Bradley Creswick  director / violin

Kyra Humphreys  violin

Orchestra of over 30 strings and wind

Mozart:  Serenade No. 11 in E flat major, K.375

Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor

String and wind ensemble of nine musicians

The widely acclaimed Esbjerg Ensemble from Denmark presents a scintillating and intriguing programme – as well as Schumann’s much loved piano quintet and a sextet by Poulenc for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn, they will play the nonet by Louise Farrenc - a brilliant but underestimated French 19^th century composer admired by Schumann - and a piece by the young Danish composer Peter Bruun.                      

Francis Poulenc:  Sextet for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn.

Louise Farrenc: Nonet for Wind and Strings in B major, 
Op. 38

Peter Bruun: Letters to the Ocean, for flute, clarinet, percussion, violin and cello

Christoph Henschel, Markus Henschel   violins

Monika Henschel-Schwind  viola 

Mathias D. Beyer-Karlshoj  cello

The Henschel Quartet, prizewinners of six International String Quartet competitions, make a welcome return to Keswick after playing in the BBC Proms last summer. Their recent complete Mendelssohn recording made in anticipation of his centenary next year was voted best Mendelssohn Quartet CD. Their varied programme includes music from all periods of the chamber music repertoire.

Mendelssohn:  Capriccio in E minor Op. 81, No.3

Janacek:  Quartet No.1  Kreutzer Sonata

Haydn: Quartet in G major Op.76, No.1,

Beethoven:   Quartet in B flat major Op.18, No.6

Named after the flame-haired priest, Antonio Vivaldi, this extraordinary English ensemble has redefined the art of baroque music performance, combining the fruits of extensive research with swashbuckling virtuosity, creative re-composition, heart-on-sleeve emotion and compelling stagecraft. Expect a dramatic and brilliant entertainment, with humour, emotion and scholarship.  They follow Bach’s own example in borrowing, improvising and embellishing, and in this programme highlight the spirit of dance which pervades so much of his work. Their performances have been called ‘immaculately forged’ or ‘deliciously twisted’ “If nobody goes over the top, how will we know what lies on the other side?”

Tom Poster, winner of the 2007 Scottish Piano Competition, returns to Keswick as soloist after his appearance last year with the highly acclaimed Balsom Ensemble. His recital includes a delicate Mozart piece, followed by Brahms’ Klavierstucke, a reflective and joyful set among his later compositions and Chopin’s passionate and expressive last sonata. He concludes with Stravinsky’s arrangement, originally for Artur Rubinstein, of music from his dramatic ballet.

Stravinsky:  Three Movements from Petrouchka

Local Junior Artists’ Concert

Not to be missed: an evening full of variety given by enthusiastic and talented young musicians.

Nicholas Ward  Director/violin 

Sarah Williamson clarinet

Founded in 1971 by its Music Director Richard Hickox, City of London Sinfonia is one of the UK’s leading professional orchestras with a reputation for interesting programming and for skilful interpretation. Two classics – an early work by Mozart and one of Schubert’s most expressive symphonies showing Mozart’s influence contrast with music by two very different 20th century composers – the English Gerald Finzi and the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.

The brilliant young clarinettist Sarah Williamson plays Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto which exploits to the full the clarinet’s capacity for sustained melody and virtuosity, while the tango-inspired ‘Summer’ echoes elements of Vivaldi's original, and is filled with the excitement and electricity of the season. 

This is the fourth Keswick Concert in the Orchestras Live Cumbria Series, funded nationally by Arts Council England and in Cumbria by a grant from Northern Rock Foundation.

During the school half term break, the City of London Sinfonia will precede their main concert with a concert especially for children. They will play some music from the evening concert together with a variety of other pieces chosen both for their appeal to younger listeners and for their wide range of styles: movements from Britten’s Simple Symphony, and from Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusick, pieces for solo clarinet and orchestra, Bartok dances and music with a South American feel. This will be a great opportunity to hear one of the best internationally famous chamber orchestras, and is part of the Orchestras Live Cumbria Series.

Tickets £3.00 each (children accompanied by up to two adults)

Mozart:  Divertimento No. 3 in F major K.138

Finzi:  Clarinet Concerto

Piazzolla: Verano (Summer) from Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

The amazing tonal and emotional range of the saxophone is shown in Amy Dickson’s programme – the first saxophone recital at a KMS concert – which includes both well-known and unfamiliar pieces, ranging widely across 20^th century music. This young Australian saxophonist has had an international career since the age of eighteen. Having won many competitions she now gives recitals and performs concerts throughout the world and has performed in venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, the London South Bank, and the Sydney Opera House, both as a solo recitalist and with orchestras throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. According to a New York review, ‘Mr. Sax couldn’t have asked for a better champion’! We are grateful to the Countess of Munster Musical Trust who sponsor this concert.

The Fibonacci Sequence Chamber Ensemble

One of the foremost chamber ensembles in Britain, the Fibonacci Sequence is distinguished by its versatile groupings and imaginative programmes and is named after the series of numbers related to the Golden Section, sometimes held to determine the most harmonious proportions in music.  In this programme seriousness and exuberance are constantly in counterpoint: Strauss’ sparkling orchestral work keeps its quintessential character in this witty version for five virtuoso players. Both Mozart’s great clarinet quintet and Schubert’s Octet, two of the most loved pieces in the classical repertoire, give glimpses of shadows behind their essentially light hearted nature.

Strauss arr. Hasenöhrl:  The Merry Pranks of Till Eulenspiegel  

Mozart:  Clarinet Quintet

Schubert:  Octet