September is quartet month at Inverness Town House
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SEPTEMBER is String Quartet Month at Inverness Town House with two exciting young ensembles making their Inverness debuts.
First up, on Wednesday 4th September, with a 1pm lunchtime concert in the At One With Music Series, is the Astrid String Quartet. Comprising Royal Conservatoire of Scotland students and graduates Elanor Gunn, Eve Kennedy, Sarah Leonard and Julia Wagner, the Astrid String Quartet are recipients of the 2012 Mabel Glover String Quartet Prize and formed in summer 2011 at the RCS where they were mentored by the renowned cellist Robert Irvine.
Astrid’s members have played in masterclasses with the Brodsky Quartet, the Kreutzer Quartet, Peter Manning and the Rachmaninov Trio. They enjoy performing a wide range of repertoire of all eras, including contemporary compositions.
Their programme will feature the Haydn Op 33 No 6 Quartet, Dvorak’s "American" Quartet and three of Bartok’s Romanian Dances. Doors open at 12.30pm and admission is £5 for adults or £1 for children.
Later in the month, on Thursday 26th September at 7.30pm, Inverness Chamber Music will open the 2013/2014 Season with a concert by the Maxwell String Quartet, described by Classical Music Magazine as "one of the front-runners" in young British ensembles.
The members of the quartet, Colin Scobie, George Smith, Ian Anderson and Duncan Strachan, all hail originally from Scotland, where they are now based.
Having studied at various institutions including the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Oxford University, the quartet was formed in 2010 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they worked regularly with Robert Irvine. Other mentors in the Quartet’s studies include members of the Brodsky, Allegri and Belcea Quartets; Krysia Osostowicz, Erich Höbarth, Steven Osborne and William Conway. The Maxwell Quartet was selected in June 2011 for the Enterprise Music Scotland Residency Project and in this role received opportunities to develop professionally and perform at music venues and chamber music festivals throughout the UK.
The highlight of the Maxwell Quartet’s Inverness concert is the very first performance of a work specially commissioned for the quartet by EMS from the renowned young British composer Anna Meredith.
The concert will open and close with quartets by Beethoven and Ravel, and will also include two short works by James MacMillan and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Tickets for this concert can be bought at Eden Court Box Office, can be reserved online at www.invernesschambermusic.com or can be bought on the night at the door from 7.00pm. Adults £13; Eden Court Friends £12; Under 18s/Students/Benefits £4.
