2010-11 Autumn / Spring Coffee Concert Series

Saturday

9 October

(10.15 for 11am)

Robin Zebaida (piano).

Following a Chopin recital in 2008 in which he thrilled his audience, Robin Zebaida returned with a hugely enjoyable programme of piano works by Schumann.

Saturday

6 November

(10.15 for 11am)

Rachel Major (soprano) and Henry Parkes (piano).

Rachel Major, who performed at St Nicholas Church with the Ashford Baroque Ensemble at the 2010 SSAA Arts Festival, presented a recital that included songs by Bach, Mozart and Walton.

Saturday

29 January

(10.15 for 11am)

Lynda Chang and Moira Edwards (piano duet).

A capacity crowd enjoyed a delightful programme of piano duets performed by two renowned local musicians that included Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring  by J S Bach, the Fantaisie in F Minor Opus 103 by Schubert, Bizet’s L'Arlesienne Suite No 2, the Variations on a Theme of Haydn Opus 56 by Brahms, the Petite Suite by Debussy (En Bateau, Cortège, Menuet, Ballet) and the Jamaican Rumba by Arthur Benjamin.

Saturday 5 March  

(10.15 for 11am)

Benjamin Woodley (piano).

Another sell-out recital, with a highly varied programme of Austro-German music presented in chronological order: 2 pieces from Bach’s French Suite no.5, Mozart’s Rondo in D, Beethoven’s 6 Bagatelles op.126, Schubert’s Impromptu in A flat major and 3 pieces from Brahms’s op.118. Outstanding and popular local pianist Benjamin Woodley played with great expressiveness and impressive technical control.

Saturday 25 April  

(10.15 for 11am)

Stephen Webster (clarinet) and Linda Marley (piano).

A fine Spring morning saw a large crowd at the Riverside Arts Centre for a concert of music for clarinet and piano given by two local musicians, which proved to be as enjoyable as it was impressive: although much of the programme made considerable demands on both players, each piece was delivered with great panache as well as a vivid sense of musical style. The recital began with Finzi’s lyrical 5 Bagatelles, written during World War II. Demonstrating a masterly compositional technique, these attractive pieces contrast moments of the utmost simplicity with contrapuntal fireworks and as a set they made an ideal curtain-raiser. Suitably warmed up, the audience were then treated to a dazzling performance of Witold Lutosławski’s 5 Dance Preludes, music of an altogether quirkier nature in which the two instruments not infrequently seem to be reading from different scripts! The technical expertise displayed here by both players was exhilarating and their shared sense of musical ensemble quite dazzling! Saint-Saëns’s late Clarinet Sonata calmed the atmosphere once more, often exploring the more intimate side of the clarinet’s expressive character in the opening of its four movements (music which is reprised at the sonata’s conclusion) although being notable overall for its contrasts in mood. The programme concluded with Malcolm Arnold’s energetic Sonatina, a rhythmic tour de force which was dispatched with great aplomb. The warmth of the reception was rewarded by a much-appreciated encore from Paul Reade’s A Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite, written for the clarinettist Emma Johnson, bringing to a close a thoroughly rewarding morning of music-making.

Stephen Willis