GUILDHALL SCHOOL
Chamber Music Festival
14–16 March 2025
Artistic Directors
Matthew Jones
Joy Farrall
Sam Armstrong
Ursula Smith
Chamber Festival Administrator
Henrietta Hill
Digital Programmes
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Milton Court & Silk Street
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Eating is not permitted in the auditorium.
Drinks are allowed inside the auditorium in polycarbonates.
Filming or recording of the performance is not permitted.
Latecomers will be able to enter the auditorium at a suitable break in the performance.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
Chair of the Board of Governors
The Hon. Emily Benn
Principal
Professor Jonathan Vaughan
Vice-Principal & Director of Music
Armin Zanner
Please visit our website at gsmd.ac.uk
Select Programme:
Rush Hour Concert: Elmore String Quartet
Friday 14 March, 6pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Collaboration Concert
Friday 14 March, 7.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Student Showcase
Saturday 15 March, 7pm
Silk Street Music Hall
Sunday Afternoon Concert
Sunday 16 March, 2.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Beethoven Revisited: Playing with Time
Sunday 16 March, 4.45pm
Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Festival Finale
Sunday 16 March, 7pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Rush Hour Concert:
Elmore String Quartet
Friday 14 March, 6pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Free, no ticket required
Imogen Holst Phantasy Quartet
Britten String Quartet No 2 in C major, Op 36
I. Allegro calmo, senza rigore
II. Vivace
III. Chacony
Elmore String Quartet
Hans Keller Fellows
Xander Croft violin
Miles Ames violin
Inis Oírr Asano viola
Felix Hughes cello
Founded in the industrial city of Manchester, the Elmore Quartet is an award-winning British Quartet based in London, where they are currently Hans Keller Chamber Fellows at Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
From their first sight-reading session at the start of their studies in 2017, the Elmores were bitten by the chamber music bug and have been pursuing their dream of performing chamber music together for audiences across the world ever since.
Over the past two years, the Elmore Quartet has recorded multiple times for BBC Radio 3 and performed at esteemed venues throughout the UK and Europe, including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place London, Bridgewater Hall and Oxford’s Holywell Music Room. In 2024, they were awarded Third Prize at the 13th edition of the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
In 2024, the Elmores were selected as Penzance MusicAbility Foundation’s first resident String Quartet. This three-year position allows the Quartet to integrate themselves into West Cornwall’s unique community by performing regularly as part of the Concerts Penzance concert series, working with local schools, and utilising their passion for sharing classical music with new audiences.
In addition to their performance and outreach work, the Quartet proudly launched the Elmore Chamber Music Festival in 2020. With the goal of providing a platform for fellow young musicians, the Festival has since grown into an annual event held every August in the picturesque village of Elmore, Gloucestershire, bringing high-level chamber music to a rural community.
Collaboration Concert
Friday 14 March, 7.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
£10 (£5 concessions)
Bacewicz Piano Quintet No 2
I. Moderato – Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro giocoso
Caroline Palmer* piano
Bartosz Woroch* violin
Phoebe Rousochatzaki violin
Mungo Everett-Jordan viola
Kosta Popovic cello
Bruch Selections from Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op 83 (No 1, 2, 5 & 4)
I. Andante
II. Allegro con moto
III. Rumänische Melodie: Andante
IV. Allegro agitato
Lily Payne clarinet
Sarah-Jane Bradley* viola
Valentina Wang piano
INTERVAL (15 minutes)
Haydn String Quartet in D major, Op 76 No 5
I. Allegretto
II. Largo cantabile e mesto
III. Minuet – Trio
IV. Finale: Presto
Krysia Osostowicz* violin
Pak Ho Hong violin
Emily Clark viola
Eryna Kisumba cello
Takemitsu Between Tides for Piano Trio
Sara Wolstenholme* violin
Natalie Alfille-Cook cello
Myunghan Kim piano
Turina Cinco Danzas Gitanas, Series 1, Op 55 (arr. Graham Sheen)
I. Zambra
II. Danza de la seducción
III. Danza ritual
IV. Generalife
V. Sacro-monte
Philippa Davies* flute/piccolo
Hanna Wozniak flute/piccolo
Beñat Erro Díez clarinet
Kathryn Titcomb clarinet
Alison Teale* oboe/cor anglais
Cameron Hutchinson oboe/cor anglais
Helen Storey* bassoon
Sarah Byrne bassoon
Alice Warburton horn
Katie Parker horn
Will O’Sullivan* trumpet
Sean Hartman trumpet
Cynthia Garduño Meneses double bass
* Guildhall School Chamber Professor
In Conversation with Matthew Jones, Head of Chamber Music
Can you give us a preview of the 2025 Chamber Music Festival and share some of the highlights you're most excited about?
As one of the artistic directors of the festival, and having seen it grow over the years, the excitement every year is seeing what happens in the process between the professors and the students during the Milton Court concerts. It’s wonderful to hear the fruits of that intensive burst of labour, which offers a combination of great performance with a fast-track learning process for the students, getting to be in groups with renowned chamber professors whom I’m very lucky to work with at Guildhall. It might sound cheesy, but the highlight is really witnessing the process and the results of whatever that repertoire may be. I’m particularly looking forward to the combination of some of the more familiar works, like Fauré and Brahms, along with some of the less common pieces that have been programmed.
It’s also exciting to have such a mixture of performances, like the staff and student collaborative concerts at Milton Court Concert Hall – which are always a treat to both play in and listen to – alongside the Saturday concert where some of our most accomplished student groups perform a very diverse range of repertoire. This year we’re including another event in which professor Jacqueline Ross will be sharing some of her recent research on Beethoven, providing a great overview of the holistic approach to chamber music and how we encourage students to get involved with it across the School.
Student Showcase
Saturday 15 March, 7pm
Silk Street Music Hall
Free, no ticket required
Barber Summer Music, Op 31
Catil Quintet:
Alex Ho flute
Charis Lai oboe
Lily Payne clarinet
Isabella Ward-Auckland horn
Thais Bordes bassoon
Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, L 137
I. Pastorale: Lento, dolce rubato
II. Interlude: Tempo di minuetto
III. Final: Allegro moderato ma risoluto
Tamsin Reed flute
Rebekah Dickinson viola
Eleanor Medcalf harp
Guillermo Lago Ciudades
I. Sarajevo
II. Addis Ababa
Pecomaro Quartet:
Catrin Roberts soprano saxophone
Lauren Peck alto saxophone
Hebe Cooke tenor saxophone
Alannah Makoni baritone saxophone
INTERVAL (5 minutes)
Bacewicz String Quartet No 4
I. Andante. Allegro molto
II. Andante
III. Allegro giocoso
Evan Lawrence violin
Rowan Dymott violin
Holly Woods viola
Joshua Lucas cello
Bozza Sonatine
I. Allegro vivo
Elgar Chanson de Matin, Op 15 No 2 (arr. Roger Harvey)
Bernstein ‘Tonight’ and ‘I Feel Pretty’ from West Side Story (arr. Jack Gale)
Aurum Brass:
Sam Balchin trumpet
Sasha Canter trumpet
Henry Ward horn
Ben Loska trombone
Morro Barry tuba
Forthcoming Events
Postgraduate Piano & Strings Concert
20 March 2025
Milton Court Concert Hall
Hear six exciting new pieces by Guildhall MMus composition students performed by postgraduate pianists and string players.
Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
29 March 2025
Milton Court Concert Hall
Julian Clayton conducts a programme of 20th-century America-inspired works, including John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby, Joan Tower’s Made in America, and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 3, which was first premiered in the United States.
8 May 2025
Barbican Hall
Join for Guildhall School’s most prestigious music prize and see three exceptional soloists from the School’s Vocal and Opera departments perform with piano accompaniment and with Guildhall Symphony Orchestra.
Sunday Afternoon Concert
Sunday 16 March, 2.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
£10 (£5 concessions)
Brahms Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor, Op 25
I. Allegro
II. Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo – Trio: Animato
III. Andante con moto
IV. Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto
Carole Presland* piano
Matteo Cimatti violin
Gary Pomeroy* viola
Theo Bently-Curtin cello
INTERVAL (15 minutes)
Sally Beamish Between Earth and Sea
Justyna Szynkarczyk flute
Matthew Jones* viola
Emily Hopper harp
Dohnányi Sextet in C major, Op 37
I. Allegro appassionata
II. Intermezzo: Adagio
III. Allegro con sentimento
IV. Finale: Allegro vivace, giocoso
Zany Denyer piano
Pedro Marques Rodrigues violin
Carys Barnes viola
David Waterman* cello
Sofia Mekhonoshina clarinet
Dan Hibbert horn
* Guildhall School Chamber Professor
Beethoven Revisited:
Playing with Time
Sunday 16 March, 4.45pm
Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Free, no ticket required
Join us for this masterclass with Guildhall School professor Jacqueline Ross exploring 19th-century performance practices such as tempo flexibility and rhythmic freedom to enhance character, expressiveness and spontaneity in Beethoven's chamber music.
Beethoven Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op 70 No 2
I. Poco sostenuto - Allegro ma non troppo
II. Allegretto
III. Allegretto ma non troppo
IV. Finale: Allegro
Myrthen Trio:
Cyrus Yuen violin
Wilbert Chan cello
Kwanyee Chan piano
Beethoven Piano Trio in D major, Op 70 No 1
I. Allegro vivace e con brio
II. Largo assai ed espressivo
III. Presto
Albero Trio:
Kayla Nicol violin
Joshua Lucas cello
Owen Lee piano
Jacqueline Ross
violin
Jacqueline Ross enjoys a unique and varied career performing on both modern and period instruments. Born in New York, she began her studies at the Juilliard School, continuing studies in contemporary music in Germany, and baroque violin in Amsterdam. Her solo recordings, which have been met with wide critical acclaim, include the complete sonatas and partitas of JS Bach.
The complete works for violin and fortepiano by Schubert were recorded for Naxos Records in partnership with Maggie Cole.
As a devoted teacher, Jacqueline attracts an international following of students as Professor at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She is regularly invited to give masterclasses internationally, which include Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, Paris Conservatoire, Beijing Central Conservatory and conservatories throughout Europe and the Far East. She has also adjudicated on many major violin competitions, including the Menuhin, Leopold Mozart and Louis Spohr International Violin Competitions, among many others.
Her research into style and performance has been supported by the Dutch Arts and Humanities Research Board, The British Council and the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange.
She was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Visiting Fellowship based at Cambridge University, to further her research on early 19th-century performance practice, and to prepare a performing edition of Schubert’s Trockne Blumen variations.
Her research into the collaboration between Joachim, Brahms and the Schumanns led to the publication of a new critical and performing edition of Clara Schumann’s Drei Romanzen for Baerenreiter.
Jacqueline performs on a GB Guadagnini violin made in Turin in 1777, which was financed for her with kind help from NW Brown.
Festival Finale
Sunday 16 March, 7pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
£10 (£5 concessions)
Stamitz Wind Quartet in E-flat major, Op 8 No 2
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante grazioso
III. Rondo
Daisy Lihoreau oboe
Joy Farrall* clarinet
Aiden Campbell bassoon
Henry Ward horn
Fauré Piano Quintet in D minor, Op 89
I. Molto moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto moderato
Sam Armstrong* piano
Simon Blendis* violin
Briona Mannion violin
Jake Montgomery-Smith viola
Nathanael Horton cello
INTERVAL (15 minutes)
Stravinsky Pastorale
Esme Lewis violin
Lidia Moscoso oboe
Fraser MacAulay* cor anglais
Joy Farrall* clarinet
Miriam Alperovich bassoon
Rachmaninov Piano Trio No 1 in G minor ‘Trio élégiaque’
Salome Jordania piano
Victoria Lewis violin
Tim Lowe* cello
Shostakovich Two Pieces for String Octet, Op 11
I. Prelude
II. Scherzo
Levon Chilingirian* violin
Elena Toledo violin
Laia Frances Pont violin
Aleksandra Lenkiewicz violin
Sirma Baramova viola
Gavin Marnoch viola
James Conway cello
Nia Williams cello
* Guildhall School Chamber Professor
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