Newsletter

This Newsletter is published once a year in August and is sent to all on our mailing list.

 

Welcome to the 62nd Season of the Richmondshire Subscription Concerts!

Subscription held at £35 for six concerts!!

A subscription to RSC must be one of the best value music society season tickets in the country! It works out at less than £6 for each concert performed by nationally and internationally renowned professional musicians. Many societies are having a hard time recruiting members but, with over 200 members, we are able to provide value for money and to afford the very best performers.  We very much hope that you will continue to subscribe! You can help even more by adding a little to your subscription to become a Friend of the RSC (the new name for “patron”) and this will also entitle you to attend a reception after the March concert in the Georgian Theatre Royal where you can meet the artists and discuss the season with members of the committee! Friends are also listed on the concert programmes.

Season 2008-9

Anna Jackson’s first season as Secretary was an outstanding success and there have been many positive comments about the variety of excellent music we heard.

It is difficult to pick out highlights but most memorable for the Editor were the two concerts by the richly talented Doric and Pavao String Quartets. We heard fresh and alert playing of two Haydn quartets, the complementary Ravel and Debussy quartets, and two challenging and great works by Elgar and Schubert. The latter composer’s work was the great C major Quintet which was even more poignant than usual because the performance was dedicated to the memory of Tom Carr who founded the RSC over 60 years ago.

The Editor’s biggest surprise was how much he and the rest of the audience enjoyed “Spanish Spice” by Eclipse. The programme worked perfectly, blending fine playing on authentic early instruments with contemporary flamenco dancing in the most natural way.

Season 2009-2010

The season opens in October with London Concertante whom many subscribers will have heard at the exceptional final concert of this year’s Swaledale Festival. The following quote from The Strad magazine sums up their achievement. “they played with silk toned elegance ….....extraordinary unanimity. The London Concertante members, fine chamber musicians that they are, played with an uncanny clarity of texture... quite exquisite."

The success of the London Concertante over the last 17 years owes much to the exceptional talents of its players, inspired programming by its Artistic Director, Chris Grist, and thrilling leadership under the internationally renowned violinist, Adam Summerhayes. They play sextets by Brahms and Korngold, lush and romantic, and the Martinu sextet which gives us neoclassicism through the eyes of a Czech national.

In November we welcome back Bartholomew LaFollette with his pianist Rosie Richardson. Bartholomew was the excellent extra cellist in the Doric Quartet’s sublime performance of Schubert’s quintet last season. “LaFollette is an easy and graceful performer, and showed a rhythmically nimble facility of movement......he was as free in touching the heartstrings as he was in dashing off dazzling runs.” Born in Philadelphia in 1984, Bartholomew was a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School.  In 2007 he was selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT). His chosen programme will show the cello in all its moods and the concert will be full of dance rhythms, melody and colour.

In December we have something special and different. The concert is called Travelling by Tuba. Chris Cranham and Stewart Death have created a unique musical entertainment and have travelled over 80,000 miles in giving their concerts! Although the tuba is prominent in all their concerts it must be emphasised that this is not just a tuba recital. Playing an innumerable array of wind and brass instruments, Travelling by Tuba present a concert spanning over fifteen thousand years of music. They are irrepressible musical entertainers blessed with the gift of communication to all ages so do bring your friends and family to this concert. There will be festive refreshments at this Christmas-time concert. “Tuba player Chris Cranham sent us home in the knowledge that we had witnessed something special… abundantly blessed with the gift of communication.”Classical Music Magazine

There is no concert in January because of the possibility of cold and inclement weather.

In February we have another return visit of the multi-prizewinning Carducci Quartet. This is their third visit to Richmond, both of their previous concerts and the two for the Swaledale Festival being memorable for their excellence. “These performances were tremendously alive ... this was virtuosic, spellbinding playing from a relatively young quartet with a big future.” (Music-Web) They play quartets by Haydn, Beethoven and Moeran.

In March we have the Sally Pryce Ensemble with the remarkable young flautist, Adam Walker. Adam has won many prizes and recently received the MIDEM “Outstanding Young Artist of the Year” award. At 21 he has recently been appointed principle flute of the London Philharmonic Orchestra! He appears for us with two other talented musicians in a programme of trios for harp, flute and viola which is all about colour; the warmth of the viola and the brilliance of the harp woven with the sensuous tones of the flute. “The music making was of the highest order and we were treated to something very special....it brought the house down.”(Music-Web)

The final concert is in April and we welcome back our old friends the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra. Many of you will remember with great pleasure their contribution to our 60th anniversary performances of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” conducted by Tim Jackson. The conductor , and soloist in the Bach, is David Greed known to many as the long-time leader of the Orchestra of Opera North. The programme reflects the development of the symphony over a century from Bach to Beethoven via Haydn. Cathy Lowe, oboist in the Orchestra of Opera North, plays Marcello’s beautiful concerto, published in 1717.

Christmas Reception

Attendance at this extra function has been declining over the last few years and your committee feels that it is no longer viable to continue with it. However the December concert (Travelling with Tuba) will have a slightly longer than usual interval and festive refreshments will be available at the same cost as the normal coffee and tea.

Darlington Music Society

You are reminded of the arrangement we have with Darlington Music Society. If you take out a Richmondshire subscription you will be able to purchase one for Darlington at half their normal price – that is only £28 for 7 more excellent concerts!

An added bonus for subscribers

Each subscription ticket has a unique number. Before each concert a draw will be made and the lucky subscriber will receive a £25 token which can be exchanged for books or compact discs at Castle Hill Bookshop. We are grateful for their generous offer which they give in the hope that it will encourage more people to take out a subscription!

Friends and Sponsorship

Now grants to arts organisations have all but dried up we are reliant on Subscribers, Friends (do please become one!) and Sponsors to enable us to book artists of high calibre. We are fortunate in having some corporate sponsors and these are listed on the brochure but there is also a need for personal sponsors and you are invited to consider this. A sponsor provides some help towards the cost of a concert and has his or her name associated with it. Personal sponsorship qualifies for tax relief through Gift Aid making every pound given worth £1.25 to the society. It can be linked with a family occasion or dedicated a loved one. Personal sponsors have given one off payments of between £100 and £500 over the past four years and these donations have been a great help to the society. Please discuss this with Douglas Waugh or any other committee member when the occasion is appropriate.

Venues

Over the last few years we have used three venues for concerts; the Zetland Centre, the Georgian Theatre Royal and St. Mary’s Church and your committee has debated endlessly the merits and demerits of each. It would be helpful if we knew the opinions of our subscribers and we would encourage you to make your views known either in person or by email to a member of the committee.

Email addresses

If you have email please let us have your up to date address either on the subscribers’ form or by emailing it to Nick Reckert (details on the “Contact” page.)

Volunteers

After the fine help given by subscribers in mounting the opera two years ago it was decided to keep a record of those who would be prepared to help in the organisation of concerts. If you would be prepared to help occasionally with some aspects: selling programmes, acting as ushers, providing accommodation, meeting and greeting artists, helping to feed them before concerts, helping with stage management or with page turning for pianists please contact John Furniss ( details on the “Contact” page.)

 

OUR SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS

 

ALT-BERG- based in Richmond, they are makers of the finest walking boots.

ARTS IN RICHMONDSHIRE (AiR)- provides advice, and hire of staging.

CASTLE HILL BOOKSHOP- our local book and CD stockists with a range for all tastes. They are generously giving a prize for the winning season ticket number at each concert.

COUNTESS OF MUNSTER MUSICAL TRUST- provides a platform and financial support for young performers embarking on a professional career.

DAVID CARR FOUNDATION- provides assistance for local sporting and cultural activities.

GUITAR HOUSE- based at Castle Hill Walk, they are suppliers of guitars and accessories.

JONATHAN FRY & Co. Ltd.- an independent Financial Advisory firm based in Richmond; regular supporters of our concerts.

RICHMOND ALE- independent local brewers of fine ales worthy of the name they bear.

SHERWOODS OF DARLINGTON- the area’s main Vauxhall dealers. Their sales outlet and showroom is the envy of the trade and well worth a visit.

thecitysecret- fast growing specialist outsourcing technology company, based in Richmond, who have given generous support  in hosting and supporting our website.

THE YOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS TRUST- selects and manages the most outstanding musical talents during their first years within the profession.

Richmondshire Subscription Concerts

 

NEWSLETTER 2009-10