Unfortunately our final concert of the season in April, had to be postponed because of the impending coronavirus pandemic. We had hoped to welcome Laura van der Heijden and Katya Apekisheva. We are currently renegotiating a date for their visit to us.
A unique concert in the society’s 70 year history occured with our concert in March. This was the first occasion on which we had the combination of recorder and theorbo to entertain us. What a delight it was to hear the wonderful playing of Tabea Debus on the recorder and Alex McCartnety with his theorbo. Our enthusiastic audience were enchanted by their playing, impressed by their knowledge of their instruments and thoroughly enjoyed the music they performed. You can find a review and photos of the concert here
Our concert in February saw our highest audience numbers this season when over 230 people welcomed the Kanneh-Mason Ensemble to Scunthorpe. Five siblings from this musically talented family enthralled us with their playing. Braimah, Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and ten-year old Mariatu charmed the audience with their musicality and impressed everyone how they were so supportive and encouraging of each other. A real treat for those who came! The concert review, a selection of audience comments and photos from the concert can be found here
January brought a welcome return from pianist, Martin James Bartlett, who had opened our 2017 – 18 season. Martin was the winner of the BBC Young Musician Award in 2014. Once again, Martin wowed the audience with his musicality, offering a much appreciated, wide raging programme from Bach to Scriabin to Gershwin. Martin was engaging in providing additional insight into the pieces he played and was rewarded with a standing ovation following a short encore. A detailed review, photos and audience comments from the concert can be found here
December was our ‘Countess of Munster’ concert. As usual we were not disappointed with our choice of artist. Daniel Shao, a category finalist in the BBC Young Music of the Year Award in 2014, captivated the audience with his flute playing. He was accompanied superbly by pianist, Jospeh Havlat, who also provided us with a sensitive rendering of Debussy’s Étude no.10, pour les sonorités opposées. It was a priviledge to hear such a compelling performance from these two extremely talented young musicians. Further details of the concert can be found here
Our second concert in November was well received. It was good to provide local musicians with opportunity to perform in Scunthorpe when we welcomed Clare Wheat with the Meiningen Ensemble. The audience appreciated oportunity to hear a vocalist as Clare sang Thomas Dunhill’s Song Cycle. This was a ‘world premiere’ performance as the whole cycle was heard in a new arrangement by Jonathan Gooing for soprano and piano quartet. Details of this concert can be found here
What a start to our 70th anniversary season! At our opening concert in October, the large audience were thrilled and amazed by the viruosity and skill of the current holder of the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Lauren Zhang. Such an accomplished and composed pianist, Lauren gave a wonderful performance which gave no indication of her young age. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, leaving on-lookers spell-bound and breathless. A review of the concert, photos and audience comments can be found here
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) this year was held on Friday 27th September 2019. As this marked the start of our 70th anniversary season, we were delighted to accept an offer from our President’s offer to provide some special entertainment. This took the format of “A Presidential Reflection”: our President, Professor Brian Newbould, explaining how music speaks to us. His fascinating talk was illustrated by music illustrations, live and recorded, plus two solo spots by his wife and daughter. This entertaining, and at times light-hearted, reflections was a perfect start to our special year. The AGM followed: as well as hearing an overview of the previous year and details of our financial affairs, we said ‘thank you’ and farewell to three long-standing members of the committee, Elaine Harrison who had been a committee member for 28 years, Ann Speed and Margaret Stokes. We also said goodbye and ‘good luck’ to our young associate committee member, Abigail Jenkins, who we were delighted to report had taken up a place at the Royal Northern College of Music. We wish her well in her studies and her future career.