Roman River Festival 2011

1-9 October 2011

2011-06-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic festival, with full houses, wonderful appreciative audiences and stunning performances. Huge thanks to everyone; helpers, friends and supporters, funders and audience members, who made the whole thing possible.

Details of next year's festival.

We organised two new projects; a performance of Puccini’s La Boheme, working with Dominic Harlan (left) who for several years has been inspiring pupils at various local schools as part of Roman River’s music days programme, and a series of masterclasses given by the amazing musicians who came to play in the Festival.

We performed our family concert in three venues including for the first time Nayland, with three vibrant young string players and an expert animateur.

We heard four rising stars; the mezzo soprano Caryl Hughes, harpsichordist David Wright, cellist Adrian Brendel and clarinettist Matthew Hunt.

We welcomed Juliet Jopling’s exciting new quartet from Oslo the Engegard Quartet (above) and the established and popular pianist Ian Brown.

Spring sky by 2011 Festival Artist Jacqueline Taber

Adrian Brendel

It is not too late to become a member or supporter. All you need to do is add a minimum of £25 to your order. All seats are unreserved.

To become a supporter or join our free mailing list, please contact us using the link on the right.

Orlando Jopling

Artistic Director

Caryl Hughes

Roman River Festival funded by our friends and supporters and by

Grassroots Grants (funded by the Office of the Third Sector)

Fowler Smith & Jones Charitable Trusts

Colchester branch of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies

Colchester Arts Centre

Engegård Quartet

2011-06-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

You can hear the Engegård Quartet on Wednesday 5th October and Friday 7th October and listen to or have a masterclass with them on Thursday 6th October

Formed under the midnight sun in Lofoten in 2006, the Engegård Quartet rapidly became one of the most sought after ensembles in Norway, performing in Bergen Festival and Oslo Chamber Music Festival in their first season. With an internationally acclaimed debut CD under their belts in 2008, the Engegård Quartet tour Scandinavia regularly and perform throughout Europe.

The great quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Bartók are the Engegård Quartet’s core repertoire. With its’ Nordic background, it is natural for the Engegård Quartet to include Edward Grieg and Arne Norheim in its’ programmes. The Engegård Quartet’s encore repertoire has extended on occasion to fill whole concerts, including virtuosic and folk music, and more than a hint of Argentinian Tango. Guests with the Engegård Quartet have included Leif Ove Andsnes, Frans Helmerson and Nobuko Imai. The Engegård Quartet has released three CDs, and is working on two more.

Engegård Quartet website

Tim Horton

2011-06-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

You can hear Tim in recital with Matthew Hunt on Thursday 6th October and have a masterclass or coaching with him on Friday 7th October

Tim Horton's piano playing is a revelation - his total absorption in the music means he is never a prima donna, always the perfect chamber musician Shropshire Star

In 1995 Tim was asked at short notice to replace Alfred Brendel in two performances of Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the Royal Festival Hall, London. He has since performed with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

In 2005 Tim was chosen as the scholar of the Klavier Festival Ruhr at the recommendation of Alfred Brendel.

Tim has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival with the Elias Quartet and at the Bath Festival. Tim has collaborated with many chamber musicians including Paul Lewis, Peter Cropper, the Elias Quartet, the Vertavo Quartet, Christian Poltera, Charles Owen and the members of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio. He has a regular duo partnership with violist Robin Ireland. Their CD of Shostakovich and Prokofiev is due for release in 2010. In 2009 Tim gave concerts in Essen and Hannover as part of series devised by Alfred Brendel.

Future plans include performances at a Mendelssohn Festival in King’s Place, London with the Elias Quartet, concerts in Germany and tours of Britain with Ensemble 360, a return visit to the Vertavo Quartet’s festival in Elverum, Norway and a recording of the Brahms Viola Sonatas with Henninge Landaas.

Matthew Hunt

2011-06-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

You can hear Matthew in recital with Tim Horton on Thursday 6th October and listen to or have a masterclass with him on Wednesday 5th October.

He is also playing in the sold-out concert with the Engegard Quartet on Friday 7th October.

"An out-of-this-world clarinettist" Salzburg Festival 2009

Matthew is one of the solo clarinettists in the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie (the German Chamber Orchestra) and is a member of Ensemble 360.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Matthew has played at festivals and concert halls around the globe, including at Wigmore Hall, the Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Lichfield and Edinburgh festivals, at Ivry Gitlis’ Cassis Festival, the Charlottesville and Newhaven festivals in the United States and in Switzerland, France, Sweden, Finland, Romania, Italy, Japan, Germany, Greece, Spain and India.

His chamber music partners have included the Belcea, Elias, Arditti and Meta4 quartets, the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, Pekka Kuusisto, Lawrence Power, Natalie Clein, Emily Beynon, Thomas Adès and Konstantin Lifschitz. Matthew is a regular participant at IMS Prussia Cove, and was part of the group that was awarded the 2008 Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Music Award for a series of concerts given during the autumn of 2007.

As an orchestral musician, Matthew has appeared as a guest solo clarinetist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and many of Britain’s leading orchestras. Matthew has been involved in the recording of many film scores, and recorded the solo clarinet part for the films Love Actually and Pride and Prejudice.

Mozart Clarinet Quintet

2011-06-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Friday 7 October, 8pm St Mary the Virgin, Peldon

Howells Rhapsodic Quintet

Bartók String Quartet no. 5

Mozart Clarinet Quintet

Matthew Hunt clarinet Engegård Quartet

How does Mozart achieve such heaven with such apparently simple means? The question which all musicians return to time and time again. The clarinet quintet is one of the great pieces of the whole chamber music repertoire. An elegiac opening by one of our great choral composers, and dramatic and energised Bartók to contrast.

Armonico Consort

2011-06-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Opening concert, Saturday 1st October, Great Tey

SOLD OUT

Since its debut performance with Dame Emma Kirkby just ten years ago, the Armonico Consort has developed into one of the most sought-after professional choirs. They perform regularly at major festivals in the UK, with top orchestras including the RPO and The Philharmonia, and with Nicola Benedetti, Natalie Clein, James Bowman, Sir Willard White, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Crispian Steele-Perkins. They have just finished recording their third CD and next year will perform in France, China and the USA.

Christopher Monks

2011-06-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Armonico Consort

Saturday 1st October, Great Tey (sold out)

Christopher is a conductor & keyboard player, and founded Armonico Consortin 2001. Equally at home with early, classical and modern music, he is the driving force behind Armonico Consort’s success. Christopher has performed world premieres with internationally renowned musicians such as Evelyn Glennie and the fine arts brass ensemble and regularly performs with some of the country's finest musicians. He has conducted a range of high-profile orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia and the European Union Chamber Orchestra, in addition to Armonico Consort's own Orchestra of the Baroque. Among his many CDs, his recording of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen was recently awarded four stars by The Times.

Christopher was organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and studied conducting with David Hill whilst a organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral. As a keyboard player with the CBSO, including a performance of the Saint Saens 'Organ Symphony', he has worked with numerous internationally-renowned conductors.

Adrian Brendel

2011-06-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

You can hear Adrian at:

Engegård Quartet recital Wednesday 5th October and Chamber Recital Saturday 8th October

He is also playing Clarinet Quintets Friday 7th October and Solo Bach in Layer Breton both of which are sold out.

Adrian Brendel has quickly established himself as one of the leading cellists of his generation, performing extensively as a soloist and in chamber music throughout Europe, the US, and Japan. He has worked frequently with artists such as Imogen Cooper, Paul Lewis, Till Fellner, Lisa Batiashvili, Daniel Hope, Lawrence Power, Katharine Gowers and Tim Horton. His recent two year partnership with his father Alfred Brendel, performing all of Beethoven’s music for cello and piano at venues throughout the world was a huge public and critical success. They have also recorded these works for Philips, and their interpretation of the A major Sonata was the top recommendation on the BBC’s “Building a Library Programme”.

Recent concert highlights include recitals in Amsterdam, Lucerne, Florence, Frankfurt, Graz, Vienna, London, Paris, Madrid and Valencia, and concerto appearances with the Sinfonia Varsovia, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has also recorded for radio companies across Europe including BBC, ORF, NDR, WDR, Sudwestfunk and Deutschlandradio.

Adrian Brendel studied at Winchester College, Cambridge University and with Frans Helmerson at the Cologne music conservatoire. Other important teachers included Alexander Baillie, Miklos Perenyi and William Pleeth, with whom he developed a strong attachment to chamber music. He also attended masterclasses with the Alban Berg quartet and Gyorgy Kurtag. He was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious CMS2 young artist scheme from 2002-2004.

He is co-founder of Music at Plush, a summer music festival held every year in Dorset, Southwest England.

Atle Sponberg

2011-06-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

Atle is second violin of the Engegard Quartet. You can hear him in the Engegard Quartet recitals and in the chamber concert on Saturday 8th October.

BIOGRAPHY

As concertmaster of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Atle is one of the main figures in Norwegian musical life. He also directs projects with Scandinavian ensembles including the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Trondheim Soloists. Atle studied tango in Buenos Aires, and has his own band, La Fuente. Sponberg directs the Chamber Music in Kristiansand Church Music Festival.

Dominic Harlan

2011-06-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

Dominic will lead the La Boheme rehearsals and performance on 1st and 2nd October and the music day in Willowbrook School on Wednesday 5th.

Please have a look at Dominic's website.

Following studies at London's Royal Academy of Music, pianist, animateur, composer and presenter Dominic Harlan has performed throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, India, The Gulf and North America, recorded for Warner Sunset, Naxos, Avie and broadcast for TV and radio. In concert Dominic has appeared with international artists that include Alexander Baillie, Matthew Sharp, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Errolyn Wallen, Sophie Daneman, Sarah Gabriel and Narimichi Kawabata.

Dominic is one of the UK's leading music animateurs and is artistic director of Glyndebourne's 'Opera Experience' program and Operaland website, www.operaland.org. With his high-octane approach, musicality and powerful gift as a communicator, Dominic has devised and lead projects for English National Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, Netherlands Opera, Wigmore Hall, Deal Festival, Brighton Festival, in Europe and in the Middle East.

His work as musical director includes three critically acclaimed productions for Streetwise Opera: Canticles (dir: Bill Bankes-Jones, Westminster Abbey), Ceremony of Carols (dir:Kenneth Richardson, New College, Oxford) and Mahler's Ruckert Lieder (dir:Erica Whyman, The Council House,Nottingham), Ain't Misbehavin' - The Fats Waller Musical Show (dir:Brendan Murray, Oxford Touring Theatre Company) and his own arrangement of The Magic Flute(dir:Brendan Murray, Glyndebourne Education/Brighton Festival.)

Ian Brown

2011-06-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

You can hear Ian at the Chamber recital, Saturday 8th October, St Andrew's Church Fingringhoe

Ian Brown is a musician of great versatility whose career embraces chamber music, solo and duo playing and conducting. As concerto soloist he has appeared with many of Britain's leading orchestras playing a diverse solo repertoire from Bach to Rachmaninov and Bartók. Performances have taken him to the major European and Scandinavian countries, the Middle East, North and South America, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

As a duo partner he is in great demand and has worked with such legendary musicians as Mstislav Rostropovich, Henryk Szeryng, Ruggiero Ricci, Elisabeth Söderström, Felicity Lott, György Pauk, Ralph Kirshbaum and James Galway.

He became pianist with The Nash Ensemble in 1978 and during this long association has played at all the important British music festivals. He has taken part in their annual Wigmore Hall series, each of which has explored the musical styles of particular countries including France, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Russia, among others. He has also recorded extensively with them, performing a large chamber music repertoire from Haydn to the present day.

He has performed much contemporary music and his interest in this field has led him to commission new keyboard works. He was the soloist in Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques at the Proms and toured Germany with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in concerts celebrating Hans Werner Henze's sixtieth birthday.

Arvid Engegård

2011-06-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Engegård Quartet recital Wednesday 5th October

Clarinet Quintets Friday 7th October

Chamber Recital Saturday 8th October

Masterclasses

Born in Bodø, North Norway, Arvid Engegård is one of Norway’s most prominent young conductors and is the first violinist of the Engegård Quartet.

Following studies at Trondheim Conservatory and Eastman School of Music, Arvid moved to Salzburg to study with Sándor Végh. A year after his arrival, Arvid was invited by Végh to lead Camerata Academica, a position he kept for eight years. Highlights from this period include recording the complete Divertimentos by Mozart (including several violin solos most notably the Haffner Serenade) and the complete Piano Concertos by Mozart with András Schiff.

Arvid was the first violinist in the Orlando Quartet for several years, and has performed regularly in Europes most prestigious chamber music festivals including Lockenhaus, the Salzburg Festival, Musiktage Mondsee and Mozartwoche.

Engegård has developed a considerable career as a conductor. Orchestras he has worked with include the BBC Concert Orchestra, Ljubliana Philharmonic, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, Winterthur Symphony Orchestra and all the Norwegian orchestras including the Oslo Philharmonic. Arvid Engegård will be the featured Norwegian conductor for the Norwegian Radio Orchestra 2011-2012.

Together with Knut Kirkesæther, Arvid founded Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival in 2004, and is its Artistic Director.

Caryl Hughes

2011-06-15T02:44:00.000-07:00

You can hear Caryl sing Handel arias at 11.30am on Sunday 9th October at East Mersea

Caryl made her debut for Scottish Opera in 2007/08 as Cenerentola, and returned in 2009/10 to sing Varvara/Katya Kabanova. She has sung major roles for English Touring Opera, Iford Arts Festival, Welsh National Opera, the Young Vic Theatre and The Opera Group.

Her debut disc of Britten’s Cabaret Songs with Malcolm Martineau will be released this year having performed them at the 2009 Aix-en-Provence and Aldeburgh Festivals.

Caryl has sung at the Wigmore Hall and many other major concert venues in the UK, and she has also sung for HRH Prince of Wales at Cardiff Castle. She is a Britten-Pears and Samling scholar and was a finalist at the 2007 Kathleen Ferrier Awards.

Caryl graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in summer 2007, having studied with Noelle Barker and Audrey Hyland. She went on to receive an inaugural HRH Prince of Wales Scholarship to attend Cardiff International Academy of Voice, under the direction of Dennis O’Neill. Caryl was a finalist in the Welsh Singer’s Competition 2006 at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, and most recently won the 2009 Stuart Burrows International Voice Award.

Caryl's future projects include Grange Park & Bampton Opera and the world-premiere of Nicola LeFanu's Dream Hunter.

Juliet Jopling

2011-06-15T02:38:00.000-07:00

You can hear Juliet playing solo Bach on Sunday 2nd October (SOLD OUT), Bruch with Matthew Hunt on Thursday 6th October, and with the Engegård Quartet on Wednesday 5th and Friday 7th October

Juliet Jopling studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl, with Ferenc Rados at the International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove, and with David Takeno while reading Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge University. As a Scholar at the Royal College of Music, Juliet was awarded Honours in her Performing Diploma in 1990. During her studies, Juliet was supported with awards from the Martin Trust, the Craxton Memorial Trust, South East

Arts, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Ian Fleming Memorial Awards.

In 1992, the Martin Tr

ust awarded Juliet the Trevor Snoad Prize, and prizes from the 1997 and 2000 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition include the Karl Doktor Prize. Juliet was a Young Concert Artist 2000 for The National Federation of Music Societies, and has been invited to perform in the Countess of Munster’s Young Artist Recital Series and for Live Music Now!

Juliet has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Philharmonia with Jan Latham Koenig, the Brandenburg Philharmonia, and the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra. Solo and chamber music broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, and radio stations throughout Europe, include a live broadcast of Walton’s Viola Concerto for Classic FM.

A passionate chamber musician, Miss Jopling was a founding member the Sándor Végh Ensemble, which had a residency in Vienna’s Musikverein, and of the Quince Quartet. Juliet founded and directed Kerry’s International Chamber Music Festival from 1998 until 2010.

Since moving to Oslo in 2004, Juliet formed the Engegård Quartet with Arvid Engegård, Atle Sponberg and Jan-Erik Gustafsson, and is Principal Viola in the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.Miss Jopling has toured Norway with Nils Anders Mortensen, with whom she will record her first solo CD in 2011. Juliet plays on a Giuseppe Guadagnini from 1770.

Orlando Jopling

2011-06-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

Orlando Jopling is the Artistic Director of Roman River Music and can be heard on 2nd October playing Bach in Abberton (SOLD OUT), on 6th October playing a Brahms trio with Matthew Hunt and Tim Horton, and on 9th October accompanying Caryl Hughes singing Handel arias.

Orlando Jopling regularly conducts the English Chamber Orchestra both in the recording studio and on the concert platform, and has also conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, the Schönbrunn Orchestra in Vienna, and Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, as well as many amateur orchestras in the UK.

He is Musical Director of the 140-year-old Royal Orchestral Society in London with whom he has conducted Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's 9th Symphony. In St John's, Smith Square next season he will conduct the Sea Symphony, Mahler's 4th Symphony, The Planets, Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky and concertos with Piers Lane and Emma Johnson.

After graduating from the National Opera Studio in London where he won the first Leonard Hancock scholarship, Orlando Jopling co-founded the modern opera company Tête à Tête and conducted over a dozen commissioned operas and the modern world première of Vivaldi's lost opera Orlando finto pazzo as well as Die Fledermaus and other standard repertoire. He worked with Diego Masson on the three Mozart / Da Ponte operas at Dartington and went on to conduct Figaro for Savoy Opera, The Merry Widow for Carl Rosa, La Scala di Seta for Independent Opera, Albert Herring for British Youth Opera and Don Giovanni, Figaro and Idomeneo in Vienna with the Schönbrunn Orchestra. More recently he co-founded Stanley Hall Opera with Christopher Stewart-Smith and developed it into an established annual festival, conducting Falstaff, Così fan tutte, Figaro, Don Pasquale and Cenerentola. Among other repertoire he has conducted La Traviata, Don Carlos, Cav & Pag, The Pearlfishers, Paul Bunyan, A Streetcar named Desire and most recently Don Giovanni in Bahrain.

Orlando Jopling has assisted André Previn, Sir Colin Davis, Paul McGrath and Wyn Davies at some of the major UK opera companies including Scottish Opera. He has accompanied a wide range of soloists including Sinéad O'Connor and Martha Wainwright. His music for TV has been heard on all the major UK channels.

Orlando went to the Royal Grammar School in Colchester, read music at Trinity College Cambridge, and then studied conducting at the Royal Academy in London. He also studied cello with the legendary William Pleeth, Alexander Baillie and Raphael Wallfisch, and has recorded all six Bach suites for solo cello. In the last three years he has given over 70 recitals and occasional concerto performances.

Orlando's website

Hazel Gould

2011-06-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hazel is leading Perform La Bohème, the Opera in a weekend group at firstsite on 1st and 2nd October

Hazel Gould trained at Manchester University and the Central School of Speech and Drama. As a director she works extensively in education and outreach for Glyndebourne, ENO and Opera North amongst others. As an assistant director she has worked for Grange Park Opera, The Royal Opera House, Opera North, Glyndebourne on Tour and The Lincoln Center, New York.

She has written the libretti for several new operas. When I Am Old with Hannah Conway for Glyndebourne, We Are Shadows with John Barber for Spitalfields Festival and Tis death to break a frame with James Redwood for Sinfonia Viva all premiere this summer.

Masterclasses, coaching and open rehearsals

2011-06-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

This year, in collaboration with the Pimlott Foundation, we are offering the chance to have one-to-one tuition from some of the inspiring musicians playing at the festival.

The classes are open to anyone of grade 7 and above. There is no age limit and we would be delighted if a large age range was represented. We encourage you to bring pre-formed chamber groups to any of the sessions.

Open rehearsal 4-6pm Tuesday 4th October

Matthew Hunt and the Engegård quartet

Clarinet coaching 4-6pm Wednesday 5th October

Matthew Hunt

Chamber music coaching 4-6pm Thursday 6th October

Engegård quartet

Piano coaching 4-6pm Friday 7th Oct

Tim Horton

Old House Barn, Gt Horkesley CO6 4EQ

The coaching costs £10 per half an hour, and each 2-hour session or part of a session costs £5 to listen to. An accompanist will be provided as part of this fee.

Please contact Zelie Jopling on 01206 729 356 or by email (click on the link) if you would like to find out more. This is the first time we have offered this kind of event so please let us know what you would like to see.

St Mary the Virgin, Layer Breton

2011-06-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Layer Breton Heath

Layer Breton

CO2 0LZ

MAP

The church stands at the south west corner of Layer Breton Heath. Driving from Birch to Layer Breton you will find it on your left just before the Heath gives way to housing. There is a small car park on the south side of the church.

HISTORY

St Mary's was constructed by the village firm of Huttons and consecrated on 16th November 1923. Built in remembrance of James Round of Birch Hall (a local landowner and Privy Councillor) by his relations and friends. The sanctuary has fine oak panelling. The organ at the back of the church was built by students of Merton Technical College, Wimbledon, and installed in March 1996.

Layer Breton Heath is a good place for a short walk. The Heath is well looked after by a management committee and a hard working local group of Conservation Volunteers.

2011 Festival Artist

2011-06-12T03:26:00.000-07:00

Every year a local artist generously donates an image for us to use in the Festival publicity. This year we are very grateful to Jacqueline Taber for her beautiful paintings. Please have a look at her website.

Brief biography

Jacqueline Taber was born in 1946. She studied art in Paris for one year and restoration for five years at the Gabinetto del Restauro at the Uffizi, Florence. At the same time she also attended the Studio of Signorina Simi.

Jacqueline's website

Vanitas by Jacqueline Taber

Clara Biss

2011-06-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

You can hear Clara in the Family Concerts on Saturday 8th October

Clara enjoysa busy and varied career, playing both the violin and viola, and performing as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and teacher.

Having spent four years as a member of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, she is now much in demand as a guest principal 2nd violin in various British orchestras. She is a member of The Britten Sinfonia, and freelances with orchestras such as with The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, ENO and ECO.

As a chamber musician, Clara plays with Endymion, and has recently co-founded The Manus Ensemble. She has been a guest of The Dante Quartet, Primrose Piano Quartet and Touchwood Ensemble. Clara has played Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove, as well as at festivals such as Cheltenham and Winchester. Upcoming projects include concerts at Kings Place, and a complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Trios in Brighton, as a well as an education project in India in 2011.

Aside from playing, Clara enjoys teaching violin and viola to the Choristers of Westminster Abbey, as well as tutoring on music courses including ‘Cadenza’ and ‘The Vacation Chamber Orchestra’, and has been involved in many education and community projects.

St Andrew's Church, Abberton

2011-06-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

Rectory Lane

Abberton

CO5 7NJ

MAP

A beautiful, intimate, atmospheric church in a great setting with a fantastic view over the Abberton Reservoir.

Capacity 60.

Need lunch? The Langenhoe Lion is a few minutes drive away.

A free house serving local ales and seasonal food.

12-2.30pm 01206 735 263 Mersea Road Colchester CO5 7LF

The Fat Goose, Tendring, is worth a detour. Fantastic food 5 miles the other side of the Colne valley.

St Barnabas, Great Tey

2011-06-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

The Street

Great Tey

Essex

CO6 1JS

MAP

St Barnabas is a few hundred yards from the source of the Roman River, after which our festival is named. It is a stunning church in the middle of the beautiful village green, surrounded by picture-postcard cottages.

Capacity: 80 seated in the nave and 50 restricted view in the impressive gallery.

Where to eat: The Chequers Pub, just a few yards from the church, is open from 12 - midnight on Saturdays.

DESCRIPTION / HISTORY

The wonderful 18ft square Norman tower is one of the finest examples in the country. Close inspection will show just how much Roman bricks were re-used from Colchester and in a most decorative way. The tower alone enabled Pevsner to describe the building as “one of the proudest pieces of Norman architecture in the county”.

The chancel dates from before 1320. There are two fifteenth century benches with traceried panels in the crossing, and a chest on wheels nearby, unique in Essex and considered to be Flemish, Dutch or German and sixteenth or seventeenth century in date.

Jazz and supper

2011-06-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday 9th October

6pm Abberton and Langenhoe Village Hall

The Swinging Garçons

Jamie Metcalfe fiddle Steven Knight guitar, vocals and saxophone

Andy Metcalfe guitar and vocals Olly Blanchflower bass

The Swinging Garçons was formed late in 2010 out of a mutual love of Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club, the toast of the jazz world in the 1930s. Somehow, when they actually started playing together it all got mixed up in a jazz hot-pot, including not only 30s swing, but 50s cool jazz, Argentinian tea-dance music... and what we loosely call 'latin'... though not as the Romans knew it.

With a delicious two-course dinner by Jessica Cottrell.

£25 / £15

St Edmund King and Martyr, East Mersea

2010-07-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

Church Lane, East Mersea, CO5 8T

MAP

A wonderfully light and airy church, warm and welcoming, where Ruth and Martin Dence and their team prepare the most delicious eats after the concert.

East Mersea Parish church, dedicated to St Edmund, was where the Rev. Sabine Baring Gould (author of hymns including 'Onward Christian Soldiers' and 'Now the day is over' as well as 'Mehalah' a local story of violence and tragedy) was Rector from 1870-1881.

St. Edmunds church is built of local flint and is situated in Church Lane. It is 600 years old and it took 200 years to build. During the Catholic period a tower was built with 5 bells but now only one remains. The door to the tower is unusual in having three locks. It is thought locally that it was used for smuggling in the 17th century as the three keys were held by different people. The family box-pews have been replaced by chairs made by a local craftsman which can seat up to 80 people.

Administrative assistant

2010-07-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

We are looking for an administrative assistant to help Festival Director Zelie Jopling in the run-up to this year's Festival.

The job will entail 4 hours per week from w/c 8 August 2011 for 11 weeks, paid at £10 per hour. There may be extra hours needed during the festival week.

Knowledge of normal mac and microsoft applications is essential. There is no public transport to the festival office which is in the home of the Festival Director.

Please apply with a CV and covering letter to Zelie Jopling zelie@romanrivermusic.org.uk. We are sorry that we might not be able to respond to all applications. Please include a telephone number.

MUSIC DAY

2010-07-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

6 October 9am - 3.30pm

Dominic Harlan Workshop leader

Sarah Gabriel Soprano

Our music days involve a class of pupils in a day of songwriting, singing and drama. We regularly go into local primary schools, particularly those in areas of regeneration. The whole school attends the performance at the end of the day so that as many as possible can benefit from the experience.

Roman River Music is able to run this outreach project through the generosity of our supporters.

Any schools wishing to take part should please contact us.

Firstsite art gallery

2010-07-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

High Street
Colchester
Essex CO1 1UE

Abberton and Langenhoe Village Hall

2010-07-27T03:42:00.000-07:00

Edwards Marks Drive, Colchester, CO5 7LP

Nayland Village Hall

2010-07-27T03:39:00.000-07:00

Nayland, CO6 4JH

St Mary's, Peldon

2010-07-27T03:32:00.000-07:00

St Mary's Church, Church Road, Peldon CO5 7PT

Where to eat: The Peldon Rose 01206 735 248 which serves food from 6.30pm.

A light and airy church with good heating and comfortable modern seating which we arrange in a semicircle round the performers.

St Mary's has a wonderful acoustic for chamber music and a stunning hammerbeam roof.

The current church dates back to the 11th century, the nave being 12th century, the tower 14th century and the roof and clerestory dating from the 16th century.

St Andrew's Church, Fingringhoe

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St Andrew's Church

Fingringhoe

CO5 7BN

MAP

The church is around 5 miles / 15 minutes by car south of Colchester.

Where to eat: The Whalebone 01206 729 307, just opposite the church.

Open from midday at weekends. Food served 6.30-9.30pm, so you can eat before the 8pm concert during the week, and after the weekend 6pm concerts. Closed Sunday evenings.

DESCRIPTION OF CHURCH

Roman River Festival's home church, where the first concert took place. A beautiful, light space with whitewashed walls, the original stone floor and chairs instead of pews.

The most important aspect of the church from Roman River's point of view is the perfect acoustics for chamber music and recitals, but the modern heating system, space in the side aisle, room for a grand piano and easy parking along the road just outside the church also help make St Andrew's one of our favourite festival venues.

The church dates back to the 12th century and the evocative remains of medieval murals can be seen on many walls.

Layer Marney

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Layer Marney Church is tucked away behind the magnificent Layer Marney Towers. It seats 160 and has a generous space in the north aisle where our hosts offer refreshments during the interval.

CO5 9US

MAP showing the church and the pub where you could eat dinner.

From the B1022 road follow the brown signs to Layer Marney Tower. Continue along the road, past the entrance to the Tower. At the end of this road turn right and drive along the track to the church. From this track you will see a splendid view of the Tower on your right. There is space to park in front of the church.

WHERE TO EAT

The Hare and Hounds, Layer Breton, CO2 0PN

01206 330 459 Open from 6pm.

5-7 minutes by car from the church

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

The ancient and beautiful church of St Mary the Virgin is next door to the famous historic house of Layer Marney Tower. The church was rebuilt by Henry, 1st Lord Marney and John 2nd Lord Marney at the beginning of the 16th century, and left unfinished on the death of the 2nd and last Lord Marney. Their wills made provision for the church to be finished. Restorations were carried out in 1870 and 1911.

The church, all in the Perpendicular style, is built of Tudor brick (reputed to have been made locally). It has a west tower. On the north wall of the nave is a mural of St Christopher, dating from c.1520, which was uncovered in 1870. Also in the church are the tombs of the 1st Lord Marney who died in 1523, and his son John, 2nd Lord Marney, who died in 1525. A further item of interest is a five hundred year old iron-bound chest, given to the church by Lord Henry Marney or willed to it by his son.

MAP

Festival overview

2009-09-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

OPERA IN A WEEKEND

Firstsite, Colchester

With Dominic Harlan & Hazel Gould

Sat 1 October Coffee 9.30 Rehearse 10am - 4pm

Sun 2 October Rehearse 10am – 4pm Perf 5pm

Your chance to create a version of La Bohème from scratch in just two days with Dominic and Hazel, two of the country’s finest and most experienced workshop leaders. All ages are welcome. The emphasis will be on fun and the beautiful music of La Bohème, one of the most popular operas. All ages welcome. Places are limited to 45. There is more information and an application form on the website.

£75 / £35 for two days workshops, coaching, rehearsals and performance

MASTERCLASSES and OPEN REHEARSALS in collaboration with the Pimlott Foundation

4-6pm Old House Barn, Gt Horkesley CO6 4EQ

Tues 4 Oct Open rehearsal Hunt / Engegård

Weds 5 Oct Clarinet coaching, Matthew Hunt

Thurs 6 Oct Chamber music coaching, Engegårds

Fri 7 Oct Piano coaching, Tim Horton

Please contact us on 01206 729 356 or info@romanrivermusic.org.uk if you would like to take part.

ALLEGRI MISERERE and other choral masterpieces

Sat 1 October, 6pm St Barnabas’ Church, Great Tey

Allegri Miserere Mei and works by Purcell, Tallis, Victoria, Barber, Tavener and Byrd.

Armonico Consort Christopher Monks, Director

Great choral music from the last 800 years. Described as a “programme of unending delight” by Gramophone Magazine. A stunning choir in a beautiful church.

***** The Independent

£22.50 / £12.50 restricted view / £7.50 SOLD OUT

SOLO BACH IN ABBERTON

Sun 2 October, 11.30am St Andrew’s Church, Abberton

Chaconne from Violin Partita no. 2, and Suite no. 6 in D major for solo cello

Two of Bach’s great virtuoso solo works, in our most intimate and atmospheric church.

Juliet Jopling viola Orlando Jopling cello

£7.50 SOLD OUT

PUCCINI LA BOHÈME

Sun 2 October, 5pm Firstsite, Colchester

Opera in a Weekend group

Director Hazel Gould MD Dominic Harlan

An informal performance of La Bohème with piano created over a weekend by 45 intrepid singers and two of the country’s most experienced animateurs. £10/£5

ENGEGÅRD QUARTET

Wed 5 October, 8pm St Mary, Layer Marney

Beethoven String Quartet in F minor Op. 95

Maja Ratkje Between Beethoven UK première

Grieg String Quartet in G minor

Arvid Engegård & Atle Sponberg violins

Juliet Jopling viola Adrian Brendel 'cello

The UK debut of the Engegård Quartet, Norway’s most exciting new chamber group, featuring Roman River’s first artistic director. The playing is breathtaking … I am already looking forward to hearing it again. (The Strad)

£17.50 / £7.50

CLARINET CHAMBER MUSIC

Thur 6 October, 8pm St Andrew’s, Fingringhoe

Matthew Hunt clarinet Tim Horton piano Juliet Jopling viola Orlando Jopling cello

Works by Mozart, Brahms, and Debussy

Matthew is solo clarinet with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. He gained fantastic reviews recently for his debut at the world’s foremost festival in Salzburg. An out-of-this-world clarinettist. Salzburg Festival review 2009

£17.50 / £7.50

MOZART’S CLARINET QUINTET

Fri 7 October, 8pm St Mary, Peldon

Howells Rhapsodic Quintet Bartók String Quartet no. 5 & Mozart Clarinet Quintet

Matthew Hunt clarinet Engegård Quartet

An elegiac opening by one of our great choral composers, a dramatic and energised quartet by Bartók, and Mozart’s clarinet quintet, one of the great pieces of the chamber music repertoire.

£17.50 / £7.50

FAMILY CONCERTS

Sat 8 October

11.30am Nayland Village Hall

2pm Greenstead Community Centre

4pm Abberton & Langenhoe Village Hall

Clara Biss violin Ian Rathbone viola Matthew Forbes cello

Nigel Hildreth animateur

A new and specially devised programme with three of the most fun and brilliant string players we could lay our hands on! For any age, but especially fun for 5-12 year olds.

£5 adults, £2.50 children

BACH TWO

Sat 8 October 11.30am St Mary, Layer Breton

Bach Suites for cello no. 2 (D minor) and 3 (C major)

Adrian Brendel 'cello

A rising star among cellists plays his favourite Suites.

£7.50 SOLD OUT

CLASSICAL RECITAL

Sat 8 October, 8pm St Andrew's Church, Fingringhoe

Beethoven Violin Sonata Ravel Piano trio

Arvid Engegård & Atle Sponberg violins

Adrian Brendel cello Ian Brown piano

Members of the Engegård Quartet are joined by one of our leading and best-loved musicians, founder member of the Nash Ensemble Ian Brown.

£17.50 / £7.50

HANDEL ARIAS AT EAST MERSEA

Sun 9 October, 11.30am St Edmund, East Mersea

Caryl Hughes mezzo-soprano

Orlando Jopling cello continuo

Some of Handel’s most ravishing arias and some rare gems, sung by a young mezzo with a beautiful voice.

£12.50/£7.50

JAZZ EVENING WITH SUPPER

Sun 10 October, 6pm Abberton Village Hall

Andy Metcalf

Irresistable Django Reinhardt-style dance rhythms and songs from Andy and his band.

£25 including supper by Jessica Cottrell

Ian Rathbone

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You can hear Ian in the family concerts on 8th October

Ian Rathbone is a busy member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. His ensemble and orchestral credits elsewhere include playing with Keith Tippet’s jazz quartet, Mujician and for the recent West End stage production of Oliver!. He has recorded with Rufus Wainwright, Gary Williams and on the original London cast recordings of the musicals The Woman in White and The Lord of the Rings.

Matthew Forbes

2009-09-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

You can hear Matthew in the family concerts on 8th October

Matthew Forbes graduated in 2000 from the Royal Academy of Music with first class honours. He has played with, among others, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras, the Birmingham Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the Britten Sinfonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of ENO (Death in Venice, La Bohème, On the Town) and the Royal Opera House (Tristan und Isolde, Giselle, Swan Lake and Mayerling). His extensive teaching experience includes working as course director and cello teacher/conductor with Oxford Cello School since 1999 and leading improvisation, composition, songwriting, African drumming and world percussion workshop programmes for the Music Workshop Company.

He is a versatile musician: he has been involved as guitarist, mandolin player and caller in the “Ceilidh for Kids” project, teaching traditional music and dances to schoolchildren. Other experience includes regular appearances as a jazz pianist, with folk bands Och Aye, Footloose and Crewneck and as guitarist and mandolin player for Irish duo Eirann.

Nigel Hildreth MBE

2009-09-25T03:18:00.000-07:00

Nigel Hildreth is presenting our family concerts on 8th October.

Nigel studied at the University of Sheffield and has taught music in Essex for over 30 years. He started teaching at Colchester’s Sixth Form College in 1987 and is now Head of Performing Arts. He is Musical Director of Colne Valley Youth Orchestra which he founded in 1981. He is a governor at the Gilberd School in Colchester, and is on the board of trustees for the Royal Academy of Dance. He is also known also for his compositions, including three symphonies, two concertos, as well as numerous chamber pieces. He was recently awarded the MBE for services to education.

Caryl Hughes

2009-09-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Caryl graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in summer 2007, having studied with Noelle Barker and Audrey Hyland. She also holds a BA (Hons) in Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. She went on to receive an inaugural HRH Prince of Wales Scholarship for Advanced Study in Music to attend Cardiff International Academy of Voice, under the direction of Dennis O’Neill.

Awards whilst a student include the coveted W.Towyn Roberts scholarship (National Eisteddfod of Wales, 2005), runner-up in the Opera Rara Patric Schmid Bel Canto Prize 2007 and the S4C scholarship for developing talent. She also won the 2006 Morriston Orpheus Young Singer of the Year award and was a finalist in the Welsh Singer’s Competition 2006 at St David’s Hall, Cardiff. Most recently, she won the 2009 Stuart Burrows International Voice Award.

Caryl made her debut for Scottish Opera in 2007/08 as Cenerentola. She returned in 2009/10 to sing Varvara/Katya Kabanova. In 2008, she sang Teti/Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo for Welsh National Opera, under the baton of Carlo Rizzi. Other performances have included concerts and recitals at The Sage Gateshead, Cadogan Hall, Wales Millennium Centre and the Wigmore Hall, where she was a finalist at the 2007 Kathleen Ferrier Awards.

Operatic roles include First Nymph/Rusalka for Grange Park Opera, Orlovsky/Die Fledermaus for Welsh National Opera, Rita Rat/Fantastic Mr Fox for English Touring Opera, Cenerentola for Iford Arts Festival, Sonya/Sonya's Story for the tete-a-tete Festival, Cherubino/Le nozze di Figaro(cover) and Dorabella/Cosi Fan Tutte(cover) for Scottish Opera, Carmen for Opra Cymru, Rosina/The Barber of Seville for Armonico Consort, Irene/Tamerlano for Opera by Definition, Sifare/Mitridate (cover) for Welsh National Opera, Yniold/Pelléas et Mélisande for Independent Opera, Flora (world première of Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig) for the Young Vic Theatre and The Opera Group, Female Chorus/The Rape of Lucretia, Little Moon/A Night at the Chinese Opera and Eustazio/Rinaldo, all for RAO.

On the concert platform, engagements have included Handel Israel in Egypt, Bruckner Requiem, Pergolesi Stabat Mater, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Sollennelle, Vivaldi Gloria, Mozart Requiem and Haydn’s Missa Brevis and Nelson Mass, and she has also sung for HRH Prince of Wales at Cardiff Castle. She is both a Britten-Pears and Samling scholar. In 2010 Caryl appeared as a Young Artist at the Azuriales Festival in Cap Ferrat, France, and was a finalist in the Ozone Young Artists' Competition.

This summer, Caryl performed in recital with Bryn Terfel at Grange Park Opera and with Sir Thomas Allen at the Three Choirs Festival, Worcester. Currently, she plays the role of Madama Brillante for Bampton Opera's The Italian Girl in London, which will tour to Buxton Festival and St John's Smith Square. Future plans include the world-premiere of Nicola LeFanu's Dream Hunter. Her debut disc of Britten’s Cabaret Songs with Malcolm Martineau has recently been released, having performed them at the 2009 Aix-en-Provence and Aldeburgh Festivals.

Perform La Bohème

2009-09-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

With Dominic Harlan & Hazel Gould

Saturday 1st October

coffee 9.30 for 10am - 4pm rehearse

Sunday 2nd October

10am – 4pm rehearse, 5pm performance

Firstsite, Colchester

Would you like to sing Puccini’s La Bohème under the guidance of a musical director and a stage director? Do you think it is possible to create a performance from scratch in just two days?

Our two project leaders Dominic Harlan and Hazel Gould think so, and they would like to invite you to join them to create your own version of this beautiful and powerful opera, and perform it with Dom accompanying on the piano, at the end of the weekend.

All ages and experience welcome. You do not have to be an opera standard singer. Dom and Hazel are very experienced at working in many different contexts and the emphasis will be on having fun creating something together, and the beautiful music of La Bohème. You can do as little or as much as you like, but the more you put in the more you will get out. There are no professional soloists so you will not be stuck at the back of the chorus.

This is one of the first events planned to happen in the amazing architecture of the gallery firstsite in Colchester.

How to sign up

The cost is £75 (£35 if you are 25 or under) for two full days workshop / rehearsals and performance. We will provide plentiful supplies of tea, coffee and biscuits etc, and a good lunch can be had at firstsite and of course at many cafes and restaurants in the area. Places are limited to 45 participants. There will be a form to fill in, but meanwhile please register your interest by emailing Zélie the festival director.

TO BOOK TICKETS TO THE PERFORMANCE PLEASE CLICK HERE

2 Oct La Boheme

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PUCCINI’S LA BOHÈME

In a new version by all the participants

Sunday 2nd October, 5pm Firstsite art gallery, Colchester

Members of the ‘opera in a weekend’ group

Director Hazel Gould Musical Director Dominic Harlan

An informal performance of La Bohème created over one weekend with intrepid opera ingénues together with two of the country’s most experienced opera professionals. With piano accompaniment.

£10 / £5

Book tickets

David Wright

2009-09-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

You can hear David in arias by Handel in East Mersea Church at 11.30am on Sunday 9th October.

Born in Bethnal Green in the East End of London in 1985, David Wright received no musical training as a child. His interest in music began after the death of his father, when he was nine, through subsequent involvement in the local church. It was there that he discovered the piano and organ and taught himself to play ‘by ear’, nurturing a love of the music of Bach and Mozart. At the age of sixteen he had his first piano lesson and learned to read music, later going on to study harpsichord at Trinity College of Music, where he won the Ella Kidney prize for early music, and graduated with honours.

David later graduated with distinction from the Royal College of Music in 2003, where for two consecutive years he won the Richard the Third and Century Fund Prizes. In 2003 he also won first prize in the prestigious Broadwood Harpsichord Competition, an international event held at London’s Fenton House, where he became artist in residence. As a soloist and accompanist David works regularly with some of the world’s leading ensembles and musicians. He has directed concerts from the harpsichord including the first modern performance of Thomas Arne’s ballad opera The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green. David is engaged regularly among the artists at Dartington International Summer School, and as repetitieur with English Touring Opera and the English Bach Festival. David’s radio and television broadcasts include performances as a finalist in the York Early Music Competition, solos at the Handel House Museum in London (both for BBC Radio3), and more recently a recital as part of the Belfast Music Festival, broadcast on BBC Northern Ireland. Just recently, David was assistant musical director to Jean-Claude Malgoire in a production of Rameau’s Platée at the Megaron in Athens with the English Bach Festival, with whom he will be performing Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in the New Year.