Free Lunchtime & Evening Classical Music Concerts in South Kensington

[seyles]

The Blyth Centre at Imperial College London, hold a series of Lunchtime and Evening concerts that are free to attend for staff, students and the public.

From the Blyth Centre:

"Our annual lunchtime concert series is one of the jewels in Imperial's crown, with world-class performers such as the Maggini and Tippett Quartets, pianists Noriko Ogawa and Charles Owen, and period instrument ensemble Florilegium.

Concerts take place at 13.00 every Thursday during term time, in the Read lecture theatre in the Sherfield building on the South Kensington campus, and occasionally in Holy Trinity Church on Prince Consort Road. All of the lunchtime concerts are free.

There are also short evening converts held in Holy Trinity Church, at 17.45, where wine is served."

A location map can be downloaded here.

For those of you who live close or are traveling to Kensington, please drop in.

I will update this thread with upcoming concerts.

 

[seyles]

Schubert 'Quartet in G D887' - 21 May 2019

Piatti Quartet
Schubert 'Quartet in G D887'
Date: 21 May 2019
Time: 17:45 - 18:30
Venue: Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BA
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

On Tuesday evening in Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, we welcome back the Piatti Quartet to play Schubert's great String Quartet in G major. It has been referred to as Schubert's greatest string quartet, and has found recent fame as a sound track been in Woody Allen's film Crimes and Misdemeanours. The Piatti Quartet has been receiving high praise since becoming multiple prize winners at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and their recital will be one of the highlights of our season. Do join us for a free glass of wine and some truly memorable music making.

 

[Tantris]

Thank you, seyles, and good luck with the series of concerts. I’ve been at several concerts in the Holy Trinity Church, mainly to hear the Imperial chamber choir, and it’s a lovely place with decent acoustics. Come to think of it, I haven’t yet heard a string quartet play there, so I must rectify that when I’m next in London.

 

[seyles]

Edward Jowle (baritone) Andrew Plant (piano) - 23 May 2019

Edward Jowle (baritone) Andrew Plant (piano)
Programme to include Songs of Travel
Date: 23 May 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, we welcome rising star baritone, Ed Jowle, to sing a varied programme of Mozart, Schubert and a selection of English songs, including Britten's much-loved folksong arrangements, Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel, and Charles Wolseley's Green Eyed Dragon. He is joined by celebrated accompanist, Andrew Plant, for what is going to be a wonderful song recital by an exciting up-and-coming young singer.

 

[seyles]

Imperial Performers - 30 May 2019

Imperial Performers
Date: 30 May 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, we welcome four talented Imperial students to play for our popular Imperial Performers lunchtime concert. All Ash Scholars, the programme will include Mozart’s Horn Concerto No 3 (David Wheeler), Mozart’s Dove sono (Nell Parry), movements from Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 (Michael Kohn) and music for viola de gamba (Isabel Esain-Garcia). I do hope you can join us.

 

[seyles]

Albion Quartet - Beethoven 'String Quartet in F major Op 135' - 06 Jun 2019

Date: 06 Jun 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week, I am pleased to welcome the Albion Quartet back to Imperial. All respected soloists in their own right, this dynamic quartet brings Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Op 135, his last completed composition. It contains some of the most sensitively coloured writing in the repertoire, full of contrasts, including the fire-breathing Scherzo and the well-known last movement, entitled The Difficult Resolution. Do join us for this much-anticipated concert.

 

[alanbeeb]

^ if I wasn't 430 miles away, I'd go that Beethoven quartet performance. Albion Quartet website here.

 

[seyles]

I Musicanti - Dvorak 'String Quintet in G Op 77' - 13 Jun 2019

I Musicanti
Date: 13 Jun 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

For our last lunchtime concert of the season, this Thursday we welcome I Musicanti, formed in 2013 by its artistic director, the internationally renowned double bass virtuoso Leon Bosch. They bring Dvorak’s second String Quintet, a most distinctive work in the composer’s hitherto development. The music is not only technically more refined in relation to his earlier chamber works but also has a more imposing sound with the double bass replacing the second viola. It is a great chance to hear a rarely-performed masterwork and should prove a fitting way to bring our series to a conclusion for another year.

 

[seyles]

Fidelio Trio - Arensky Piano Trio No 1 in D Minor Op 32 - 03 Oct 2019

Fidelio Trio
Date: 03 Oct 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

The new season of Lunchtime Concerts starts this Thursday at 13:00 with a performance by the Fidelio Trio, one of the leading international piano trios, specialising in classical and contemporary music. Their programme opens with the music of Xiaogang Ye, arguably China’s most active and famous classical composers. This is followed by Arensky’s rhapsodic Piano Trio No 1, dedicated to the cellist Karl Davidoff. I do hope you can make this wonderful concert and look forward to seeing you there.

 

[seyles]

Ivana Gavrić (piano) - To include works by Clara Schumann, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Grieg - 10 Oct 2019

Ivana Gavrić (piano)
Date: 10 Oct 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week, the Blyth Centre is delighted to welcome the young British pianist, Ivana Gavrić. Following her solo Wigmore Hall debut in 2010, she went on to become BBC Newcomer of the Year and nominated as ‘outstanding’ in International Record Review for her debut CD In the mists. Her concert brings together her love for Slavic and contemporary piano music with works by Grieg and Cheryl Frances-Hoad. The recital promises to be very special and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday at 13:00.

 

[seyles]

Touchwood - Chausson Piano Quartet in A major Op 30 - 17 Oct 2019

Touchwood
Date: 17 Oct 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week the Blyth Centre welcomes Touchwood Piano Quartet in our annual Malcolm Haines Memorial Concert. They have performed all over the UK, Canada and Europe, including residencies at the International Chamber Music Festival in Nuremberg and the Banff Centre in Canada. Music from their highly-acclaimed CD of piano quartets by Chausson and Saint-Saëns will feature on Thursday with Chausson’s Piano Quartet. I do hope to see you there.

 

[seyles]

Ekaterina Derzhavina (piano) to include works Haydn, Beethoven and Medtner - 24 Oct 2019

Ekaterina Derzhavina
Date: 24 Oct 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, the Blyth Centre is delighted to welcome Russian pianist, Ekaterina Derzhavina. Her recent recordings of Medtner won the prestigious Diapason d'Or award, and her 9 CD complete set of Haydn's piano sonatas has garnered critical praise from critics and audiences alike. Her first visit to Imperial's series promises to be a memorable one, and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday at 13:00.

Haydn Sonata B Minor Hob.XVI:32

Beethoven Seven Bagatelles Op 33

Medtner Sonata C Major Op 11 No 3

 

[seyles]

Albion Quartet - Shostakovitch String Quartet No 3 & Freya Waley-Cohen Snap Dragon - 31 Oct 2019

Albion Quartet
Date: 31 Oct 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

Shostakovitch String Quartet No 3
Freya Waley-Cohen Snap Dragon

This Thursday the Blyth Centre welcome back the Albion Quartet with a seminal work from the twentieth century. Shostakovich’s String Quartet No 3 was considered by the composer to be one of his finest works. Composed in 1946 after his Symphony No 9, it achieved fame and notoriety for its enigmatic response to the end of the Second World War. Coupled with a new work by rising star Freya Waley-Cohen, this promises to be a highly memorable concert. We do hope to see you there.

 

[seyles]

Oculi Ensemble - Borodin Trio No1 in G Minor Borodin Quartet No 2 - 7 Nov 2019

Date: 7 Nov 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, the Blyth Centre welcomes back the internationally acclaimed Oculi Ensemble with a programme of Borodin. A doctor and chemist by profession, Borodin made important early contributions to organic chemistry and he is best known for his work concerning organic synthesis. In his spare time (or when he was ill), he composed some of the cornerstones of the Russian repertoire, including the String Quartet No 2 in D major, dedicated to his wife as a twentieth anniversary gift. Of its four movements, the Notturno is particularly well-known, evoking the couple’s first meeting in Heidelberg. Coupled with an early work, the Trio in G minor, this concert will be a moving afternoon of string chamber music, and we look forward to seeing you there.

 

[seyles]

She'Koyoch - Eastern European Jewish, Balkan and Gypsy music - 14 Nov 2019

Date: 14 Nov 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This Thursday, the Blyth Centre welcomes She’Koyoch to Imperial for the first time. She’Koyoch is Europe’s leading klezmer and Balkan ensemble; they won first prize in the 2008 International Jewish Music Festival, was nominated for Best Group in the Songlines World Music Awards 20212 and 2018 respectively and has performed internationally at festivals and venues such as WOMAD, Southbank Centre and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. A little different to the usual classical fayre, come and experience some of the finest folk music available in London currently.

 

[Bob McC]

These lunchtime concerts at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music are all free.


https://www.rncm.ac.uk/series/lunchtime-concerts/

 

[seyles]

Fitzwilliam String Quartet - Schubert String Quartet No 14 (Death & the Maiden) 21 Nov 2019

Date: 21 Nov 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week, the Blyth Centre welcomes one of the most renowned British string quartets. The Fitzwilliam String Quartet, founded in 1968, came to international attention when Shostakovich heard them playing in York and subsequently entrusted them with the premiere of three quartets. This Thursday, they bring Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. We anticipate a full house so please arrive as early as you can.

 

[seyles]

Colin Stone (piano) - Schubert Piano Sonata in B flat major D960 - 05 Dec 2019

Date: 05 Dec 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Read Lecture Theatre, Level 5 Sherfield Building
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

This week the Blyth Centre welcomes back the acclaimed pianist Colin Stone to play one of Schubert’s last compositions. The Piano Sonata in Bb is the last of the trilogy of late piano sonatas; in it, the spirit of Beethoven is ever present, with echoes of both the Archduke Trio and the Emperor Concerto. I do hope you will be able to join us on Thursday for what I am sure will be a memorable concert.

 

[seyles]

Onyx Brass - Holy Trinity Church - 12 Dec 2019

Date: 12 Dec 2019
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

For the final lunchtime concert of the term, the Blyth Centre welcomes back the UK’s leading brass quintet, Onyx Brass, to play a programme of seasonal music in Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road. Onyx’s musical and technical virtuosity is matched by the accessibility and vitality of their presentation. They have invited some of Imperial’s finest brass players to join them for a Fanfare from Dukas’ one-act ballet La Péri, showcasing the extraordinary way that Onyx nurture and inspire the next generation. Do come – it’ll be one to remember.

 

[seyles]

Fretwork - Holy Trinity Church - 09 Jan 2020

Date: 09 Jan 2020
Time: 13:00 - 13:45
Venue: Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Rd, Kensington, London, SW7 2BA
Audience: Open to all
Ticket: First come first served

Described in London’s Evening Standard as the ‘finest viol consort on the planet’, Fretwork comes to Imperial for the first time this Thursday. Their repertoire spans from the first printed music of 1501 to the present day with the music of Michael Nyman and Nico Muhly. Since their debut twenty five years ago, they have recorded most of the English viol repertory and their most recent recording was described as ‘matchless’ in the Guardian. Come to Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road on Thursday and prepare to be enchanted by extraordinary playing in a perfect setting.