KORNGOLDGERSHWINRAVEL

TUESDAY 22 JANUARY 2019QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL63RD SEASON 2018/19

QUEEN ELIZABETH HALLTONIGHT’S VENUE

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QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL

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WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE. We hope you enjoy your visit.

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WELCOME

ENJOY FRESH, SEASONAL FOOD for breakfast and lunch, co�ee, teas and evening drinks with riverside views at Concrete Cafe, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Riverside Terrace Cafe, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Visit our shops for products inspired by our artistic and cultural programme, iconic buildings and central London location.

Explore across the site with Foyles, Eat, Gira�e, Strada, Wagamama, Yo! Sushi, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, Ping Pong, Canteen, Honest Burger, Côte Brasserie, Skylon and Topolski.

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We look forward to seeing you again soon.

CONTACT US

Southbank Centre is one of London’s major cultural hubsPH

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PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium.

LATECOMERS are admitted to the auditorium only if there is a suitable break in the performance.

RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to con�scate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended.

MOBILE PHONES, digital watch alarms and pagers should be switched o� before the performance begins.

ETIQUETTE

KSO: registered charity no. 1069620

COVER IMAGE: Daphnis and Chloé Beside the Fountain (1961; detail), from Marc Chagall’s series of 42 works illustrating the romantic Greek fable that inspired Maurice Ravel’s ballet score. The suite of colour lithographs is among the Russian-born artist’s most important works. Photo: © Christie’s Images

TUESDAY 22 JANUARY 2019 7.30PMQUEEN ELIZABETH HALL LONDON

RUSSELL KEABLE ConductorALAN TUCKWOOD Leader

KORNGOLDMain Title from Kings Row

RAVELDaphnis et Chloé (complete)Chorus: The Epiphoni Consort

Interval 20 minutes

GERSHWINConcerto in FPiano: Richard Uttley

Concert concludes around 9.30pm

4 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME ERICH KORNGOLD 1897-1957

major (1947-52), but became one of the de�ning composers of Hollywood �lm scores. His work, which displays a tremendous generosity of spirit and contains passages of astonishing beauty, was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two. �is music was hugely in�uential: John Williams’s scores for Star Wars and Superman, for example, owe much to Korngold’s style.

Kings Row (1942), directed by Sam Wood, is based on Henry Bellamann’s lurid bestseller, which followed the fate of a small group of friends in a Midwestern town at the turn of the 19th century. One of the leading roles in the �lm, which earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, was taken by Ronald Reagan, who described it as a “slightly sordid but moving yarn” that “made me a star”.

Korngold worked on the �lm in 1941, applying his virtuosic variation technique: the opening fanfare-like theme, which appeared with the main title, formed the basis of almost the entire score. �e music proved popular

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD was not only one of the �nest orchestral composers of the 20th century, but also its most remarkable musical prodigy—reminiscent of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose name he was given and whose music he worshipped.

Born in 1897, in Brünn, Austria-Hungary (now Brno, Czech Republic), Korngold was described as a “musical genius” by Gustav Mahler before he had reached his teens. �e young composer’s ballet Der Schneemann (1908) took Vienna by storm, and his opera Die tote Stadt (1920) was staged in Hamburg and Cologne, but he emigrated to the United States in the wake of the Nazis’ rise to power.

Korngold continued to write concert works, such as his Violin Concerto (1937-39; revised 1945) and Symphony in F-sharp

KORNGOLD

Main Title from Kings Row (1942)

Kings Row (1942) starred Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan and Ronald Reagan; the future US president considered it his best film

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Korngold signed this postcard, which shows the composer as a child prodigy, in 1913, adding a quotation from his Piano Trio, Op.1

with the public, and the original orchestral score was requested by the White House for Reagan’s inauguration as US president almost four decades later, in 1981. �

JANUARY 2019 5

GEORGE GERSHWIN 1898-1937

I ALLEGRO II ADAGIO – ANDANTE CON MOTO III ALLEGRO AGITATO

George Gershwin’s sudden death from a brain tumour in 1937, at the age of only 38, shocked the world. �e great lyricist Oscar Hammerstein said: “He was a lucky young man; lucky to be so in love with the world, and lucky because the world was so in love with him.” Perhaps a more surprising tribute came from Arnold Schoenberg. “I grieve over the deplorable loss to music, for there is no doubt that he was a great composer,” he said.

Gershwin had achieved an enormous amount in his short life. In a golden age of popular music, he became – alongside Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter – one of the greatest songwriters of all time. But unlike his colleagues, he also dared to write for

GERSHWIN

Concerto in F (1925)the concert hall. As his biographer Isaac Goldberg put it: “With one foot just outside Tin Pan Alley and the other planted in Carnegie Hall, he bestrode the musical world of Gotham like a young Colossus.”

�inking he needed more classical technique, however, he approached Ravel, Schoenberg and Stravinsky for lessons. �ey all refused, Ravel wisely asking: “Why should you be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a �rst-rate Gershwin?”

When he le� New York in May 1925, for two productive months in Europe, Gershwin took “four or �ve books on musical structure, to �nd out what the concerto form really was”. A�er the success of Rhapsody in Blue (1924), for piano and jazz band, the conductor Walter Damrosch and Harry Harkness Flagler, the president of the New York Symphony Society, had commissioned a piano concerto from him.

Gershwin was thrilled by this expression of trust from the classical-music establishment, saying: “It showed great con�dence on

[Flagler’s] part, as I had never written anything for symphony before.” �e composer worked on the concerto during the summer, allowing two months for composition and one for orchestration.

He was also working on his musical Tip-Toes and the operetta Song of the Flame, and as his house on 103rd Street became unendurably busy, he composed in a hotel room. A week before the première, at Carnegie Hall on 3 December, he tried out the work with an orchestra, enabling him to make a few changes.

�e capacity audience for the �rst performance, conducted by Damrosch with Gershwin as soloist, included Sergei Rachmaninov and Jascha Heifetz. �eir reaction was enthusiastic, but the reviews were mixed. With its freshness and brilliance, however, the concerto is now regarded as one of Gershwin’s most successful works.

He provided his own description of the piece:

“�e �rst movement employs the Charleston rhythm. It is quick and pulsating, representing the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life. It begins with a rhythmic motif given out by the kettle drums, supported by other percussion, and with a Charleston motif introduced by horns, clarinets and violas. �e principal theme is announced by the bassoon. Later, a second theme is introduced by the piano.

“�e second movement has a poetic, nocturnal atmosphere, which has come to be referred to as the American blues, but in a purer form than that in which they are usually treated.

“�e �nal movement reverts to the style of the �rst. It is an orgy of rhythm, starting violently and keeping to the same pace throughout.” It is perhaps worth adding that the intensely lyrical second theme from the �rst movement makes a grand reappearance just before the end. �

George Gershwin’s death was described by Arnold Schoenberg as a “deplorable loss”

6 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME

AT JUST OVER 5FT TALL, weighing a mere seven stone and always meticulously dressed, Maurice Ravel was almost as �nely formed a miniature as so much of his music. Every one of his works was honed to near perfection, but this approach restricted his output, something he felt keenly towards the end of his life.

“I am not one of the great composers,” he said. “I have written relatively little… and I did it with a great deal of di�culty. I did my work slowly, drop by drop. I have torn it all out of me in pieces.” And his emotional life remains an enigma; he seems to have had no intimate relationships. “�e only love a�air I ever had was with music,” he said.

A�er the early in�uence of Delius, Chabrier and Satie, Ravel learned a lot from Debussy, while Debussy learned a lot from him in return. By the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, they were regarded as France’s two leading composers.

Ravel’s �nal few years constituted a tragic decline, as a mysterious illness, which we now know to have been aphasia, a�ected his

PART I • Introduction and Religious Dance • Dance of the Youths • Dorcon’s Grotesque Dance • Daphnis’s Light and Gracious Dance • Lyceion’s Dance • Slow and Mysterious Dance

PART II • Introduction • War Dance • Dance of Supplication

PART III • Day Break • Pantomime of Pan and Syrinx • General Dance (Bacchanale)

brain. It is hard to imagine the horror of a composer whose imagination was teeming with ideas that he could no longer translate into music. Shortly before his death, he heard a performance of Daphnis et Chloé (1909-12). In tears, he is reported to have said: “It’s beautiful. I still have so much music in my head. But it’s all �nished.”

Daphnis et Chloé is Ravel’s largest and most important work. Although it is a ballet, choreographed performances are rare; if the three-part work is performed complete, it is almost always in the concert hall. �e two suites Ravel created from the music are played much more o�en. �e �rst suite comprises the whole of Part II; the second, and by far the most popular, the whole of Part III.

�e work was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, the impresario of the Ballet Russes, which made a profound impact on the cultural scene in the early 20th century. �e company’s integration of sets, costumes, choreography and music was unprecedented. Its male star, Vaslav Nijinsky, was the most

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Daphnis et Chloé (1909-12)

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Springtime in the Meadow (1961; detail), from Marc Chagall’s suite of 42 colour lithographs illustrating the fable of Daphnis and Chloé

JANUARY 2019 7

MAURICE RAVEL 1875-1937

music for months now”), even asking his friend and fellow composer Louis Aubert to write the �nal General Dance, “and I will sign it” (happily, Aubert refused). A�er hearing the piano score in February 1912, Diaghilev was prevented from cancelling the project only by Ravel’s publisher, Jacques Durand, while Fokine turned his anger on the designer, the great Léon Bakst.

In the end, to Ravel’s fury, only two of the promised four performances at Paris’s �éâtre du Châtelet took place. Pierre Monteux conducted, and Daphnis and Chloé were danced by Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina.

On the �rst night, in June 1912, Ravel refused to appear on stage at the end, and Fokine quietly le� the company immediately a�erwards. Despite the mixed reviews, Monteux observed that “all the musicians in the orchestra, and I might say in Paris, knew that this was Ravel’s greatest work”.

Although Ravel’s ravishingly sensual score is one of the most complex ever written, the sound is nearly always clear and lucid. �e

Chloe Is Carried Off by the Methymneans (1961; detail). Like Ravel’s ballet, the Russian-born artist’s suite is considered a masterpiece

famous dancer of the day, and Diaghilev called on the talents of Debussy, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss and Picasso, among others.

So, although Ravel was an established composer when he was approached by Diaghilev in 1909, this was his most signi�cant commission to date—but the work was to take three di�cult years to complete.

�e idea of the story of Daphnis and Chloé came from the choreographer Michel Fokine. Part of the problem was that he and Ravel had di�erent aims. Fokine wanted to depict raw pagan sexuality, which would “recapture and dynamically express the ancient dancing depicted in red and black on Attic vases”.

Ravel, on the other hand, wanted to “compose a vast musical fresco in which I was less concerned with archaism than with reproducing faithfully the Greece of my dreams, which is very similar to that imagined and painted by French artists at the end of the 18th century”.

By 1910, Ravel was fed up with the whole thing (“I’ve been slogging away at the

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‘I did my work slowly, drop by drop. I have torn it all out of me in pieces’Maurice Ravel on his working methods

brass and strings are o�en muted to create a distinctive �nish, while the woodwind writing is particularly virtuosic, especially for the �utes, which are frequently called on to imitate the pipes of the shepherds and of Pan.

Perhaps taking his cue from Debussy’s Sirènes (1899), which uses a wordless female chorus, Ravel includes a four-part choir, giving it strangely beautiful sounds that are used to stunning e�ect. It is not surprising that he was livid when Diaghilev, to save money, cut the chorus from most of the later performances.

Unlike many episodic ballet scores, Daphnis et Chloé is a uni�ed piece. As Ravel explained: “�e work is constructed symphonically, according to a strict plan of key sequences, out of a small number of themes, the development of which ensures the work’s homogeneity.” �

8 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME

�gure in the winds; solo brass gently evoke his rival’s masculine energy in Daphnis’s Light and Gracious Dance. Daphnis wins the contest, Chloé’s kiss leaving him in ecstasy.

Lyceion, another shepherdess, enters and tries to seduce Daphnis in Lyceion’s Dance; she fails, but leaves him confused. Suddenly, a band of pirates attacks the island and kidnaps Chloé. Daphnis, who goes to �nd her, discovers one of her sandals and, in despair, curses the powers that have failed to protect her.

He falls to the ground unconscious, and in the Slow and Mysterious Dance, the nymphs come down from their pedestals. �ey revive Daphnis and lead him to a huge rock that changes into the image of Pan,

PART I A meadow on the edge of a sacred wood on the Greek island of Lesbos. It is a clear spring a�ernoon. To the right, a grotto with statues of three nymphs; to the le�, a huge rock suggesting the form of the god Pan.

�e Introduction grows from silence, with rumbling timpani and low strings. A solo horn intones a �ve-note phrase that is to dominate the work. In the solemn ecstasy of the Religious Dance, girls and boys bring gi�s to the nymphs, against triplets in the strings and decisive harp chords. A brittle trumpet theme introduces the Dance of the Youths, followed by a beautiful waltz-like passage.

Dorcon, a goatherd, and Daphnis, a shepherd, dance for the privilege of a kiss from Chloé, a shepherdess. Dorcon’s Grotesque Dance has pounding drum beats and a slashing

before whom Daphnis prostrates himself. �e unaccompanied chorus, slow and quiet with daring chromatic shi�s, is heard from a distance as darkness descends.

PART II �e pirates’ camp on a rocky coast.

Strange brass fanfares suggest both the summoning of supernatural forces and Daphnis’s unease about Chloé. Slithering �gures in the strings are interrupted by a sharp chord that introduces the pirates’ War Dance, celebrating their successful raid.

�is includes fast and di�cult passages for the horns and trumpets, leading to an even faster middle section, featuring oriental-�avoured piccolo and clarinet solos. A breathless running phrase builds to a massive climax, while the tenors and basses add a panting �gure.

Chloé is brought on stage and is forced to perform a Dance of Supplication, accompanied

DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ

Synopsis

The fashion designer Vivienne Westwood used François Boucher’s painting Daphnis and Chloé (1743) in her 1990/91 Portrait collection

‘I was concerned with… faithfully reproducing the Greece of my dreams’Maurice Ravel on his masterpiece

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JANUARY 2019 9

MAURICE RAVEL 1875-1937

pirate camp, depicted by upward sweeps on the harps against falling wind �gures and a clattering xylophone. �e low-pitched instruments then groan out a sombre three-note �gure, while a wind machine suggests the presence of Pan. �e chorus joins in, eerily, and the pirates �ee in terror.

PART III As Part I, at the end of the night.

�e shepherds, who have found Chloé with the help of Pan, wake Daphnis. Dawn is breaking. �e Lever du jour (Day Break) is, justly, the most famous passage of the work – one of the greatest examples of tone-painting by a master of the art. It opens in mystery and magic: the sound of water gushing from a spring is heard and birds begin to sing. A wonderfully drawn-out melody depicts the rising sun �ooding the Earth with warmth and light, as the anxious lovers are reunited.

Eventually, the music winds down, and Lammon, an old shepherd, suggests

Michael Somes and Margot Fonteyn dance Daphnis et Chloé in 1951. Right, François Gérard’s Daphnis and Chloé (around 1824; detail)

by plaintive woodwind, for the pirate chief. Her growing desperation is depicted by a thickening orchestral texture. �ere is then an abrupt change, as satyrs invade the

FABIAN WATKINSONProgramme notes: © the author, 2019

‘All the musicians knew that this was Ravel’s greatest work’Conductor Pierre Monteux

that to honour the god who reunited them, the lovers should re-enact the love story of Pan and the nymph Syrinx.

With its long, elaborate �ute solo, the Pantomime of Pan and Syrinx forms an elegant interlude between the intensity of the sunrise and the wild brilliance of the closing section.

In the thrilling, �nal General Dance, the so-called Bacchanale, Ravel creates surging waves of controlled frenzy, with irregular beats, much percussion and almost orgasmic groans from the chorus. �

Maurice Ravel in Paris with Vaslav Nijinsky and his sister, Bronislava Nijinska, in 1914

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ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES RUSSELL KEABLEPH

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Russell Keable is known for his interpretations of Korngold’s music, having given world and British premières of the composer’s work

‘Keable and his orchestra did magnificently’The Guardian

RUSSELL KEABLE is one of the UK’s most exciting musicians, praised as a conductor in both the national and international press. “Keable and his orchestra did magni�cently,” wrote the Guardian; “one of the most memorable evenings at the South Bank for many a month,” said the Musical Times.

Keable has been associated with Kensington Symphony Orchestra for more than 30 years, establishing the group’s reputation as one of the �nest non-professional orchestras in the UK. Under his baton, KSO has become known for its consistently ambitious programming of contemporary music, and he has led premières of works by British composers including Robin Holloway, David Matthews, Peter Maxwell Davies, John McCabe, Joby Talbot and John Woolrich.

RUSSELL KEABLE

Music directorHe has received particular praise as a champion of the music of Erich Korngold: the British première of the composer’s opera Die tote Stadt was hailed as a triumph, and research in Los Angeles led to a world première of music from Korngold’s �lm score for �e Sea Hawk.

Keable performs with orchestras and choirs throughout the UK, has conducted in Prague and Paris (�lmed by British and French television) and has worked with the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra in Dubai. He has recorded two symphonies by Robert Simpson, and a Beethoven CD was released in New York.

Keable holds the post of director of conducting at the University of Surrey. He trained at the University of Nottingham and at King’s College, London University. He studied conducting at London’s Royal College of Music with Norman Del Mar, and later with George Hurst.

Over �ve years, Keable developed a special relationship with the Schidlof Quartet, with whom he established an innovative education programme. He is a dynamic lecturer and workshop leader, working with audiences ranging from schoolchildren to music students and international business conferences.

Keable is also in demand as a composer and arranger; he has written works for many British ensembles, and his opera Burning Waters, commissioned by the Buxton Festival, was premièred in July 2000. He has also composed music for the mime artist Didier Danthois to use in prisons and special-needs schools. �

JANUARY 2019 11

RICHARD UTTLEYPH

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The critically acclaimed pianist Richard Uttley performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with KSO at tonight’s venue in January 2013

NOTED FOR THE INTEGRITY and breadth of his musicianship as a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist, Richard Uttley has been recognised for his “musical intelligence and pristine facility” (International Record Review) and his “amazing decisiveness” and “tumultuous performance” (Daily Telegraph). His playing is frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and has featured on BBC Two, BBC Four, Classic FM and Sky Arts. He won the British Contemporary Piano Competition in 2006 and was selected for representation by the Young Classical Artists Trust in 2011.

Richard’s London debut at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room in 2010 was described by the Times as a “brilliant recital”. Richard has since released several solo recordings to critical acclaim, and has performed as a recitalist

RICHARD UTTLEY

Pianistand concerto soloist at venues including the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and London’s Cadogan Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall. Further a�eld, he has performed at the Ban� Centre in Canada and the Klangspuren Festival in Austria, and on tour in China.

Highlights this season include solo recitals at the Modulus Festival in Vancouver; a complete cycle of Beethoven’s sonatas for piano and violin, with Savitri Grier; a series of chamber-music concerts curated by the clarinettist and composer Mark Simpson at Essex’s Sa�ron Hall, with the cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and the trumpeter Simon Höfele; and the première of a new work, written for Richard by the English composer and pianist Kate Whitley.

Richard regularly collaborates with other leading instrumentalists and has attended Open Chamber Music at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove,

Cornwall. La Voix, his recording of French repertoire with the violinist Callum Smart, was selected as a “Recommended Recording” in �e Strad, and the pair subsequently performed in the Auditorium du Louvre, Paris, and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

He has partnered Peter Moore (co-principal trombone, London Symphony Orchestra) on tour in Colombia, and Olivier Stankiewicz (principal oboe, LSO) at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany and at London’s Barbican Centre.

Richard is a contributor to Edition Peters’ Piano Masterworks series on Tido Music’s iPad app, which includes �lms of him performing and giving tutorials on core piano repertoire. He also records for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music’s piano syllabus CDs. Richard teaches at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and City, University of London. �

12 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PH

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Revivals and premières of new works o�en feature in the orchestra’s repertoire, alongside major works of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. World and British premières have included music by Bax, Brian, Bruckner, Nielsen, Schoenberg, Sibelius and Verdi.

Russell Keable has aired a number of unusual works, as well as delivering some signi�cant musical landmarks: the London première of Dvořák’s opera Dimitrij and the British première of Korngold’s operatic masterpiece Die tote Stadt, the latter praised by the Evening Standard as “a feast of brilliant playing”.

In 2004, KSO and the London Oriana Choir performed a revival of Walford Davies’s oratorio Everyman, a recording of which is available on the Dutton label.

KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, now in its 63rd season, enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the �nest non-professional orchestras in the UK. Its founding aim – “to provide students and amateurs with an opportunity to perform concerts at the highest possible level” – remains key to its mission.

KSO has had only two principal conductors: its founder, Leslie Head, and Russell Keable, who has been with the orchestra for more than three decades. �e knowledge, passion and dedication of these musicians has shaped KSO, giving it a distinctive repertoire that sets it apart from other groups.

The orchestra, which is known for its bold, ambitious programming, regularly performs with international soloists

ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES

Contemporary music continues to be the lifeblood of KSO. Recent programmes have featured works by an impressive roster of composers working today, including �omas Adès, Julian Anderson, Charlotte Bray, Brett Dean, Jonny Greenwood, Magnus Lindberg, Benedict Mason, Joseph Phibbs, Rodion Shchedrin, Joby Talbot and John Woolrich.

In 2005, Errollyn Wallen’s Spirit Symphony, performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, won the Radio 3 Listeners’ Award at the British Composer Awards. In 2014, KSO gave the

‘A feast of brilliant playing’The Evening Standard

CHANGE PIC

KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Founded in 1956

JANUARY 2019 13

KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Trust musicians Alexander Ullman and Richard Uttley. KSO also works with a guest conductor each year; recently, these have included Jacques Cohen, Nicholas Collon, Alice Farnham, Andrew Gourlay, Michael Seal and Holly Mathieson, who returns for the orchestra’s next concert in March.

KSO performs regularly at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square. �e orchestra celebrated its 60th anniversary with a gala concert at the Barbican Centre in May 2017. �

world première of Stephen Montague’s From the Ether, commissioned by St John’s Smith Square to mark its 300th anniversary.

During the 2014/15 season, the orchestra was part of Making Music’s Adopt a Composer scheme, collaborating with Seán Doherty on his work Hive Mind. A new work is currently being written for KSO by Chris Long, and the orchestra will give the world première at St John’s Smith Square in July.

In April 2018, KSO returned to the West�eld London shopping centre for the orchestra’s 16th “sponsored play” event, raising more than £21,000 for War Child and the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation’s Grenfell Tower Fund. �e orchestra also supports the music programme at Pimlico Academy, its primary rehearsal home.

�is re�ects the orchestra’s long history of charitable activities: KSO’s �rst concert was given in aid of the Hungarian Relief Fund, and it has developed links with the Kampala Symphony Orchestra and Music School under its KSO2 programme, providing training, fundraising and instruments.

�e reputation of the orchestra is re�ected in the quality of international artists who regularly appear with KSO. In recent seasons, soloists have included Nikolai Demidenko, Sir John Tomlinson, Yvonne Howard, Katherine Watson, Matthew Trusler, Fenella Humphreys and Richard Watkins.

�e orchestra enjoys working with up-and-coming artists such as the pianist Martin James Bartlett, the 2014 BBC Young Musician of the Year, and Young Classical Artists

‘KSO once again scores over most professional orchestras’Classical Source

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KSO at Cadogan Hall, London, in 2017. Other regular performance venues include the Barbican Centre and St John’s Smith Square

14 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Epiphoni made its television debut in 2016, featuring in the BBC Four documentary �e Joy of Rachmaninov, and appeared on BBC Two in 2017, singing �omas Tallis’s 40-part motet Spem in alium in the documentary Terry Pratchett: Back in Black.

In 2017, the choir released its debut CD, Sudden Light, on Delphian Records. �e recording received praise from BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, Choir & Organ, BBC Radio 3 and many online reviewers.

Epiphoni is in demand to work with professional orchestras across London. Recent performances include Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied with the City of London Sinfonia and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Southbank Sinfonia. �e choir joined forces with KSO most recently in May 2018, for a concert performance of Puccini’s La bohème. �

THE EPIPHONI CONSORT

Founded in 2014

TIM BEGAN CONDUCTING seriously in 2014, when he founded �e Epiphoni Consort, inadvertently becoming the group’s director as well.

Tim studied at the University of Exeter, graduating with a degree in music in 2000. He lived in Bristol for the next decade, where he sang with the region’s cathedral choirs, accompanied local choral societies and opera companies, and taught piano.

Since moving to London in 2011, Tim has directed a number of choirs. He is a regular member of the professional choir at St John’s Wood Church and is studying for an MA in music (solo voice ensemble singing) at the University of York. �

THE EPIPHONI CONSORT was founded by Tim Reader in 2014 to �ll a gap between the amateur and professional tiers of London’s choral circuit. Its members include a number of people who sing to a professional standard but have other full-time careers.

In September 2015, Epiphoni won Tenebrae’s prestigious Locus Iste Choir Competition. Later the same month, the choir reached the �nal of the London International A Cappella Choral Competition. A judging panel headed by Peter Phillips, the director of the Tallis Scholars, described Epiphoni’s performance as “mesmerising”, with “excellent interpretation and atmosphere”, and the choir was awarded second prize.

ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES THE EPIPHONI CONSORT

The award-winning Epiphoni Consort has appeared on the BBC and received praise in 2017 for its debut CD

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TIM READER

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PATRONS Sue and Ron Astles Kate Bonner Sim Canetty-ClarkeCWA International Ltd John and Claire Dovey Bob and Anne Drennan Malcolm and Christine DunmowNick Marchant Jolyon and Claire Maugham David and Mary Ellen McEuenJohn and Elizabeth McNaughton Belinda MurrayMichael and Jan Murray Linda and Jack Pievsky Neil Ritson and family Kim Strauss-Polman Keith Waye

PREMIUM FRIENDS David Baxendale Dr Michele Clement and Dr Stephanie Munn John Dale Alastair Fraser Michael and Caroline Illingworth Maureen Keable Jeremy Marchant Margot RaybouldRichard and Jane Robinson

FRIENDS Anne Baxendale Robert and Hilary Bruce Yvonne and Graeme Burhop George FriendJim and Gill Hickman David JonesRufus Rottenberg Jane SheltonPaul SheehanFabian Watkinson Alan Williams

FRIENDS’ SCHEMESUPPORT US

Choose from three levels of membership with special benefits when you join our Friends’ Scheme

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SUPPORT KSO by joining our Friends’ Scheme. �ere are three levels of membership for 2018/19.

JOIN OUR FRIENDS’ SCHEME

Become a member today

SEE YOUR NAME listed in our concert programmes as a Friend, Premium Friend or Patron, under single or joint names.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS are available on request for companies and groups, tailored to your needs.

HOW TO JOIN To join the Friends’ Scheme, contact David Baxendale by calling 020 8650 0393 or by emailing friends@kso.org.uk.

FRIEND £65Unlimited concert tickets at concessionary rates, priority booking and free interval drinks and concert programmes.

PREMIUM FRIEND £135One free ticket for each concert, unlimited guest tickets at concessionary rates, priority booking and free interval drinks and concert programmes.

PATRON £235Two free tickets for each concert, unlimited guest tickets at concessionary rates, priority booking and free interval drinks and concert programmes.

16 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

SPONSOR OR DONATESUPPORT US

YOU, OUR AUDIENCE, can really help us through sponsorship. Anyone can be a sponsor, and any level of support – from corporate sponsorship of a concert or soloist to individual backing of the orchestra – is enormously valuable to us.

We o�er a variety of bene�ts to sponsors, tailored to their needs, such as programme and website advertising, guest tickets and assistance with entertaining.

As a charity, KSO is able to claim Gi� Aid on any donations made to the orchestra. Donating through Gi� Aid means that KSO can claim an extra 25p for every £1

you give, at no extra cost to you. Your donations will qualify as long as they are not more than four times what you have paid in tax in that �nancial year.

TO SPONSOR KSO, or to �nd out more, call David Baxendale on 020 8650 0393, email sponsorship@kso.org.uk or speak to any member of the orchestra.

TO MAKE A DONATION, or to �nd out more about Gi� Aid, email the treasurer at subs@kso.org.uk. Support us by sponsoring a concert

SPONSORSHIP AND DONATIONS

Make a difference to KSO

LEGACIES LEFT to qualifying charities, such as KSO, are exempt from inheritance tax. In addition, if you leave more than 10% of your estate to charity, the tax due on the rest of your estate may be reduced from 40% to 36%.

Legacies can be le� for �xed amounts (speci�c or pecuniary bequests) as either cash or shares, but a common way to ensure that your loved ones are provided for is to make a residuary bequest, in which the remainder of your estate is distributed to one or more charities of your choice a�er speci�c bequests to your family and friends have been met.

Legacies, along with conventional donations to KSO’s Endowment Trust,

enable us to plan for the next decades of the orchestra’s development.

If you include a bequest to KSO in your will, please tell us that you have done so; we can then keep you up to date and, if you choose, we can also recognise your support. Any information you give us will be treated in the strictest con�dence, and does not form a binding commitment of any kind.

TO LEAVE A LEGACY or to �nd out more, speak to your solicitor or contact Neil Ritson, the chair of KSO’s Endowment Trust, on 020 7723 5490 or neil.ritson@kso.org.uk.

LEAVING A LEGACY

Support the next generation

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Help KSO by remembering us in your will

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JANUARY 2019 17

KSO ONLINEFIND OUT MORE

GO TO KSO.ORG.UK to keep up to date with the orchestra and all our events. You can see the details of forthcoming concerts, listen to previous performances, read reviews and learn more about the history of KSO.

BOOKMARK OUR WEBSITE:

VISIT US ONLINEAll the latest on KSO

CONNECT WITH US:

facebook.com/kensingtonsymphonyorchestra

twitter.com/kensingtonso

instagram.com/kensingtonsymphony

kso.org.uk/shop

thegivingmachine.co.uk

FOLLOW OUR FEEDS for the latest news and behind-the-scenes photos from KSO. Join the conversation and share our news, photos and events with your friends and family to help us spread the word.

FOLLOW USFacebook, Twitter and Instagram

SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER to receive regularemails with the details of all our concerts. Visit kso.org.uk/mailinglist or email jo.johnson@kso.org.ukand we’ll keep you up to date.

REGISTER FOR ALERTS:

JOIN OUR MAILING LISTNews straight to your inbox

BUY VIA THESE WEBSITES:

CONTRIBUTE TO KSO by shopping online. A number of online retailers will pay us a small percentage of the value of your purchase – at no extra cost to you – when you visit their websites through links at kso.org.uk/shop or thegivingmachine.co.uk.

DONATE WHILE YOU SHOPSupport us at no cost to you

kso.org.uk/mailinglist

jo.johnson@kso.org.uk

18 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

THE ORCHESTRATONIGHT’S PERFORMERS

FIRST VIOLINAlan TuckwoodSabina NielsenHelen StanleyHeather BinghamLaura RileyHelen TurnellClaire DoveyErica JealRobert ChatleyRia HopkinsonClaire MaughamSarah HackettBronwen FisherAdrian GordonSusan KnightMatthew Hickman

SECOND VIOLINDavid PievskyWendy Je� eryJuliette BarkerElizabeth BellDavid NagleLiz ErringtonKathleen RuleFrancoise RobinsonJill IvesRufus RottenbergJeremy Bradshaw

Judith Ní BhreasláinDanielle DawsonRichard SheahanIvan Cheng

VIOLABeccy Spencer Andrew McPhersonGuy RaybouldSally RandallMeredith EstrenAlison NethsinghaJeremy LambertPhil CooperLiz LavercombeSam Blade Tom Milburn-PhilpottDaniela Dores

CELLOJoseph SpoonerZoe MarshallAnnie Marr-JohnsonBecca WalkerDavid BaxendaleJudith RobinsonVanessa HadleyHannah ReidNatasha FosterAlex Breedon

Kim PolmanNatasha Briant

DOUBLE BASSSteph FlemingAndrew NealOliver BatesBeth McDonaghMarcus AllenSam WiseAlison Coaker

FLUTEChristopher WyattClaire KnightonEmma Brown

PICCOLOEmma BrownClaire Knighton

ALTO FLUTEDan Dixon

OBOECharles BrenanJuliette Murray-Topham

COR ANGLAISChris Astles

CLARINETChris HorrilClaire Baughan

E FLAT CLARINETIvan Rockey

BASS CLARINETGraham Elliott

BASSOONNick RampleySheila WallaceJohn Wing� eld-Hill

CONTRABASSOONKriskin Allum

FRENCH HORNJon BoswellHeather PawsonAdrian SmithAlex Regan

OFF-STAGE HORNJon Boswell

TRUMPETStephen WillcoxJohn HackettLeanne � ompsonNoah Lawrence

OFF-STAGE TRUMPETJohn Hackett

TROMBONESPhil CambridgeKen McGregor

BASS TROMBONEStefan Terry

TUBARachel Adams TIMPANI Tommy Pearson

PERCUSSIONTim AldenCatherine HockingsSimon WillcoxAndrew CumineBrian FurnerPeter ManiuraBen MartinAndrew Barnard

HARP Anneke HodnettMilo Harper

CELESTE Rebecca Taylor

MUSIC DIRECTORRussell Keable

TRUSTEESChris AstlesDavid BaxendaleElizabeth BellSam BladeJon BoswellRosi CalleryJohn DoveyJudith Ní BhreasláinSabina NielsenHeather PawsonNick Rampley

ENDOWMENT TRUSTRobert DrennanGraham ElliottJudith Ní BhreasláinNick RampleyNeil Ritson

EVENTSCatherine AbramsChris AstlesLeanne HamiltonJudith Ní BhreasláinSabina NielsenBeccy Spencer

MEMBERSHIPJuliette BarkerDavid BaxendaleAndrew Neal

MARKETINGJeremy BradshawRia HopkinsonJo JohnsonAndrew NealGuy Raybould

PROGRAMMESRia Hopkinson

CONTACT US:

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Kensington Symphony Orchestra is “one of London’s most enterprising ensembles”, according to Classical Source

KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRARussell Keable Conductor

JANUARY 2019 19

THE SINGERSPH

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SOPRANOSapphire ArmitageEmily BensonRachel CacciaEleanor CaineClaire ClarkeHarriet FlowerZoe FreedmanHarriet GrittonBarbara GunterHolly HoltMeg McClureBecky Ryland-JonesMel SpencerMilly TaylorNerissa TaysomAlice Turrell

ALTOTom DayMilette GillowJessica GinnJessica HaigEmma KjellinHolly MannersEmma MorganCharly OakleyCathy Phillips BradyHelen RobertsSarah ShiptonAbaigh Wheatley

TENORJon BannisterEdgar ChanConrad HealdRichard HoldsworthBernard MayburyGareth MossChristopher Pelmore

BASSCharles Blamire-BrownEd BremnerAdrian CollisterMilo ComerfordAndrew DicksonHarry GillowPaul KiangRichard PelmoreTim ReaderMatthew ShoultsMorgan SimesRichard SmithRufus Stilgoe

THE EPIPHONI CONSORT

Tim Reader Director

The Epiphoni Consort with conductor Tim Reader. The group sang with KSO most recently in Puccini’s opera La bohème, in May 2018

63RD SEASON2018/19

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SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2019 7.30PMST JOHN’S SMITH SQUAREENESCU Romanian Rhapsody No.1MAHLER Kindertotenlieder Soloist: Julien Van MellaertsLUTOSLAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra Guest conductor: Holly Mathieson

MONDAY 13 MAY 2019 7.30PMCADOGAN HALL LYADOV The Enchanted LakeHUW WATKINS SymphonySIBELIUS Four Legends from the Kalevala

MONDAY 1 JULY 2019 7.30PMST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE KODALY Dances of MarosszékCHRIS LONG World premièreDVORAK Symphony No.6

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