Season preview: Kendal Midday Concert Club (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Season preview: Kendal Midday Concert Club

3:30pm Sunday 27th December 2009 in

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SECONDS out - and here comes midday magic part two.

Kendal Midday Concert Club is poised for the next half of its rivetting concert season, opening on Wednesday, January 6, with principal players from one of Europe’s most exciting chamber orchestras - the eminent Northern Sinfonia.

Based at that wonderful centre of musical excellence in the North East, the Sage at Gateshead, some of musical director Thomas Zehetmair’s masterful Sinfonia players will grace the Kendal Town Hall stage with Martinu’s Nonet and one of Dvorak’s most mellifluous works - his String Quartet in G Major.

However, the Sinfonia has some hard acts to follow: “We’ve had a superb first half to the season,” said artists’ secretary Elizabeth Howe.

“The Emma Johnson concert was a sell out and we had to turn quite a number of people away, which was frustrating.

“However, audiences have been excellent throughout. The Heath String Quartet, Emma Johnson and friends, and the pianist Libor Novacek were outstanding, and the recent Galeazzi Quartet received a wonderful reception for another brilliant recital.

“And our season ticket holders have increased to more than 200, which is excellent news and reflects the popularity of the club.”

Pianist Ian Fountain follows on from Northern Sinfonia’s New Year opener with a programme of works by Mozart, Beethhoven, Rachmaninov and Chopin on January 20, and on February 3, the top notch players of the Pro-Musica String Trio - Robert Heard (violin), Louise Williams (viola) and cellist Richard Jenkinson - keep up the musical momentum.

The three elegant Fugita sisters return to the concert series on February 17. The line-up of Arisa (violin), Honoka (cello) and Megumi (piano) won the Guildhall Chamber Music Prize in 1994 and they’ve gone to become one of the most sought after trios on the concert circuit.

The penultimate concert of the KMCC season will be the burgeoning duo of pianist Craig White and oboe player James Turnbull on March 3 with the highly-rated and dynamic Skampa Quartet bringing the series to an exciting conclusion on March 17.

As well as first class music, don’t forget snack lunches are available from 11.50am onwards!

Performances start at 1pm.