Zoffany Ensemble to appear at St Mary’s Church, Wendover
On Thursday 20thDecember 2018 at 7.30pm, the Zoffany Ensemble, with local oboist Alison Louis, will present an evening of chamber music in aid of CRISIS and Youth Concern Aylesbury. The concert will take place at St. Mary’s Church, Wendover. Tickets are available in advance fromJuston Wendover High Street or at the door.
The programme:
Mozart Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370
BeethovenString Trio No.1 in G major, Op.9
Beethoven‘Eyeglasses’ duo for Viola and Cello
Krommer Oboe Quartet No. 1 in C major
More about Zoffany Ensemble:
In 2009, as a result of a passionate interest in Classical and Romantic chamber music, Manon Derome formed the Zoffany Ensemble with three very special colleagues: Catherine Musker, known for her wonderfully expressive and characterful playing; Anthony Pleeth, greatly respected for his musical integrity and renowned abilities as a player; and Michael Dussek, recognised for his acclaimed qualities of nuance and sensitivity that have made him such a successful chamber musician and accompanist. From time to time, other players with whom Manon has a close affinity are added to the group to perform piano quintets, string quintets and sextets.
The Ensemble set out to give performances of many of the greatest works in the chamber music repertoire by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms, and also music by neglected women composers such as Elfrida Andrée, Louise Farrenc and Clara Schumann.
The Zoffany Ensemble takes its name from the German-born neoclassical artist and founding member of the Royal Academy, Johann Zoffany. As well as portraying eminent artists such as David Garrick, his paintings often depicted the nobility in their pursuit of musical entertainment.
To find out more please visitwww.zoffanyensemble.com
You can also enjoy their recorded performances herehttps://www.zoffanyensemble.com/media
More about the musicians:
MANON DEROMEwas born in Montreal and at the age of four started to learn the violin with Jean Cousineau. Ten years later she entered the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec in Montreal to study with Taras Gabora, Raymond Dessaints and Yuli Turovsky. In 1982 she won the Premiere Prix de Musique de Chambre and graduated two years later. In 1986, with the aid of a scholarship from the government of Québec, she travelled to London for further studies with Rodney Friend, and soon after formed a duo with pianist Yoshiko Endo.
Manon has recorded many programmes for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and given recitals in the USA, Canada, Austria and England, making her Wigmore Hall debut in 1991 with pianist Caroline Palmer. During the early years of her career she played for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Britten Sinfonia.
Manon Derome is now the co-leader of the London Chamber Orchestra and also works frequentlywith the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. She plays on a Matteo Gofriller dated 1696.
CATHERINE MUSKERwas a student of Cecil Aronowitz, Atar Arad and Misha Geller, completing her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in 1983. She was a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra for two years and as a founder member of the Balanescu Quartet recorded Michael Nyman’s first three string quartets for Decca.
Recently Catherine has been working with Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s‘Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique’, the Gabrieli Consort and the Hannover Band. She also enjoys teaching and has given performance classes at the Royal Academy of Music and been involved with chamber music immersion courses at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, as well as taking part in Composition workshops at Kings College London with the contemporary music ensemble Lontano.
Catherine Musker has worked as guest principal for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Michael Nyman Band. She is also a member of‘Primavera’and of the Zoffany Ensemble.
ANTHONY PLEETHson ofcellist William Pleeth and pianist Margaret Good, was born in London in 1948 and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he won the gold medal in 1966.After completing his studies there he became increasingly interested in the Baroque Cello and his first record, released in 1976, established him as England’s foremost exponent of the instrument, on which he continued to record and perform, both as soloist and as Principal cello of the English Concert and the Academy of Ancient Music. However, his musical interests were diverse and in 1987 the Pleeth Cello Octet celebrated the centenary of Villa-Lobos with a highly acclaimed recording of his cello ensemble music. This was followed by recordings of Vivaldi’s cello sonatas, Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, and various recordings of chamber music by Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn.
During the late 1980s Anthony Pleeth became increasingly in demand as principal cello on Film and Television soundtracks working for many importantBritish, European and Hollywood composers. He retired from commercial recording in April 2013 and now devotes his time to charitable ventures, chamber music concerts and to his family.
ALISON LOUIS(nee Alty) studied at Manchester University with Malcolm Messiter and at the Guildhall School of Music with Anthony Camden. She was principal Cor Anglais with the European Community Youth Orchestra, touring Europe and India, playing with Zubin Mehta,Claudio Abbado and Bernard Haitink.
Alison enjoys a busy and varied free-lance career working with most British orchestras as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. She was Principal Oboe of Scottish Ballet for four years and currently holds positions with the Orchestra of St John’s and London Chamber Orchestra with whom she had the privilege of performing at the Royal Wedding of William and Kate at Westminster Abbey. Recently Alison has also been working with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, including at the Proms; English National Opera; Ulster Orchestra; and Britten Sinfonia.
Dorothy Maxwell CIMDipM
