 THE SCHUBERT ENSEMBLE
piano quartet
SIMON BLENDIS ~ violin
DOUGLAS PATERSON ~ viola
JANE SALMON ~ cello
WILLIAM HOWARD ~ piano
In 2008 The Schubert Ensemble celebrated its 25th anniversary with an exciting season of concerts all over the UK and abroad. Special performances at the Purcell Room and the Wigmore Hall paid tribute to the group’s reign at the very forefront of both contemporary and standard repertoire chamber music for piano and strings. During the last year it has performed in major concert halls in Europe and in North America, given a four concert Brahms series for BBC Radio 3 at St George’s Bristol, started the third year of a three year residency at Cardiff University, and completed its first tour of South Africa. The Ensemble has been hailed for its dedication and commitment to both traditional and contemporary repertoire.
With over 80 commissions to its name, The Schubert Ensemble has
built an enviable reputation as a champion
of composers such as Martin Butler, Piers Hellawell and Judith Weir.
It recently featured in the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s focus
on the latter’s work,
performing an entire concert of Ensemble
commissions at LSO St. Luke’s. With
a repertoire of over 130 works, The Ensemble
gives regular performances of piano quartets
and quintets by Brahms, Faure, Dvorák, Mozart and Schumann,
alongside ensemble commissions and the works of less well-known composers
such as Chausson, Enescu and Korngold.
The ensemble has recorded over 20 CDs, both contemporary music and recordings of Brahms, Dohnanyi, Elgar, Faure, Franck, Hummel, Korngold Mendelssohn, Schubert and Schumann, amongst others. Their recent release on the Chandos label featured Vaughan Williams’ Piano Quintet and also On Wenlock Edge with the tenor Mark Padmore.
The 25th Anniversary year included return visits to the USA and Canada, a four concert Faure series for BBC Radio 3, and a weekend of concerts at the Wigmore Hall in November. As the three-year residency at Cardiff University comes to a close, the Ensemble begins an exciting new association with Dartington Hall in Devon.
The Ensemble is a regular visitor to Festivals including Cheltenham, City of London, Spitalfields, Chelsea and Huddersfield, to such venues as the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) Konzerthuis (Oslo), Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall (London), with foreign tours including Norway, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Romania, South Africa, the USA and Canada.
The Schubert Ensemble is supported by The Schubert Ensemble Trust, which gratefully acknowledges funding from the PRS Foundation.
PROGRAMME:
MONTEVERDI: Lamento
della Ninfa (arr. Anthony
Powers)
Anthony POWERS:
Nightsongs for piano quartet
Vincent D’INDY:
Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 7
FAURÉ:
Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15
www.schubertensemble.com
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