Season 2011 - 12

Six concerts from October to March in the Cowdray Hall, Schoolhill at 7.30

Monday 10 October 2011: ARISA FUJITA (violin) & SAM HAYWOOD (piano)

  • Bach, Sonata in E Minor
  • Beethoven, Sonata in C minor op. 30 no. 2
  • Brahms, Scherzo in C minor
  • Brahms, Sonata no. 2 in A major op. 100

Pianist Sam Haywood has played forus before, with clarinettist Katherine Spencer in 1997, and it is more than time for him to visit us again. He has performed to critical acclaim all over the world as concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, and his status can be judged from the fact that he is aregular sonata partner for Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. On his website, writes about his recent US tour with Joshua Bell, and his tour of Japan. You can also listen on a short video, to Sam aged 13 playing in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition!

Violinist Arisa Fujita with whom Sam plays duos regularly, is the youngest of three sisters who make up the Fujita Piano Trio, which delighted us with their performance (played entirely from memory!) in Aberdeen in 2005. This promises to be a memorable opening to our season, with a programme of the three Bs:- Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

Monday 7 November 2011: THE ELIAS STRING QUARTET

  • Sara Bitloch (violin), Donald Grant (violin), Martin Saving (viola), Marie Bitloch (cello)
  • Haydn, Quartet in C major op. 20 no. 2
  • Beamish, New Commission for string quartet
  • Beethoven, Quartet in B flat major op. 130 with op. 133 Grosse Fuge as finale
  • BBC New Generation Artists
  • This concert is part of sound North East Scotland’s Festival of New Music.

The members of the Elias Quartet all live in England now, but come from Scotland, France and Sweden, and the first violinist and the cellist are sisters. The Quartet was formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studied with the late Dr Christopher Rowlands, and subsequently spent a year studying with the Alban Berg Quartet in Cologne. They have performed extensively in many different countries, including recently at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and Carnegie Hall, New York. They were finalists in the famous Paolo Borciani Competition in 2005.

The great potential of the Quartet was recognised when they were selected to join BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme in 2009, and you can watch an interview with them on the BBC’s website. This concert will be part of theSOUNDfestival, and will feature a new commission from Sally Beamish which will have its world premiere at this year's Proms.

Their website is

Monday 5 December 2011: CLARION 3

Janet Hilton (clarinet), Laurence Perkins (bassoon), Sarah Beth Briggs (piano)

  • Beethoven Trio movement op. 38
  • Britten, Three Character Pieces for piano
  • William Hurlstone, Trio
  • Leonard Bernstein, Sonata for clarinet & piano
  • David Bedford, Dreams of Stac Pollaidh for bassoon
  • Perkins (arr.), Three Traditional Melodies
  • Glinka, Trio Pathétique in D minor

This rather unusual trio comprises Sarah Beth Briggs on piano, with Janet Hilton, clarinet and Laurence Perkins, bassoon. Sarah rose to international attention when she was the joint winner in the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1988. Since then she has been in demand as a concerto soloist with numerous European and US orchestras, and at many festivals. She relishes new challenges and recently gave the world premiere of three short pieces by Benjamin Britten which have been newly discovered, and which will be part of our programme. Janet Hilton, who has been with us before but many years ago, has been Head of Woodwind at the Royal College of Music in London since 1998. She was Principal Clarinet of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at one time, and is recognised as one of the leading clarinettists in the UK, performing at many festivals including Edinburgh, City of London and the BBC Proms. Laurence Perkins has recorded and performed much of the bassoon repertoire, travelling widely with leading orchestras, and recently recording Mozart and Weber concertos with the Manchester Camerata in which he has held the post of Principle Bassoon since 1974. You can read more about all three of these distinguished musicians on Sarah's website

Monday 16 January 2012: THE ROYAL STRING QUARTET of Warsaw

Izabella Szałaj-Zimak (violin), Elwira Przybyłowska (violin), Marek Czech (viola), Michał Pepol (cello)

  • Debussy, Quartet in G minor op. 10
  • Szymanski, Five Pieces for String Quartet
  • Tchaikovsky, Quartet in D major op. 11

BBC New Generation Artists (2004 - 2006)

This quartet, formed in 1998 in Warsaw, was among BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists back in 2004-2006, and has won many international prizes. The quartet has participated in many festivals including the Proms, Aldeburgh, and recently the East Neuk Festival in Fife. They organise and run their own festival in Warsaw, earning media recognition as “the cultural highlight of the year” there. Many of their performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and on Polish Radio, and their CDs, including a recent release of the quartets of Górecki, have received high critical praise. This will be their first visit to Aberdeen. Their programme will include a work by Pawel Szymanski, one of Poland’s foremost living composers. Read more about them on their website

Monday 20 February 2012: THE FOURNIER PIANO TRIO

Sulki Yu (violin), Pei-Jee Ng (cello), Chiao-Ying Chang (piano)

  • Mozart, Trio in E K542
  • Schumann, Trio F op. 80
  • Brahms, Trio in C major op. 87

Sponsored by the Tunnell Trust.

It is always exciting to hear talented young groups near to the start of their careers – who knows whether they will be the next equivalent of the Amadeus Quartet! This Trio, formed in 2009, is a winner of a Tunnell Trust award, and will be playing for us under the Trust’s auspices. It is comprised of a Taiwanese-British pianist, a Korean violinist and an Australian cellist, all of whom have already performed with many orchestras as soloists. As a Trio they have already gained a high reputation and they currently hold the Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship at the RoyalAcademy in London. Among many other engagements, they will play this year in the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival with renowned viola player, Lawrence Power.

See their website at:

Monday 19 March 2012:THE BADKE STRING QUARTET

Lana Trotovšek (violin), Emma Parker (violin), Jon Thorne (viola), Jonathan Byers (cello)

  • Mozart, Quartet in F K590
  • Thomas Tompkins, Pavan & Almain In F
  • Maxwell Davies, "A sad paven for these distracted times"
  • Copland, Two Pieces
  • Beethoven, Quartet in G op. 18 no. 2

First Prize and Audience Prize winners at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition 2007

Formed in 2002, the Badke were established as one of our finest young quartets after winning the 1st prize and audience prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2007. This will be a welcome return visit to us, as you may remember they played for us a couple of seasons ago. Their original leader, Heather Badke, has withdrawn from the quartet for family reasons, and they now have a new first violinist, Lana Trotovsek originally from Slovenia, whose previous chamber music experience includes the international prize-winning Greenwich Piano Trio. A recent review of a concert at Aldeburgh with the quartet’s new membership concluded: “The Badke’s playing was perfectly matched, intonation and ensemble were excellent, and the dazzling finale set the seal on this most enjoyable music making.”

The quartet members believe strongly in the importance of education work, and on their previous visit, enthralled Primaries 4 and 5 at St Joseph's school with their playing and by involving the small violinists in the Primary 5 group. They will again do workshops in Aberdeen as part of ACMC's outreach work. Listen to them on