Past SCA events

This page lists past concerts, composer talks, meetings and social events.

We gratefully acknowledge the kind support of the Paragon Concert Society who administer funds left to them by the late Leo Reid Baker.  Their financial support has greatly assisted the putting on of several SCA events.

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Thursday 1 December - Sunday 4 December 2011
NEWS   -  International Valberg Piano 4 Hands Competition

A new piano duet, "Raag Gezellig", by John Pitts is one of the two compulsory pieces in the international section of this duet performance competition.

First prize = 5000 Euros.
Pianists wanting details of how to enter the competition, please go to www.piano4mains06.fr.

Download the score here.

"Raag Gezellig" is a 10-minute virtuosic contemporary classical work, inspired by the classical sitar music of Pakistan, and is designed to test the professional duos' technical and musical skills to their limits.
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Saturday 26 November 2011 7.30pm
Concert   -  Orchestral Premiere
@ the Victoria Rooms, Bristol BS8 8SA

Geoff Poole new piece "Shumei, Shumei"
New Bristol Sinfonia commission, dir. James Lowe

Preview talk composer and conductor 6.45pm.
Elgar "In The South"
Poole "Shumei, Shumei" ***
Vaughan Williams "A London Symphony"
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Friday 25 November 2011, 8pm
Concert   -  Strings Times Four: New Music for String Quartet
@ the Arnolfini

www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/music/details/1091

Severnside Composers Alliance launches its brand new series of concerts at Arnolfini collaborating with the Bristol Ensemble to present challenging new quartets by Alliance members Jean Hasse, Andre Shlimon, Julian Dale, Sulyen Caradon and Jolyon Laycock, alongside the contemplative serenity of Arvo Pärt's Fratres and the luminous textures and pulsing rhythms of the 2nd Quartet of Philip Glass, inspired by Samuel Beckett's Poem Company.
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Thursday October 27th 2011, 1pm
Concert   -  Lunchtime Classics concert
@ St Georges, Bristol - Piano Recital.

Solo piano recital by Andre Shlimon at 1pm, Thursday October 27th at St Georges, Brandon Hill, Bristol (off Park Street). Entry £7 (£4 u-18s and students). Full details and tickets are available at

www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/event.php?pid=1223

The program includes Andre's own composition '6 Bagatelles' alongside sonatas by Haydn and Beethoven at Bristol's leading venue for classical and contemporary chamber music.
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Wednesday 27 July 2011
Meeting   -  Meeting at Bristol Music Club

...following up exciting new developments...
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Friday 20 May 2011, 7.00 for 7.30pm
Meeting   -  Severnside Composers Alliance Annual General Meeting 2011

Venue: The Meeting Room, Arnolfini, Narrow Quay, BRISTOL BS1 4QA

This year our AGM represents an important opportunity for a radical re-think of the organisation's future strategy and policy.
All current members of the Alliance are encouraged to attend and to contribute their ideas for future concert programmes and other Alliance activities.
We also extend a warm welcome to other composers living and working in the Severnside area to take part in the meeting as potential new Alliance members.
We are grateful to Alasdair Cameron for allowing us to use Arnolfini for this important event and hope that it will be the beginning of a fruitful new collaboration between Arnolfini and the Severnside Composers Alliance.
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Friday 12 November 2010, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Landscape Studies, and other music for solo piano

Bristol Music Club
Download flyer

12 Landscape Studies for Piano - Jolyon Laycock (first complete performance)
Honeymoon Suite - Steven Kings
An Autumn Evening - John Pitts
Ashleworth, An Idyll for Piano - David Simmonds
Deserted Cinema - Frank Harvey
5 Bagatelles - Andre Shlimon

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Tickets £10
[Concessionary tickets £7, available in advance only from Providence Music 0117 9276536]
All tickets unreserved and un-numbered.
Click below to order your tickets now - you can change the quantities on the Paypal page. All major cards accepted, or pay with a Paypal account.

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Friday 5 November 2010, 7.30pm
Concert   -  East Clevedon Community Arts Festival
Landscape Studies and other music

@ Clevedon Court, Clevedon, North Somerset

Now celebrating its seventh year, the Severnside Composers Alliance was formed to perform and promote the music of living composers from around Bristol and Bath, and stimulate a wider interest in new music in the region.

This evening concert, in the beautiful setting of the National Trust's Clevedon Court, will feature selections from Dr Jolyon Laycock's pyrotechnical Landscape Studies and more peaceful River Preludes for solo piano, plus songs and piano music by Sulyen Caradon, John Pitts and Andre Shlimon. Also featuring mezzo-soprano Dr Clare Griffel.

Seating is limited so early booking is advised.
Tickets £9 (£6 concessions) - 01275 872723 or IanCorbett123@btinternet.com


Sulyen Caradon - 3 Lowland Airs, sung by Clare Griffel
John Pitts - An Autumn Evening - solo piano (first performance)
Andre Shlimon - Saturation Point - piano and vocals
Sulyen Caradon - 3 more Lowland Airs, sung by Clare Griffel
Jolyon Laycock - A selection from Landscape Studies and River Preludes for solo piano

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22nd, 24th and 25th September 2010, 7.30pm
Opera   -  A Foreign Field

The premiere of Eric Wetherell's 3-act opera. The Redgrave Theatre, Clifton, Bristol Based on the Ben Macintyre book, A Foreign Field, the opera tells the true story of a group of British soldiers who were trapped behind German lines on the Franco/Belgian border early in World War 1. Unable to rejoin their comrades, the soldiers were sheltered, fed and clothed by the villagers of Villeret, assuming the guise of peasant farmers. One of the soldiers, Robert Digby, fell in love with a peasant girl and fathered her child. Eventually, the Germans were tipped-off about the hiding soldiers and the German Commandant offered the men a fair trial if they would surrender. The men gave themselves up, but were executed and the whole village destroyed as a punishment to the villagers for harbouring fugitives. The opera has been cast, the orchestra arranged and rehearsals are due to begin during this summer. Part of the project includes a special educational partnership with South Gloucestershire Schools which will culminate in a schools performance on the afternoon of 23rd September. More information and ticket sales at: www.aforeignfieldopera.co.uk

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Saturday 11 September 2010
Concert   -  Kiev Music Festival, Kiev Philharmonic Hall, Ukraine

Concert to include:
John Pitts's "Changes for 20 nifty fingers" to be performed by the Kiev Piano Duo (Oleksandra Zaytseva & Dmytro Tavanets) - click here for last year's performance...
and
Are You Going? for 30 nifty fingers (world premiere concert performance) – the Kiev Piano Duo and Antoniy Baryshevkiy (recent winner of the Jaen Piano Competition.
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Saturday 26th June 2010, 7.30pm
Concert   -  The Diaries of Adam and Eve

At the QEH Theatre - Jacob's Wells Road, Bristol. The programme: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring - Delius Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra - Wetherell Soloist, Ben Waghorn The Diaries of Adam and Eve - Wetherell 'Diaries' is an entertainment based upon 2 short Mark Twain stories, for 2 actors, chorus and orchestra One performance only! Tickets are restricted to 200. Tickets at www.aforeignfieldopera.co.uk or on 0117 907 8079
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Monday 14 June, 7.30pm
Composer Talk   -  Eric Wetherell's new opera - A Foreign Field

Eric Weatherell will be giving a presentation on his new opera, A Foreign Field, which is being premiered in Bristol in September.

The talk is taking place on Monday 14 June, 7.30pm, and we have been generously given the use of Ann Claxton's house. The address is 266 Henbury Road, BS10 7QR.

I hope that as many of you as possible will come to this, and you are welcome to bring colleagues and friends who are interested. Please contact Steve or Ann to let us know you are coming, so that we can get a helpful idea of numbers.

Further information about Eric's opera can be found at www.aforeignfieldopera.co.uk

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Monday 17 May 2010, 7:30pm
Composer Talk   -  Jolyon Laycock

Jolyon will be talking about his new Sinfonia Concertante, "Among Seven Hills" (which will have been recently performed as part of one of the Elektrostatic Concerts with the Bristol Ensemble conducted by Neal Farwell at Colston Hall II on Wednesday 14 April). With wine and nibbles, at Steven Kings' house. All welcome. Please contact Steve or Jolyon to say if you are planning to attend.
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Saturday 1 May 2010, 7.30pm
Concert   -  20th and 21st century music for soprano and piano

Nicola-Jane Kemp (soprano) and Steven Kings (piano) will be performing songs by Berg, Copland, Messiaen, Poulenc, Ravel and Strauss, plus Robin Holloway's cycle "Wherever We May Be" (1980) and the WORLD PREMIERE of Steven Kings' own "bird singing" (2003). The venue is the Bristol Music Club, St Paul's Road, Clifton. Tickets cost £9 (concessions £7) and are available at the door.
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Wednesday 14 April 2010, 8pm
Concert   -  Elektrostatic: Modern Britain

Pianist Philip Mead will be giving the premiere of Jolyon Laycock's new Sinfonia Concertante, "Among Seven Hills" as part of the next Elektrostatic Concert with the Bristol Ensemble conducted by Neal Farwell at Colston Hall II on Wednesday 14 April, 8.00pm.

details from:
the Colston Hall website or the Bristol Ensemble website.

The Bristol Ensemble (formerly the Emerald Ensemble) continue their boundary-defying contemporary classical season, swelling to a 25-piece orchestra, featuring works by living British composers inspired by ancestry, ritual and landscape.

Featuring:
James Macmillan - As Others See Us
Jolyon Laycock - Among Seven Hills - Sinfonia Concertante for Piano and Orchestra (with solo pianist Philip Mead)
Neal Farwell - Bloodlines
Richard Barnard - Six Moments Alone V

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April 2010
NEWS   -  Music course

Message from Mark Rees-Dawson
Chairman of rarescale (1112917)
markrd@tiscali.co.uk
07968 393883
www.rarescale.org.uk

I represent a British music charity that is organizing a music course on the Scottish island of Skye and I was hoping you would be kind enough to put this on your events listings:

rarescale on Skye a music course on the idyllic Scottish island of Skye for the alto and bass flute , oboe and cor anglais as well as a electro acoustic course and composers retreat. for further details visit www.rarescaleonskye.co.uk or contact info@rarescaleonskye.co.uk

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Thursday 15 October 2009, 8pm
Composer Talk   -  Frank Harvey

@ Steven King's house in Henleaze. All welcome - please let Steve/Frank know if you are planning to come along.
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Friday 2 October 2009
Concert   -  Kiev Music Festival

John Pitts's "Changes for 20 nifty fingers" received its Ukrainian premiere by the amazing Kiev piano Duo - see video below!

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Friday 11 September 2009, 8pm
Meeting   -  AGM

Eastfield Inn, Bristol

Our heartfelt thanks go to Richard Carder, who stepped down as SCA Chairman this evening, to make time for his forthcoming MPhil on Ivor Gurney's asylum music at Bristol University. Richard was the inspiration and driving force for the formation of SCA in 2003, and has remained central in inspiring and arranging concerts, recordings and other SCA events. Richard does however plan still to be actively involved in SCA's activities.

Steven Kings was unanimously voted in as Richard's successor, so our thanks to him for accepting the baton.

Future events - two more Composer Talks (details elsewhere on this page), and a possible six-hands-at-one-piano project.
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8 May 2009
NEWS   -  University of Bristol Centenary commission

The first performance of Professor Geoff Poole's The Sheltering Bell, commissioned to celebrate the University's centenary.
Read more about it and hear it at www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2009/6324.html.
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8 January 2009
NEWS   -  CD release - cd.tp/ipm08

STEVEN KINGS: intensely pleasant music: 7 Airs & Fantasias and other piano music by John Pitts.

Excerpts can be heard, and the CD ordered, from cd.tp/ipm08.
Order the CD from the Welcome Stranger Shop.

Individual mp3s or the whole album are currently available to download from amazon.co.uk, CDBaby, Lulu, Napster, Tradebit, Amazon.com (and French and German Amazon), CD Universe, rateyourmusic.com, Lala, Rhapsody and will shortly be available for download from iTunes, eMusic and others.
Listen to selected tracks at myspace.com/intenselypleasantmusic
MUSICAL OPINION "a sensitive and intelligent creative personality".....THE INDEPENDENT "deftly impressive".....MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL "brilliantly exciting"..."a colossal musical project that deserves admiration"..."Stunning and seriously impressive"......NEW CLASSICS "beautifully played"......INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW "...an overall idiom of considerable charm... 'Intensely pleasant music'? Most certainly." ..... CROSS RHYTHMS 9/10 "this album is beautiful, moving and relaxing"......
Read the reviews here.

ipm08 is a new album, released January 2009 on the cd.tp label, supported by the PRS Foundation for New Music / The Bliss Trust. Recorded by Jonathan Scott on the Steinway model D in the Auditorium, the Victoria Rooms, University of Bristol Music Department.

ipm08a
Also recorded on 21/08/08 was a piece for 30 nifty fingers: ARE YOU GOING? by John Pitts. It is a fast, frenetic, complex, polyphonic romp based on the folk-melody Scarborough Fair, pulled around in various time-warps. Daniella Acker joined Steven Kings and John Pitts at the Steinway, and an mp3 of ipm08a is available initially as a digital download from Lulu.
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Thursday 20 November 2008, 7.30pm
Composer Talk   -  Frank Harvey

Frank will talk about his music, over wine and nibbles - all welcome.
Venue: Richard's house in Bath.

These evenings are opportunities for SCA composers to talk about their music (or other composers' music) and play examples, in a friendly atmosphere with a glass of wine. Some evenings could involve two composers, each talking about a single piece, or a single composer talking at greater depth or about more! Non-SCA members are also welcome, space-permitting. The eight evenings we have had so far have been fascinating (Raymond Warren, Adrian Beaumont, David Bedford, Steven Kings, Geoff Poole, Sulyen Caradon, Sue Coppard & David Simmonds, and Jean Hasse & Chris Wiggins).

Please contact Sulyen Caradon (01225 313531) or John Pitts (0117 904 8902) to offer your voice!
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Saturday 1 November 2008, 8pm
Concert   -  Steven Kings - Piano Recital - "Intensely pleasant music"
John Pitts: 7 Airs & Fantasias

Notice late start of 8pm. Doors open, with refreshments, from 7:30pm)

Bristol Music Club, 76 St Paul's Road, Clifton
Tickets £6 (available on the door, or from 0117 904 8902)
Gentle Interweaving, Clockwork 5 4, After Satie, On the Westminster Chimes, On an anagram, Parallel Octaves, Sarabande, Wind chimes, Calmly Contented, Bells in 9 8, Modal Twist, Half-Second-Hand, Cantabile Mist, All in a chord

“Intensely pleasant music” International Record Review

www.johnpitts.co.uk
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Saturday 11 October 2008, 7.30pm
Meeting   -  British Academy Regional Network
& 80th Birthday concert for Professor Raymond Warren

Bristol Music Club
Rehearsals from 10 a.m.
2pm coffee & welcome
2.30pm Raymond's talk
3.30 BARN moot
4.30 tea
6.00 CONCERT (for details see below)
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Saturday 11 October 2008, 6pm
Concert   -  BARN - Raymond Warren 80th BIRTHDAY CONCERT

Bristol Music Club
Queen’s Road, Clifton, BS8

Tickets: £9 (concs.£6)
Providence Music: 0117 927 6536

Programme
Frank Harvey - Greetings! A Great and Beautiful Birthday
David Simmonds – For Raymond
John Pitts - A Winter Night
S.R.Caradon – Framilode Pool
Raymond Warren - Spring Song, Sea Change
Jolyon Laycock – Warren’s Waltz
Geoff Poole - Lakeside Book
Raymond Warren - Will the sunflower turn to us?
Steven Kings – November 7th
Jean Hasse – Piano Birthday

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October 2008
NEWS   -  Call for pieces for SCA performers for Raymond Warren 80th birthday concert in October

Pieces for some or all of the following instrumentation: Voices, Piano (duet, 2 pianos?), Cello, Double Bass, Clarinet (Bb, A, alto, bass) or saxophone/oboe/recorder.

Please contact Richard Carder.
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Tuesday 30 September 2008, 7:30pm
Concert   -  Richard Carder clarinet, Linda Stocks cello, Robert Willington piano

Bristol Music Club
Beethoven Clarinet Trio, Op 38 - Adagio - Allegro. Adagio. Menuetto. Theme & Variations. Scherzo. Andante - Presto.
Ivor Gurney Andante in F
John Ireland Trio - Moderato. Scherzo. Lento - Allegro.
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Tuesday 10 June 2008, 7.30pm
Concert   -  BRISTOL MUSIC CLUB STRINGS with SOS WINDS

to include music by SCA composers: Steven Kings "for Kirsty" arranged for orchestra by Julian Dale, and John Pitts' "Changes". For full programme click here.
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Saturday 2 February 2008, 7.30pm
Concert   -  NEW MUSIC FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE - Severnside Ensemble

Bristol Music Club.
Tickets £9 (concessions £6)
from Providence Music (0117 927 6536) or on the door.

A concert based on the instrumentation of Stravinsky's Septet of 1952 - i.e. clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello & piano.

Programme
Stravinsky - Septet
Mozart - 'Double' clarinet quintet K580
Jolyon Laycock - A Dream of Flying
John Pitts - Piano Quartet
Julian Dale - Album for violin, cello and bass
Frank Harvey - Organum at the Seaside
David Simmonds - Lord in Thy Mercy, Hear Our Prayer
Steven Kings - Sextet (world premiere)
plus a work by Sulyen Caradon.

Many thanks go to the RVW Trust for their financial support of this concert.


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Wednesday 16 January 2008, 1.15pm
Concert   -  Lunchtime concert - Emerald String Quartet

Victoria Rooms, Bristol

www.bristol.ac.uk/music/events/2008/concert20080116

Samuel Wesley: Minuet in C
Steven Kings: After the dissonance
Richard Barnard: String Quartet and Tape
Susan Coppard: Café Society

This concert features works by three members of the Severnside Composers Alliance, an organisation formed in 2003 to promote the work of composers living in the Bristol and Bath area; a delightful Minuet in C minor by Samuel Wesley, born in Bristol in 1766, completes the programme. The members of the quartet are drawn from Bristol’s own professional chamber group, the Emerald Ensemble, which over the past twelve years, has gained much acclaim for its lively and dynamic performances.
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Monday 10 December, 8pm
NEWS   -  Service of Nine Lessons & Carols at Bath Abbey, to include Susan Coppard's "The Bell Carol"

Sue's early-mediaeval style Christmas anthem for SATB & organ, "THE BELL CAROL", is to be included in the Service of Nine Lessons & Carols at Bath Abbey on the evening of Monday, 10th December. It will be sung by Bath Spa University Music Students.
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Saturday 3 November 2007, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Laurie Gethin & Steven Kings

Bristol Music Club, St Paul's Road, Clifton.

Steven Kings is giving a concert with an excellent young soprano by the name of Laurie Gethin, a former student at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

They will be performing songs by Copland, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Poulenc, Weill and others besides: a huge variety of style, mood and colour to suit every taste. They are also going to perform some of Steven's songs, and there might be a bit of piano music thrown in!

Tickets will cost £8-00 (concessions £6-00), available on the door.
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October 2007
NEWS   -  60x60 project

John Pitts's "60 second Fantasy VII" selected as part of the 2007 International Mix for the 60x60 project - a collection of sixty pieces of electronic music by sixty different composers with each piece lasting sixty seconds. Forthcoming performances include: North Carolina State University, UNT College of Music Denton Texas, University of Central Florida, Concordia University Montreal, New York, University of Sydney and Washington.
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Wednesday 18 July 2007, 8pm
Meeting   -  AGM

The Rummer Pub, Grand Parade, Bath. Please do come along to discuss forthcoming concerts and events! All welcome.
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date tbc.
Composer Talk   -  Composer/venue tbc. CALLING ALL COMPOSERS...

These evenings are opportunities for SCA composers to talk about their music and play examples, in a friendly atmosphere with a glass of wine. Some evenings could involve two composers, each talking about a single piece, or a single composer talking at greater depth or about more! Non-SCA members are also welcome, space-permitting. The eight evenings we have had so far have been fascinating (Raymond Warren, Adrian Beaumont, David Bedford, Steven Kings, Geoff Poole, Sulyen Caradon, Sue Coppard & David Simmonds, and Jean Hasse & Chris Wiggins), and we hope to make this a regular spot.

Please contact Sulyen Caradon (01225 313531) or John Pitts (0117 904 8902) to offer your voice!
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Saturday 30 June 2007, 7.30pm
Concert   -  String Quartet - Roger Huckle and members of the Emerald Ensemble (postponed from 11 May)

Bristol Music Club
76 St Paul's Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LP
(on the roundabout where Pembroke Road, Queens Road and St Paul's Road meet)

Tickets from Providence Music Shop: 0117 927 6536

Programme
Sam Wesley - Minuet in C minor
Ivor Gurney - Quartet in A major (2 mvts - Moderato & Adagio) - premiere
Steven Kings - 'After the Dissonance' (excerpt)
Frank Harvey - Quartet
David Simmonds - String Quartet No.1 (movements 1 2 3 4)

With support from the Paragon Concert Society, the Ivor Gurney Society, the Wesley Fest, and the RVW Trust.


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Saturday 12 May 2007, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Music for two pianos

Bristol Music Club
St Paul's Road in Clifton.

Music by Debussy, Holloway, Milhaud and Rachmaninov, performed by Chris Northam and SCA member Stephen Kings. It's fantastic stuff, by turns lush, colourful and dramatic!
Tickets cost £9-00 (concessions £7-00) available on the door.
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Saturday 5 May 2007, 10.30pm
NEWS   -  Geoff Poole premiere broadcast - "The Colour of My Song"

BBC Radio 3 "Hear And Now" - Geoff's 40-minute concerto for vocalities, performed by its commissioners the 24-voice BBC Singers (with harp and two percussionists) will have its premiere broadcast. Geoff says, "I think its the best music I've done, and the performance of its action-packed 20 movements is vibrant and exciting."

More details about the performers etc. on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/hearandnow/pip/8muy0/

You can also hear it online (around the world) during the following seven days.
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Saturday 28 April 2007, 12am
Concert   -  British Academy Regional Network meeting and String Quartet concert.

Location: Room 128, Ellen Terry Building, Coventry University, Jordan Well, Coventry CV1
Plentiful parking is to be found in three car parks within a hundred yards of the building.

Agenda
12.00 – Arrivals and Coffee
12.35 - Lunch
13.30 - BARN Open meeting, including Academy presentation (15 mins)
15.00 - Afternoon String Quartet Composition Workshop:
John Macdonald McKenzie String Quartet No 4
Sonia Grossner Dark Adagio String Quartet No 3
Martin Watson String Quartet No 3 (extracts)
Andrew Downes String Quartet No 1 First Movement
Rosemary Duxbury String quartet No 1
Peter Crump Scherzo for String Quartet
Clement Jewitt Be Calm, Move Gently String Quartet
Chairman – Robert Ramskill, CCA member and Senior Lecturer in Music, Coventry University.
17.30 - Tea
18.30 – Concert (approx 60 minutes)
To consist of the above pieces plus a Haydn Minuet and Trio

Cost: Free! I’ve had a number of responses from people saying that they are attending the event.
If you have not informed me, please do so by Monday 23rd April, so that we can confirm seating and refreshment requirements. Thanks Andrew Castle Secretary, Central Composers Alliance 0781 639 5259
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2007
NEWS   -  James Patten's large-scale work Stabat Mater

is set to have two performances next year, one by Vox Humana Choir, Virginia, USA, and also by Christ's College Choir, New Zealand. James has also recently had a performance of an organ piece in Norway, and some of his Christmas music published by Kevin Mayhew is to be performed by Dr. Franz Patocka and co. at the University of Vienna.
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Saturday 3 February 2007, 7.30pm
Concert   -  SCA Composers/Performers

Bristol Music Club
76 St Paul's Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LP
(on the roundabout where Pembroke Road, Queens Road and St Paul's Road meet)

Tickets: £7 & £5 : on the door, or from Providence Music Shop, St George's Rd.
BS1 5UL shop@providencemusic.co.uk  0117 927 6536

Frank Harvey - Night Flight& Prospero Sketches (violin and piano)
Raymond Warren - 5 Bagatelles (3, 4 & 5 in this recording) (piano)
Steven Kings - Pieces for Kirsty & More for Kirsty (piano)
Sulyen Caradon -
Nowhere (soprano, flute, viola, bass clarinet)
Julian Dale - Miniatures (piano duet)
Jean Hasse - At the End of the Day, Flight, Across the Room (piano)
John Pitts - Fantasy VI & Aire VII (piano)
Susan Coppard - The Wedding, The Village Green & At the Bar Flamingo (accordion)


Composers performing, plus:
Joanna Morton (soprano) + Julia Page (viola) + David Kniveton (flute) + Richard Carder (bass clarinet) + Daniella Acker (piano) + Jolyon Laycock (piano) + Jonathan Harvey (violin)
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Friday 26 January 2007, 7.30pm
Composer Talk   -  Jean Hasse & Chris Wiggins

These evenings are opportunities for SCA composers to talk about their music and play examples, in a friendly atmosphere with a glass of wine.  Some evenings could involve two composers, each talking about a single piece, or a single composer talking at greater depth or about more!  Non-SCA members are also welcome, space-permitting.  The eight evenings we have had so far have been fascinating (Raymond Warren, Adrian Beaumont, David Bedford, Steven Kings, Geoff Poole, Sulyen Caradon, Sue Coppard & David Simmonds, and Jean Hasse & Chris Wiggins), and we hope to make this a regular spot, every three months or so.  Please contact Sulyen Caradon (01225 313531) or John Pitts (0117 904 8902) to offer your voice!
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Wednesday 15 November 2006, 7.30pm
Composer Talk   -  Susan Coppard & David Simmonds

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Saturday 14 October 2006, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Music from the West (Dead and Alive)

Bristol Music Club
Tickets: £9 (£6) available from Providence Music Shop 0117 927 6536 or on the door


Jonathan Price
Wesley - Sonata in D minor ("Salomon")
Roseingrave - Eighth Sett
Sykes - Chaconne in C minor
Moeran - 3 pieces

Steven Kings
Geoff Poole - 3 pieces from I Ching
Liz Lane - Descent by hot air, Waltz
John Pitts - Toccata
Steven Kings - an improvisation
Julian Dale - After the Yoruba
Steven Kings - 3 pieces

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Tuesday 10 October 2006, 5.15pm
NEWS   -  Congratulations to Geoff Poole, Professor of Composition, who has been made Head of Subject (Music) at Bristol University.

Victoria Rooms, Queens Road
Inaugural Lecture - FREE ENTRY
New Music, a Thing of the Past? The Soft Voice in a Hard World
Geoff Poole reveals the enthusiasms, values and myths that sustain his activity as a contemporary classical composer, and analyses some of the current attitudes to creativity and culture that either support or threaten to undermine serious aesthetic communication in Britain today. With illustrations and recorded examples from his own music.
Followed by a Reception.
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Wednesday 20 September 2006
Composer Talk   -  Sulyen Caradon

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Monday 11 September 2006, 8pm
Meeting   -  AGM at the Rummer Pub, Grand Parade, Bath

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July 2006
NEWS   -  Tonus Peregrinus CD release - Hymns and Songs of the Church - Naxos CD 8.557681 including hymn by John Pitts.



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September 2006
NEWS   -  John Pitts was commissioned by Choir & Organ magazine to write I will raise him up at the last day

A feature appears in the Sept/Oct 06 issue, and the piece will be premiered by Andrew Millington (Director of Music) at Exeter Cathedral. It is also available to print for free until March 2007 by clicking here.
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Saturday 17 June 2006, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Piano Recital

Jolyon Laycock
Bristol Music Club
76 St Paul's Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LP



Arnold Schoenberg: Klavierstücke op.11, Suite op.25
Raymond Warren: 5 Bagatelles (1967)
James Patten: Nocturnes 1, 3 & 5 (1993 & 1998)
Jolyon Laycock: 3 Studies: L'Abri Pataud, Cap Blanc, Font de Gaume

The programme is a mixture of 20th century classics, contemporary works by a small selection of Alliance members, and poetry.

Tickets £7 (£5) from Providence Music Shop 0117 927 6536 1 St Georges Road, Bristol, BS1 5UL
or online from:

The concert is framed by two of Arnold Schoenberg's most innovative piano works: the 3 Klavierstücke op.11, the first complete work to be written without a key-signature, and the Suite for piano, op. 25, the first in which he employed the 12-note method throughout. But these are not impenetrable mathematical experiments in cacophonous sound. Opus 11 is a passionate, sometimes angst-ridden emotional roller-coaster, often seen as prophetic of the 1st World War. Opus 25 is a quirky parody of the mannerisms of a Baroque keyboard suite, like the English and French Suites of Bach seen through a cubist prism.
Raymond Warren's 5 Bagatelles are early works, written in an idiom which owes much to the influence of Schoenberg, with echoes of Michael Tippett. They give a fascinating glimpse of the genesis of Warren's later style. They are by turns dramatic, quirky, passionate, declamatory and, finally, breathlessly calm.
James Patten achieves an incredibly powerful atmosphere of calm, motionless serenity in his five Nocturnes. I will be playing a selection of three, including the very long first Nocturne, written for Kathron Sturrock, and the third which incorporates haunting, extremely quiet harmonic effects.
My own 3 Studies are selected from a larger set of piano studies to which new pieces are still being added. The first two explore resonant impressionistic sonorities. The third is dramatic and virtuosic. Their titles refer to Paleolithic sites in the Dordogne region of France, and each piece is prefaced by a poem with the same title.
JL
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Thursday 25 May 2006
Composer Talk   -  Dr Geoffrey Poole

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Friday 5 May 2006, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Piano Recital

Peter Jacobs
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Tickets: £10 & £8

Richard Barnard: On Erin Shore
Ivor Gurney: Five Preludes
Steven Kings: Fingers Pointing
Jolyon Laycock: L'Abri Pataud
Jack Moeran: Stalham River
James Patten: Nocturnes 2 & 3
John Pitts: Aire & Fantasy
Geoffrey Self: Sonatina
David Simmonds: Ashleworth
Raymond Warren: Sonata 2



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Friday 28 April 2006, 7.30pm
Concert   -  SCA Composers/Performers

Bristol Music Club
76 St Paul's Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LP

Tickets: £7 & £5 : on the door, or from Providence Music Shop, St George's Rd.
BS1 5UL shop@providencemusic.co.uk  0117 927 6536

Geoffrey Self: Sonatina (clt. & piano)
Julian Dale: Double Bass Miniatures (recording mvmt 2)
John Pitts: Aire V
Jolyon Laycock: Font de Gaume (piano)
Nick Moor: 4 Blake Songs
John Pitts: Fun for Three (piano, soprano sax and hand) (recording previous perf. With oboe)
Frank Harvey: Flashbacks (piano)
Sulyen Caradon: Half-life (4 mixed players)
Sue Coppard: 3 Accordian Pieces (recording Musette Blues)

Played by those above, plus: Hannah Perrins (sop), Richard Carder (clt), Steven Kings (piano), Raymond Warren (vc)
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Wednesday 1 March 2006
Concert   -  Piano Recital

Peter Jacobs
Lunchtime concert at the Victoria Rooms 1.15pm

Frank Bridge: Miniature Pastorals (set 2)
Steven Kings: Fingers pointing to the Moon
Jolyon Laycock: L'Abri Pataud
Frank Bridge: Capriccio in A minor, Through the eaves, Gargoyle
Raymond Warren: Piano Sonata no. 2

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Thursday 23 February 2006 - 7.30pm
Composer Talk   -  Steven Kings

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Saturday 7 January 2006
Meeting   -  Committee

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Thursday 24 November 2005
Composer Talk   -  David Bedford

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Saturday 5 November 2005
Meeting   -  British Academy Regional Network

www.wmc.org.uk
Hosted by Composers of Wales and held in the Millennium Centre, Cardiff
during a NEW MUSIC DAY hosted by Composers of Wales in conjunction with spnm (the Society for the Promotion of New Music). followed by a concert of modern jazz works.
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Saturday 15 October 2005, 7.30pm
Concert   -  Song Recital

Clare Griffel (mezzo)
Philip Lancaster (baritone)
Steven Kings (piano)

Bristol Music Club, 76 St. Paul's Rd, Clifton.

Michael Tippett: Songs for Ariel
Julian Dale: parmi lesquels
Constant Lambert: Long-Departed Lover
Sulyen Caradon: Silver, Pine Forest, Winterfall
John Pitts: Was There E'er, The Pilgrim, When Most I Wink
William Alwyn: Nocturnes
Adrian Beaumont: The Pale Horizon
David Simmonds: Menolly, Cloths of Heaven
Frank Harvey: Fly, A Quoi Bon Dire, Beeny Cliff, Night
Alan Rawsthorne: Carol, Away, Delights
Raymond Warren: Drop, drop

Our thanks to the Paragon Concert Society for their continued financial support.
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Wednesday 28 September 2005
Meeting   -  Committee

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Tuesday 5 July 2005
Meeting   -  AGM at the Rummer Pub, Grand Parade, Bath

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Saturday 14 May 2005
Concert   -  2 Pianos

Steven Kings & Chris Northam
Bristol Music Club, 76 St. Paul's Rd, Clifton.

Martinu: Three Czech Dances
Lutoslavski: Paganini Variations
David Bedford: Hoquetus David
Robin Holloway: Gilded Goldbergs
Steven Kings: red land spring
Jolyon Laycock: Die! A1 Sparrow
John Pitts: Changes

recorded by Dunelm Records - CD available now.
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Saturday 14 May 2005
Meeting   -  British Academy Regional Network

Bristol Music Club, 76 St Pauls Rd, Clifton.
British Academy Regional Network of composer-groups around the country, to which we are affiliated. On the way to setting up our group, Sulyen Caradon has been to other groups meetings in Birmingham, Portsmouth and Brighton (see October report below). 2pm - a round-up of activities around the UK, followed by a tea-break. c.3pm to 5.30pm - conference on `Music in the Community' with three speakers: Raymond Warren on his operas for children Mark Bick from the Forest of Dean Music Makers David Bedford on his community projects
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Friday 15 April 2005
Composer Talk   -  Dr Adrian Beaumont

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Wednesday 23 February 2005
Concert   -  Severnside Composers’ Alliance Inaugural Piano Recital

by Peter Jacobs
Michael Tippett Centre, Bath Spa University College, Newton Park

Ivor Gurney: 10 Preludes
Richard Barnard: On Erin Shore
Sulyen Caradon: Dorian Dirge
Sue Coppard: Round and Around
Steven Kings: Fingers Pointing to the Moon
Jolyon Laycock: L’Abri Pataud
James Patten: Nocturnes 3 & 4
John Pitts: Aire 1, Fantasies 1 & 5
Geoffrey Self: Sonatina
Raymond Warren: Monody & Chaconne

recorded by Dunelm Records - CD available now.
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Wednesday 1 December 2004
Social   -  at PamPams in Clifton

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October 2004
Meeting   -  British Academy Regional Network

In Brighton, attended by members from Portsmouth, London and Wales. Patrick Harrex, the Chairman of Brighton New Music had organized a conference on funding for concerts with speakers from the Arts Council, PRS, and Local Authorities, with plenty of time for questions from the floor afterwards. In the evening there was an excellent concert with an instrumental line-up of violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, guitar & piano; all except 2 of whom were members of the BNM. The standard was exceptionally high and produced a most enjoyable concert, with members offering overnight b & b to travelers.
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Wednesday 29 September 2004
Composer Talk   -  Raymond Warren

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Monday 19 July 2004
Social   -  Rummer Pub, Grand Parade, Bath

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Saturday 15 May 2004
Meeting   -  

Meeting at Bristol Music Club to decide constitution, and talk from David Bedford about the PRS.
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Saturday 26 April 2003
Meeting   -  

The inaugural meeting of the proposed group at Bristol Music Club (76,St Paul's Road, Clifton)
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