings. Citing Louis Armstrong as his greatest musical influence, this charismatic performer presents an eclectic mix of works. This promises to be an evening of discovery and delight, with music spanning centuries and continents. Works from familiar names such as Vivaldi and Mahler sit alongside new treats to discover from Florence Price and Eugene Bozza.

 

PART OF THE CLASSICAL SERIES
presented by The Guildhall Trust
 and Music in the Round.

HAYDN, BARTÓK & RAVEL STRING QUARTETS

Marmen Quartet

White Rock Studio, Hastings
Monday 25 November 2024, 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 – £20

Book Tickets

HAYDN String Quartet in E flat ‘The Joke’ Hob.III:38 (18’)
BARTÓK String Quartet No.3 (15’)
RAVEL String Quartet (29’) 

The Marmen Quartet has won a glittering array of international prizes; its musicians are rigorous and deeply humane performers. Charting hundreds of years of string writing, their concert begins with Haydn’s witty quartet, and is followed by the thrilling and spiky third quartet by the Hungarian composer Bela Bartók. Culminating in a shimmering, deeply romantic work by Ravel, this concert promises a spectacular sweep through the heart of chamber music.

 

PART OF THE CLASSICAL SERIES
presented by The Guildhall Trust
 and Music in the Round.

A CELEBRATION OF CZECH MUSIC

Ensemble 360

The Guildhall, Portsmouth
Monday 17 March 2025, 7.30pm
Book Tickets
Ensemble 360 classical musicians - oboe player Adrian Wilson, horn player Naomi Atherton and clarinet player Robert Plane

HAAS Oboe Suite Op.17 (16′)
JANÁČEK
In the Mists (15′)
HAAS
Wind Quinet Op.10 (14′)
JANÁČEK
Mládi (19′)

Janáček’s beloved Mládí (‘Youth’) was written towards the end of his life as a nostalgic celebration of memories of his youth, drawing on his early writing. Receiving its premiere performances in autumn 1924, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of this iconic piece for wind, featuring the bass clarinet alongside a regular wind quintet line-up of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon. Also featured in this concert is Janacek’s expressive masterpiece for solo piano ‘In the Mists’ and two works from wind and piano by his most illustrious student, Pavel Haas.

PIANO FAVOURITES

Kathryn Stott

The Guildhall, Portsmouth
Monday 21 October 2024, 7.30pm
Book Tickets
Classical pianist Kathryn Stott

BACH Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C BWV846 (5′)
L BOULANGER Théme et Variations (9′)
FAURÉ Barcarolle No.4 in A Flat Op.44 (4′)
RAVEL Jeux d’eau (5′)
GRIEG Wedding Day at Troldhaugen Op. 65 No. 6 (6′)
PIAZZOLLA (arr. YAMAMOTO) Milonga (5′)
SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude & Fegue No. 24 in D minor Op.87 (12′)
FITKIN Scent (4′)
RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN (arr. HOUGH) ‘My Favourite Things’ (3′)
SHAW Gustave Le Gray (11′)
CHOPIN Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4 in A minor (4′)
GRAINGER Molly on the Shore (4′)
VINE Short Story (3′)
FITKIN Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (8′)

Acclaimed pianist Kathryn Stott brings a programme of ‘musical postcards’ to Portsmouth as part of her farewell tour. As Kathy draws her performing career to a close, she performs an eclectic programme spanning four centuries of music, showcasing her diverse musical loves and friendships.

Opening with exquisite Bach and concluding with a brand-new farewell commission, via a Scandinavian wedding celebration from Grieg, the spirit of Broadway and a masterful Chopin Mazurka, this promises to be a whirlwind tour through a unique musical career from a captivating performer much-loved across the world.

SOUNDS OF NOW: BRIDGE ENSEMBLE

Bridge Ensemble

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth
Wednesday 11 December 2024, 7.30pm
Book Tickets
Bridge Ensemble 2024

A programme of new music for flute, clarinet, oboe, horn and bassoon from Music in the Round’s Bridge Ensemble.

Opening with Sigurd Berge’s haunting work for solo horn, including Èkó Scenes, a brand new Afrobeat-inspired work by the group’s clarinettist Olá Akindipe, and concluding with US composer Valerie Coleman’s fusion of what she calls ‘blues dialect and charm of the south’, this is an accessible and eclectic tour through a world of new classical music.

SOUNDS OF NOW: HERMES EXPERIMENT

The Hermes Experiment

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth
Thursday 17 April 2025, 7.30pm
Book Tickets

CÉCILE CHAMINADE(arr. SCHOFIELD) La Lune paresseuse (3’)
TOM COULT 
I Find Planets (6’)
CAROLINE SHAW 
(arr. DENHOLM) Plan & Elevation: I. The Ellipse (4’)
LAURA MOODY 
Rilke Songs (movements I & III) (10’)
SOOSAN LOLAVAR 
Mâh Didam (6’)
ANNA MEREDITH 
(arr. SCHOFIELD) Fin like a flower (3’)
LILI BOULANGER 
(arr. SCHOFIELD) Reflets (3’)
KERRY ANDREW 
(arr. DENHOLM) Fruit Songs (8’)
ERROLLYN WALLEN 
(arr. WERNER), Tree (5’)
HANNAH PEEL 
(arr. PASHLEY), The Almond Tree (3’)
MISHA MULLOV-ABBADO 
The Linden Tree (6’)

The award-winning Hermes Experiment is one of the most exciting forces in contemporary music today. With their arresting stage presence and wildly imaginative programmes, they have been winning over audiences around the country with their effortless ability to bring music from the margins into the mainstream.

Fronted by the captivating singer Heloise Werner, this quartet of sensational musicians (soprano, harp, clarinet and double bass) were recent winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award. They perform works covering all styles of new music in today’s gloriously electric scene.

SOUNDS OF NOW: PURNIMA – EASTMAN, WOLFE & SINGH

Rakhi Singh

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth
Thursday 13 February 2025, 7.30pm
Book Tickets

NICOLA MATTEIS Alia Fantasia (4′)
ANNA CLYNE October Rose for Two Violins (4′)
ALEX GROVES Alula (9′)
ANDREW HAMILTON In Beautiful May (13′)
JULIUS EASTMAN (arr. RAKHI SINGH) Joy Boy (8′)
MISSY MAZZOLI Vespers (5′)
PAUL CLARK Natural Remedies (6′)
EDMUND FINNIS Elsewhere (8′)
JULIA WOLFE (arr. RAKHI SINGH) LAD (17′)

Violinist Rakhi Singh performs works by Edmund Finnis, Julia Wolfe, Julius Eastman, Alex Groves, and more from her debut solo album, ‘Purnima’. A leading artist in the UK’s exciting contemporary classical music scene, Singh has firmly established her reputation touring with cutting-edge artists such as Phillip Glass, Abel Selaocoe, and the London Contemporary Orchestra. She is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Manchester Collective, the award-winning ensemble known for its daring collaborations and engaging performances in spaces ranging from concert halls to warehouses, nightclubs to festivals.

BEETHOVEN, MOZART & MORE: STRING QUARTETS

Marmen Quartet

The Guildhall, Portsmouth
Monday 20 January 2025, 7.30pm
Book Tickets

BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op.95 “Serioso” (22′)
BARTÓK
String Quarter No. 3 (15′)
FISHER
Heal (8′)
MOZART
String Quartet in C K465 ‘Dissonance’ (30′)

The Marmen Quarter has won a glittering array of international prizes; its musicians are rigorous and deeply humane performers. Charting hundreds of years string writing, their concert begins with Beethoven’s ‘Serioso’ String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, followed by the vivid folk-inspired motifs of the Third Quartet No. 11 in F minor, followed by the vivid folk-inspired motifs of the Third Quartet by Hungarian composer Belà Bartók.

Salina Fisher’s highly original hypnotic new work, specially commissioned for the Marmen Quartet during lockdown by Chamber Music New Zealand, also features. Culminating in Mozart’s daring ‘Dissonance’ String Quartet in C, join us for a celebration of timeless classics and the innovative spirit of modern works.

FANFARE! TRUMPET CLASSICS

Aaron Azunda Akugbo & Zeynep Özsuca

The Guildhall, Portsmouth
Monday 28 April 2025, 7.30pm
Book Tickets
Aaron Akugbo, rising-star trumpet player

HONEGGER Intrada (4′)
L BOULANGER
Nocturne et Cortege (8′)
VIVALDI
Agitata da due venti (6′)
BOZZA
Aria (4′)
FRANCAIX
Sonatine (8′)
HUBEAU
Sonata (15′)
PRICE
The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (3′)
PRICE
Song to the Dark Virgin (3′)
MAHLER
Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (3′)
ROPARTZ
Andante et Allegro (6′)

Having made waves with recent performances at Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms, rising star trumpeter Aaron Akugbo comes to Portsmouth. Citing Louis Armstrong as his greatest musical influence, this charismatic performer presents an uplifting mix of works in a captivating evening of diverse and evocative musical expressions. With music spanning centuries and continents, from classical elegance to vibrant modern works, this evening promises to take you on a journey through a rich tapestry of emotions and styles.