Welcome                                     

Cockermouth Music Society is in its fifteenth, very active season. No two ways about it, this will be a great season! Not only have we brought back many of your favourite musicians - Chiao Ying Chang, the wonderful Taiwanese pianist, the fabulous Endellion Quartet, and the charming and talented Fujita Trio, but we also have another great orchestral concert (this time it’s the Northern Chamber Orchestra) with Nicholas Ward who directed the City of London Sinfonia for us two years ago and another favourite, the young violinist Jennifer Pike who made such an impression last time she played in Cockermouth. Our cello concert features a world première, of a piece commissioned by the Society from composer Philip Wood, and we also have “new” concerts, The Fibonacci Sequence, playing wind and piano music, led by pianist Kathron Sturrock, and the Frith Piano Quartet with their pianist Benjamin Frith and some of the great piano quartet repertoire. Junior and Members’ Concerts are certain to repeat the success of this year’s offerings and a workshop in a local school, led by Philip Wood, has been set up with support from Cockermouth Neighbourhood Forum  So this is a great mixture of the old and the new with lots of stunning programmes of music for us all to enjoy.  

This exciting season, funded by Arts Council England, also benefits from generous sponsorship from Orchestras Live, Northern Rock Foundation, Allerdale Borough Council, Cockermouth Neighbourhood Forum, Cumberland Building Society, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and many Society members who have so kindly donated over the years and helped to keep the Society afloat. In spite of all the Arts cuts (threatened or actual) the future of the Society looks bright and all will be well, provided you all turn out to our concerts as often as you possibly can, to enjoy the wonderful music being offered.

If you are lucky enough to live in the Lake District or are one of the millions of visitors, why not take some time out to relax at one of our concerts, meet other music enthusiasts and enjoy the talents of UK and international musicians? 

For more information about our concert dates and how to find us, read on below or contact the Hon Secretary, Mrs Susan Allison at cmusoc@btopenworld.com

Next Concert                            

 Tuesday, 9 December 2008. 7.30pm  United Reformed Church, Cockermouth.

The Fibonacci Sequence

Kathron Sturrock (piano)

Christopher O'Neal (oboe)    Nicholas Korth (horn)

Julian Farrell (clarinet)    Richard Skinner (bassoon)

Admission: £9 (Members); £12 (Non-Members)

Accompanied children Free

Tickets (from first Monday of the month): Billy Bowmans Music Shop, Lowther Went, Cockermouth (personal callers only) or Hon. Sec. Tel: 016973 71397

Programme 2007-2008 season

Concert reviews

CHIAO-YING CHANG

REPORT ON CONCERT FOR COCKERMOUTH MUSIC SOCIETY SEP 30^TH 2008

Taiwan’s loss was Cockermouth’s gain, when top Taiwanese pianist Chiao-Ying Chang returned for a recital for Cockermouth Music Society. A newly commissioned work by Taiwanese composer Mei-Fang Lin should have had its premiere in Taiwan three weeks ago, but a typhoon intervened and led to the cancellation of the concert. So the audience in Cockermouth responded with spontaneous applause to the news that they had a premiere on their hands. The new work, "Mistress of the Labyrinth" is based on Cretan mythology, the music being the labyrinth and the pianist the goddess who leads the audience through the unveiling of the secret paths of the labyrinth. It proved to be a piece of arresting vitality and technical virtuosity and was played with the great mastery one has come to expect from this wonderful soloist.

Chiao Ying opened the recital with a beautifully executed performance of Haydn’s Sonata in E minor, every nuance fully under control and every phrase of sparkling clarity. Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin, a tribute to eighteenth century music in six movements, was delivered with a fine understanding of the many contrasts involved within a satisfying whole. The second half of the recital was devoted to Schubert’s great posthumous work, the B flat Sonata (D960). Chiao-Ying brought to the first movement that underlying serenity inherent in the music, the second movement had grace, control and assurance, the scherzo fizzed with excitement and the finale had great vigour with all the contrasting moods displayed to their fullest extent. Richly deserved applause brought an encore in the shape of a movement from another Schubert Sonata (A major) which was a charming end to an outstanding concert.

FRITH PIANO QUARTET

ANOTHER WONDERFUL EVENING

Cockermouth Music Society has never had a piano quartet concert before, so the concert by the Frith Quartet was eagerly awaited and lived up to all expectations.

The formal precision required of a baroque composition gave a certain constraint to Mozart’s Quartet in E flat, dominated as his chamber music often is by the piano, here in the more than capable hands of an outstanding pianist, Ben Frith, who led the string players with great artistry. But it was in the second piece, Walton’s Piano Quartet, that the concert seemed to burst into fantastic life, with all the players equally determined and able to give it a quite wonderful performance. The fireworks from the pianist in the first movement were matched in spades by Robert Heard (violin), Louise Williams (viola) and Richard Jenkinson (cello), excitement being intense yet controlled. The slow movement that followed could only have been written by a British composer. It had all the sylvan tranquillity one associates with green English glades and cornfields shimmering in golden sunshine. All the string players excelled here- pure beauty from Robert Heard, mellow warmth from Louise Williams and gorgeous depth from Richard Jenkinson. Great rhythmic urgency and building intensity in the final movement brought to an end a truly great performance from all players which put Walton in quite a new light for at least this listener.

Schumann’s great E flat Quartet was again a tour de force, the first movement, with a touch of Beethoven-like majesty, being given a spanking pace but with clarity maintained throughout. The Scherzo has Mendelssohnian fairy overtones and fairly fizzes with vigour, contrasting well with the succeeding Andante which was played with a finely judged cantabile. The Finale was pure Schumann, fast, exciting and tuneful. An encore from a Weber quartet was a charming end to an outstanding concert.

Susan Allison

NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA WITH JENNIFER PIKE (violin)

It was a case of third time unlucky for violinist Jennifer Pike, when a member of the audience collapsed during her performance of Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto with the Northern Chamber Orchestra for Cockermouth Music Society. And it has happened to her twice before elsewhere! But Jennifer has the performer’s true grit and she powered her way through, appearing quite unfazed by the disturbance at the back of the hall during the first movement. This was an interpretation of quite exceptional beauty and sensitivity, particularly in the slow movement which was exquisite. In addition to Jennifer’s wonderful playing the audience were treated to a bravura performance from the Northern Chamber Orchestra, directed by Nicholas Ward, all of whom seemed to be on top form. Beginning with a charming rendition of a Mozart overture, La Finta Semplice, the orchestra continued with Shostakovitch, Prelude and Scherzo Op.11, an early work but with all the hallmarks of the composer’s later style well in evidence. Expecting, and even resigned to, the prospect of some dissonance, we were instantly gripped by a poignant and expressive slow movement, followed by furious excitement in the Scherzo, and yet the fireworks were all well blended and tightly controlled . Sibelius’ Suite Mignonne has been transformed at least once into a ballet and certainly dances along with grace and Nordic charm. The final item, Haydn’s Symphony No 47, demonstrated all Northern Chamber Orchestra’s experience and expertise with Haydn, (see their recordings of Haydn Symphonies with Naxos), each movement being treated imaginatively and musically, positive jollity in the Allegro, pure singing tone in the Adagio, a palindromic (look it up!) Minuet, short but perfectly formed, and a dashing Presto to end a super concert for a packed audience in the United Reformed Church hall. This concert was part of the Orchestras Live Tour of Cumbria, Lottery funded and generously assisted by Northern Rock Foundation.

Susan Allison

THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

CALVERT-RHIND DUO

FUJITA PIANO TRIO

ENDELLION STRING QUARTET

Artists

CHIAO-YING CHANG 

Chiao-Ying Chang won Fifth Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2003. She went on to win the top prize at the Taiwan International Competition and at the opening of the 2004/05 season gave debut concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Yamate Gaiety Theatre of Yokohama in Japan .

Born in Taipei , Taiwan in 1981, Chiao-Ying was the youngest student to enter the Royal Academy of Music in 1997 where she studied with Christopher Elton and Maria Curcio. She graduated in 2003 with a DipRAM, the Academy’s highest award. In 2003/04 she was awarded the Hodgson fellowship and is currently continuing her studies as a MMus student at the Academy.   She was selected for representation by YCAT in 2001.

During her studies Chiao-Ying won top prizes at major international competitions including third prize at the 2002 ARD Munich Competition and second prize at the 2000 AXA Dublin and the 1998 Ettlingen International Competitions.

Highlights of the 2006/07 season included a series of chamber music concerts in Japan with violinist James Buswell and members of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, return visits to Wigmore Hall and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, and recitals in Germany , Hong Kong and Taiwan .  She also replaced Martin Roscoe at very short notice giving an outstanding performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.   

Future plans include appearances as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Swan, and concerts throughout the UK including Leeds and Liverpool .   

Over the last few years, Chiao-Ying has given recitals at major festivals and venues throughout the UK including Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, St. George’s Bristol , the Cambridge Summer, North Aldeborough, Newbury, Brighton , Oundle and Honiton Festivals.  Abroad she has appeared as soloist at the Busoni Festival in Bolzano , Italy , the Kammermusikfest des ARD-Wettbewerbs in Germany and in Schloss Elmau, Munich , and Berlin in Germany . Chiao-Ying’s concerto work has included appearances with the Collegium Musicum Orchestra in Basel , the National Irish, Brighton Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Regensburg Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. 

FRITH PIANO QUARTET

The Frith Piano Quartet was formed in 2001 by the four players named above, all of whom are soloists in the own right but enjoy playing in chamber music with colleagues of a like mind to themselves.

Benjamin Frith enjoys a career playing in chamber music groups, as soloist with orchestras and as a piano recital soloist. He is proud to put his name to this quartet of spectacularly gifted players

Robert Heard is co-leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras and maintains a busy life style touring the world with the orchestra and whenever possible  playing all over the country to fulfil his love of chamber music.

Louise Williams has been a free lance solo viola player for quite a while and has played with many other groups similar to this one and says that she has found her niche playing with quartet of her equally talented colleagues.

Richard Jenkinson also a lead player with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra plays solo ‘cello recitals in various places up and down the country, in duos with Benjamin Frith and in the string quartet, the Pro Musica, which he founded in 1999.

NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA  

The Northern Chamber Orchestra was formed in the 1960s and has gained a formidable reputation from its engaging and exciting concerts.  Directed from the violin by Nicholas Ward, the ensemble tackles an extraordinary range of repertoire from Corelli to Stravinsky and beyond.  The members of the orchestra are distinguished chamber musicians who play as principals with other orchestras and regularly appear as soloists.

With over thirty CDs to its name, the majority being for Naxos , the NCO is now known in every continent; the series of Haydn, Mozart and Mendelssohn symphonies have received outstanding reviews and their recording of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale was considered by BBC Radio 3’s CD Review programme to be the best English version.  Their recent recording for Naxos , Boccherini Cello Concertos nos. 9 – 12 with Raphael Wallfisch, has also received critical acclaim. They have recently recorded Arnold ’s Symphony for Strings – due to be released late 2007.

The NCO gives a series of 8 concerts at the Heritage Centre, Macclesfield each season and rush-hour concerts at St Ann ’s Church, Manchester .  They also appear regularly in Blackburn, Skipton, Lancaster and Tatton Park , Knutsford.  They are the resident orchestra for the Buxton Festival, accompanying the main productions and performing in concert.

Soloists for 2007-2008 include Philip Langridge, Craig Ogden, John McCabe, Nicholas Daniel, Angela Whelan and Jennifer Pike. The ‘Orchestras Live’ scheme has taken them to Penrith, Egremont, Beverley, Ludlow and Hereford (Sept. 2007). 
 
The NCO is involved in an extensive education programme, giving workshops in most of the locations where they present concerts.   Amongst these have been a project with the Royal Exchange Theatre and author Melvin Burgess under Creative Partnerships, projects with Withington Girls School and Trinity High School in Manchester, funded by DfES, and lottery-funded projects with music centres and schools in Blackpool, Chorley, Clitheroe, Harrogate, Skipton and Warrington. 

Nicholas Ward 

Nicholas was born in Manchester in 1952. His parents were both in The Hallé and his father, Paul Ward, formed the Manchester Mozart Orchestra in 1963. He began violin lessons at the age of eight. The discovery of the string quartet, with its rich repertoire and, above all, player satisfaction, was the main impulse to study violin during school and college years.

Nicholas was something of a perpetual student, spending six years at the Royal Northern College of Music and a further year in Brussels , studying in turn with Barry Griffiths, Vimos Schummy, Rudolph Botta, Yossi Zivoni and Andre Gertier.

After five years with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra there were two years playing mainly with the London Mozart Players and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and, since 1984, leadership of the Northern Chamber Orchestra. Nicholas is also leader with the City of London Sinfonia .

Jennifer Pike

In 2002, at the age of twelve, Jennifer Pike became the youngest ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, following her performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Earlier the same year she won fourth prize in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. Public recognition of Jennifer’s unfaltering success continues in 2008, as she is honoured with this year’s South Bank Show / The Times Breakthrough Award, in acknowledgement of the impact that she has made during 2007 both in her own field and throughout the arts as a whole.
 
She has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras and given recitals around the UK , Europe, the Middle East and the USA . At the age of fifteen she made her BBC Proms début in the Royal Albert Hall, and since then she has made her evening recital débuts in London ’s Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room to great critical acclaim. Past engagements include performances with London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia , European Union Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and with the London Symphony Orchestra in the Gramophone Awards Ceremony. Last year she performed as soloist with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as part of the Vienna Festival, televised throughout Europe .
 
Jennifer’s current engagements include performances with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields at the Barbican’s Mostly Mozart Festival and with the BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Tampere Philharmonic. This season’s repertoire includes the Sibelius and Mendelssohn concerti, Bruch 1, Vivaldi Quattro Stagioni and several of the Mozart concerti. In November she gave a Wigmore Hall recital to celebrate her eighteenth birthday.
 
At the age of 16 she was awarded a postgraduate scholarship to study with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, winning the Derek Butler London Prize in 2007. In 2005 she won the prestigious Manoug Parikian Award administered by the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund. She is also grateful for the support of the Philharmonia/Martin Scholarship Fund.
 
She is playing a violin made by Matteo Goffriller in 1708.  It is currently made available to her by the Jennifer Pike Violin Trust, which is being established by Nigel Brown to raise the funds needed to secure the instrument.

THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE 

The Fibonacci Sequence was founded in 1994 by its artistic director, pianist Kathron Sturrock. Now well established as one of the foremost chamber ensembles in Britain , it is distinguished by the quality and high profile of its players and by the imagination and variety of its programming, making full use of the range and versatility of the chamber music repertoire. Its players are noted for the zest and enthusiasm they communicate to their audience.

The Fibonacci Sequence has a busy recording schedule: CDs of chamber music by Ned Rorem for Naxos, and John McCabe for Dutton Epoch have been released to glowing reviews and the ensemble has started an exciting project of a series of chamber music CDs for the recording company Deux-Elles. ‘ Harp’ appeared in 2004 and ‘Bassoon’ in 2005... “ Skinner's expertise and sensitivity are perfectly matched by his colleagues, notably the pianist Kathron Sturrock.’ The CD “Horn’ was released in 2007 and ‘Oboe’ will be released later this year. ‘Clarinet’, with the Dohnanyi Sextet, and ‘Violin’, devoted to the Schubert Octet, are being recorded this year, along with Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’ to celebrate his centenary.

The commission for the ensemble by the distinguished composer Graham Fitkin, based on the Dohnanyi sextet instrumentation, will be ready early in 2009, and the ensemble has also begun a collaboration with the Royal College of Music for concerts and workshops.Details of these and all other Fibonacci events can be found on the website.

The group is named after Leonardo of Pisa, a great mediaeval mathematician, commonly known as Fibonacci. The series of numbers named after him occurs throughout the natural world in the most extraordinary way, appearing magically, in petals of flowers, branches of trees, and many more complex way. The relation of the numbers to each other is directly connected to the Golden Section, held by many to determine the most harmonious proportions in art and music.

CALVERT-RHIND DUO  

Rowena Calvert studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Leonid Gorokhov where she performed in the Kronberg Cello Festival and the UNESCO celebrations in Paris . She won the Jellineck Award for Young Soloists and had masterclasses with masters such as Rostropovich, Steven Isserlis and Bernard Greenhouse. In this time she performed as a soloist in the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Festival Hall and performed concertos with seven orchestras throughout the UK including the London Mozart Players. She went on to the Royal Academy of  Music where she studied with Paul Watkins and was a National String Finalist of BBC Young Musicians 2002. Then after half a year in India , where she performed for the British Council and did her television premier of the Vivaldi Double concerto, she returned to the UK to study with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Northern College of Music. After graduating with a first degree (honours) and receiving 100% in her undergraduate final recital she was awarded the Leonard Rose Award 2006 and the Sir John Barbirolli Prize 2008. Since then she has won a further thirteen awards for her solo playing. She has recently been invited to be a part of the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. 

Alison Rhind was educated at Chetham's School of Music, Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music where she studied with Edith Vogel. After leaving Guildhall she was invited back to Chetham's to join the accompanists' team at the school. During this period she was also asked to be the official accompanist for the BBC Young Musician of The Year and also for the Aberdeen Festival of Youth.

From 1993 until 2006 she was the accompanist at the Yehudi Menuhin School where she accompanied masterclasses given by Yehudi Menuhin, Daniil Schafran, Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Mstislav Rostropovich and Andras Schiff amongst others. She toured extensively with Menuhin School pupils and it was during this period that she was first invited to accompany at the prestigious Kronberg Cello Festival in Germany.

Alison is regularly invited to work at the Royal College of Music in London and was recently asked to be the official accompanist for the String Final Recitals.She is the regular accompanist of Nicola Benedetti with whom she has played for the last nine years and with whom she enjoys a busy touring schedule—2006 took them twice to Japan, Europe and the USA, as well as many appearances in UK festivals and concert series.Other regular recital partners have included violinists Dora Schwarzberg and Alina Ibragimova, the great French bassist Francois Rabbath and cellist Leonid Gorokhov.

She regularly appears on radio, television and major venues all over the world.

FUJITA PIANO TRIO 

The Fujita sisters from Japan have been playing chamber music together since early childhood. They made a highly acclaimed debut at the Wigmore Hall in March 1999 and they were invited to give a Purcell Room recital in June 2000 by the Kirckman Concert Society. Also in June, they made a successful debut at Oji Hall in Tokyo , Japan .

Concert engagements have taken the Trio to Canada , France , Italy , Ireland , Romania , Egypt , Morocco and Turkey , and they have won numerous awards and prizes, both as a Trio and individually. Arisa won the Audi Junior Musician Competition when she was only fifteen years old, Honoka won all the cello prizes at the Guildhall School , and Megumi won Fourth Prize at the Montreal International Piano Competition.

Arisa studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music, London (where she now teaches), Honoka studied at the Guildhall School with Jennifer Ward Clarke and Raphael Wallfisch, where the Trio also received coaching from the Takacs Quartet. Megumi studied at the Menuhin School with Louis Kentner, Simon Nicholls and Vlado Perlemuter and continued her studies at the Royal College of Music with Irina Zaritskaya. They won the Chamber Music Prize at the Guildhall School in 1994.

The sisters have performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto numerous times with orchestras including the G.Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra ( Romania ) and the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra in venues including the Barbican Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Atheneum Hall ( Bucharest ). They have recently toured Loire , France with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Their performance of the Triple Concerto with the Romanian National Radio Orchestra at the Radio Hall, Bucharest was broadcast live by national television and radio.

In England , the Trio has performed at Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, St.Martin-in-the-Fields, Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and at the Exeter , King's Lynn , and Salisbury Festival. From 1994, the Trio was invited to perform at the Brasov International Chamber Music Festival in Romania for three consecutive years. In 1998, the Japan Foundation organised a concert tour for the Fujita Trio to Casablanca , Rabat ( Morocco ), Rome , Cairo and Alexandria ( Egypt ).

The Trio made a debut recording of chamber music by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu for ASV Records, which was released in 2001 with a worldwide critical acclaim, to coincide with concerts at the Wigmore Hall - as part of the Japan 2001 Festival. The Trio has also recorded the Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich No.1 and No.2, Ravel, Schubert No.1 and No.2 Piano Trios with the Swedish label Intim Musik. Arisa has released a CD of Ysaye 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin Op. 27, and Megumi, Rachmaninov 24 Preludes (released to coincide with her 2005 Wigmore Hall Recital).

2006 saw a return visit to the Wigmore Hall Sunday Coffee concert series and a performance of Beethoven Triple Concerto in Japan with Kyoto Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 2007, awarded the Kyoto Aoyama Barocksaal Prize for their recital in Kyoto , Japan .

Future engagements include concerts in Sweden and throughout the UK .

ENDELLION STRING QUARTET 

Formed in 1979, the Endellion String Quartet is renowned as one of the finest quartets in the world. Over the years, their schedule has included regular tours of North and South America and concerts in Australasia, the Far East, the Middle East, South Africa and every West European country.  Everywhere, the Endellion String Quartet ‘sets the audience ablaze’ (Daily Telegraph) and captivates concertgoers with a remarkable rapport, ‘playing to each other with a sense almost of discovery, communicating to the audience on a level of unusual intimacy’ (The Guardian).

In Britain , the Endellion String Quartet has appeared at nearly all of the major series and festivals and is regularly broadcast on BBC radio and television.  It gave the 25th anniversary concert of the first ever St John’s, Smith Square BBC lunchtime broadcast, repeating the original programme given by the Amadeus Quartet, it has appeared at the Proms, and it has been featured in the week-long programmes ‘Artist of the Week’ and  ‘Artists in Focus’.  Its presence in London has been marked by several series both at the South Bank and Wigmore Hall, where the Quartet were Artistic Directors of several ‘Quartet Plus’ series. They have worked with guest artists including members of the former Amadeus Quartet, Sir Thomas Allen, Joshua Bell, Michael Collins, Steven Isserlis, Mitsuko Uchida and Tabea Zimmerman.

The Endellions’ 1987 recording for EMI of the complete string chamber music of Britten was selected as Chamber Music Recording of the Year by both the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, and was the most highly recommended version in Radio 3’s Record Review.   Their Haydn Op 54 disc – the first of a series for Virgin Classics – was the only quartet record featured in Radio 3’s Critics’ Choice of Records of the Year.  The Endellions have also recorded Mozart, Bartok, Dvorak, Foulds, Smetana, Walton, Bridge Schubert, Barber, Amy Beach and Tchaikovsky.  In 1998 EMI released ‘Arcadiana’, the Endellion quartet’s commission from the young British composer Thomas Adès, a disc that subsequently received the ‘Editor’s Choice’ award in the 1998 Gramophone Awards.

The Endellion String Quartet has been Quartet in Residence at Cambridge University since October 1992, and undertook three short-term residencies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA . Since 2001 they have been Associate Quartet of the Royal Northern College of Music and they also have a spring residency at The Venue in Leeds .
 
The Endellions have given a cycle of all the Beethoven quartets at Wigmore Hall and many other venues and just after the completion of their 25th Anniversary year they began, in January 2005, to record the cycle for Warner Classics. This major project involves a total of nine CDs, two to be issued each year.

Previous seasons' highlights

Cockermouth Music Society has promoted many concerts by professional musicians and has also been active in  commissioning new works.  Memorable evenings of music have been provided by soloists and ensembles including:

Soloists: Ilya Itin - winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1996, Nikolai Demidenko - piano, Peter Katin - piano, Peter Donohoe - piano, Martin Roscoe - piano, Joanna MacGregor - piano, Tamas Vasary - piano, Antti Siirala - winner Leeds International Piano Competition 2003, Andrew Brownell - winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2007, Chiao-Ying Chang - prizewinner in the 2003 Leeds International Piano competition, Marat Bisengaliev - violin, Lucy Wakeford - harp, Nicholas Daniel - oboe, Paul Watkins - cello, David Childs - euphonium, Jennifer Pike - violin, Tasmin Little - violin.

Piano Duet: Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow.

String Quartets - Danel Quartet, Endellion Quartet, London Haydn Quartet, Maggini Quartet, Vanburgh Quartet, Wihan Quartet, McFarlane String Quartet

Chamber Orchestra: The Hanover Band, The City of London Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia.

Other notable ensembles - Fujita Piano Trio, London Mozart Trio, London Concertante, Leopold String Trio, The London Flute Quartet, The Wakeford Ensemble, McLEAN-THORSEN-STRANGE Piano Trio, The Debussy Ensemble.

Commissions of new works: To date four new works have been commissioned and given their première in Cockermouth.  With the support of the Arts for Everyone (A4E) scheme the society commissioned:

Simon Parkin's Quartet No. 3 - first performance June 1998 by the Chalabi Quartet (students from the Royal Northern College College of Music); 

Errollyn Wallen's Rhapsody, a piece for viola - performed by Malcolm Allison with Timothy Lissimore at the piano in December, 1998 and recorded live by the BBC;

Philip Wood's Four Bagatelles performed by Martin Roscoe in September, 1999.

The fourth commission, with funding from Northern Arts and Cockermouth Neighbourhood Forum (Cumbria CC) was 

Philip Wood's Piano Trio No. 1 - performed by the Lorca Piano Trio (Malcolm Allison - violin, Bovidar Vukotic - cello and Timothy Lissimore - piano)

Preview 2009-10  - Watch this space!

Further information and bookings

All concerts are open to the public.  Accompanied children are admitted Free (but please ensure you  inform the box office so that a seat is available).

Tickets for all concerts are usually available from Billy Bowmans Music Shop, Lowther Went  (personal callers only from first Monday of the month) or from the Hon Secretary (send cheque with s.a.e., please).  Tickets can also be purchased at the door, though for the most popular concerts it is strongly advisable to purchase tickets in advance.

Members of Cockermouth Music Society are entitled to a number of benefits including a reduced admission charge, season tickets and regular newsletters.  For information about membership or if you have any queries please contact :

                            Mrs Susan Allison

                            Hon Secretary Cockermouth Music Society

                            Fell Edge

                            High Ireby

                            Wigton

                            Cumbria CA7 1HF

                            Tel: 016973 71397

                            Email: cmusoc@btopenworld.com

How to find us

All concerts are in the United Reformed Church, Main Street, Cockermouth not far from Wordsworth House. The church is set back from the road. Parking at the United Reformed Church is very limited, so please park on the road or in the main Car Park.  There is a lift and a Stannah chair lift for those who need assistance with the stairs.

For street plan of the area, click here.

Links

Information about concerts and other arts events in the area can be found from:

Making Music  

Cockermouth Harmonic Society

  Theatre by the Lake Keswick

Rosehill Theatre

Music Clubs - Northern

Sponsors

The Society is very grateful to those shops, companies, arts organisations, including councils, and individuals who provide financial support and other services that enable the Society to provide high quality concerts in Cockermouth.   

Allerdale Arts    

Arts Council England 

Billy Bowmans Music Shop

Lowther Went, Cockermouth

Bitter Beck Pottery

11 Market Place, Cockermouth

Fagans (Quality Gifts & Cookshop)

51 Main Street, Cockermouth

Cockermouth Travel

60 Main Street, Cockermouth