London Chamber Ensemble

24th May / 7:30pm / Canolfan Beaumaris

Madeleine Mitchell, violin & director

Roger Chase, viola

Joseph Spooner, cello

David Owen Norris, piano

John Anderson, oboe

Bruce Nockles, trumpet

Oboe Sonata in G minor WQ 135                                     Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach (1714-88)

Sarabande for Piano Left Hand                                        Grace Williams (1906-77)

Rondo for Dancing                                                              Grace Williams

Sextet for Oboe, Trumpet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano    Grace Williams

  --interval--CDs will be available for purchase and for signing after the concert

Song Without Words op.19 no.1 for solo piano             Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47)

Piano Quartet no.2 in A op.26                                           Johannes Brahms (1833-97)

The London Chamber Ensemble present three works by one of Wales’s foremost composers, Grace Williams, from their highly acclaimed recent album of her chamber music. These are combined with three classics by composers from Hamburg - Brahms, Mendelssohn and CPE Bach.

Pre-concert talk 3-4pm with Madeleine Mitchell and Rhiannon Mathias

The London Chamber Ensemble is a flexible ensemble of 3-12 players, including voice, comprising some of the UK’s most outstanding chamber musicians. LCE was formed by Madeleine Mitchell in 1992, initially at the request of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, to perform Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time. This group, with Madeleine Mitchell, violin, Joanna MacGregor, piano, Christopher Van Kampen, cello and David Campbell, clarinet, went on to perform at the BBC Proms with Mitchell and MacGregor’s arrangement of Bach - the last of the Art of Fugue and many other concerts and BBC broadcasts over 5 years including Ravel piano trio and other works for the BBC Millennium Series and at venues such as Wigmore Hall, until the untimely death of Van Kampen. The group’s recording of the Messiaen, along with Krauze Quatuor pour la Naissance, was the widely recommended version of the work for some years: “an all star group which manages to outdo all its rivals” Gramophone

The group then expanded for concerts of Vivaldi Four Seasons with solo strings and harpsichord and many other programmes including 2 series for BBC Radio 3 from St George’s Bristol. They’ve also performed in Malta, Spain - for National Spanish Radio and for Bulgarian TV and a concert for the Hall for Cornwall International Series, replacing the Academy of St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble at short notice. Recently the LCE’s new lighter programme Jazzed Up with Kyle Horch, saxophone, Madeleine Mitchell, violin and Nigel Clayton, piano of jazz inspired music – Gershwin An American in Paris (“in Mitchell’s own highly effective arrangement” The Times), Shostakovitch Jazz Suite and Weill Little Threepenny Music has delighted audiences including a well received London concert at St John’s, Smith Square Americana Season on American Independence Day, July 4th 2018.

The latest LCE project under the directorship of Madeleine Mitchell is an album for Naxos of chamber music by Grace Williams (1906-77), all world premiere recordings, with an outstanding roster of musicians including pianist David Owen Norris, oboist John Anderson, violist Roger Chase, cellist Joseph Spooner and trumpeter Bruce Nockles in the Sextet for this unusual combination plus the Suite for 9 Instruments, Violin Sonata and the 3 short pieces heard this evening. The album, released in March 2019, has been widely praised, selected as the Guardian CD of the Week: ‘A fascinating listen…the players of the London Chamber Ensemble make the writing sing, with unflagging rhythmic drive…a persuasive disc’   www.londonchamberensemble.com

Director and Violinist Madeleine Mitchell, described by The Times as ‘one of the UK’s liveliest musical forces’, has performed as soloist and chamber musician in 50 countries, with major orchestras, in recitals in a wide repertoire and in international venues and festivals, frequently broadcast for radio and tv. Her acclaimed discography includes 2 albums of works written for her by well known composers (including Nyman, MacMillan), both nominated for BBC Music Awards and recently as concerto soloist with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. www.madeleinemitchell.com

David Owen Norris is well known both as pianist and television broadcaster, his fifth series of ‘Chord of the Week’ featured in the BBC Proms 2018. He was awarded the first Gilmore Artist Award, with concerto performances throughout the USA and Australia. He is Professor of Musical Performance at the University of Southampton, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and an Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford. He is also a composer, with a wide discography.  www.davidowennorris.com

Violist Roger Chase made his debut with the English Chamber Orchestra and has since played as a soloist or chamber musician in major cities worldwide. He has been a member of many ensembles including the Nash Ensemble for more than 20 years and has been invited to play as principal viola with major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic.  He has made numerous recordings including Alwyn Chamber Music with Madeleine Mitchell for Naxos.  www.rogerchase.com

Cellist Joseph Spooner’s diverse career has taken him throughout Europe, Russia, the Baltics, to New York and Mexico. He has received wide praise for his recordings, often of unusual, previously unrecorded repertoire ‘superb … arresting in his commitment, his technical facility and in the rich tone he produces from his cello ... could not be better’ (International Record Review). He has performed several concerts with Madeleine Mitchell including Brahms Double Concerto in London in November 2018. www.josephspooner.net

John Anderson, born in Cardiff, has been principal oboe with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia and the English Chamber Orchestra. He is a professor at the Royal College of Music and has given master classes in Japan, China, and Canada. Performances have included Bach’s Double Concerto with Maxim Vengerov in Germany and Spain and with Nigel Kennedy in the Royal Festival Hall, London, and the Oboe Concerto by Richard Strauss at the Bermuda Festival.

Trumpeter Bruce Nockles studied music at York University and began his career performing with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ ensemble The Fires of London alongside Madeleine Mitchell, gaining a reputation for contemporary music. He has been principal trumpet of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Klangforum Wien and Ensemble Modern. He has appeared as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and also works as a conductor and composer.