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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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)
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
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
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
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
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)
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
Frank Harvey - 
