Booking is now open for the 2014 season of Coffee Concerts at Rook Lane Chapel which maintains the high quality of performance that is a hallmark of these events.
As usual there is a series of three, varied concerts featuring musicians with an international reputation.
The opening concert on Sunday 12th January 2014 features Duo Dorado consisting of Hazel Brooks, violin, and David Pollock, harpsichord. Hazel is in demand as a medieval specialist throughout Europe and America and David has established a reputation as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Bach.
They formed Duo Dorado in 1999 and for over a decade have been presenting dynamic and accessible concerts. Their delightfully varied programme is entitled ‘A Baroque Musical Feast’ and will include pieces by Bach, Corelli, Finger, Purcell, Scarlatti and Vivaldi.
On Sunday 26th January the exceptional young pianist, Cordelia Williams, is making her much anticipated return visit to Frome having last appeared in 2008.
Since becoming Piano Winner of the BBC Young Musician Competition in 2006, Cordelia has built an international career as ‘one of the outstanding pianists of her generation.’ She has performed at the Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Hall in London, and Beijing Concert Hall, China.
Cordelia has recently recorded the complete impromptus of Schubert and will be performing two substantial pieces – Schumann’s ‘Davidsbundlertanze’, Op.6 and Schubert’s Sonata in C Minor. Cordelia is also a passionate chamber musician and runs Cafe Muse, an innovative series of events taking classical music to young people.
The season concludes on Sunday 9th February with something of a coup for Frome Concerts Group; an appearance by Quartetto Di Cremona, Italy’s top string quartet.
Formed in 2000, the quartet has played to critical acclaim throughout Europe and has also toured extensively worldwide. In Australia they were hailed as ‘the glory of the Perth Festival’ and in Germany as ‘one of the most exciting quartets of the current generation’.
They are in the process of recording the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets and are rarely seen outside major concert venues. The Cremona’s programme will consist of pieces by Beethoven, Boccherini and Vacchi. Cremona is the home of the violin and this concert will feature virtuoso playing on distinguished instruments including a Stradivarius.
As always, the concerts will be informal and relaxed, including spoken introductions from the performers to the pieces being played. Rook Lane Chapel on Bath Street provides an intimate, modern setting with excellent acoustics which is greatly appreciated by the musicians themselves. There is a warm, friendly atmosphere which is particularly suitable to young people getting their first taste of classical music.
A subscription for all three concerts booked in advance costs £27.00, (£14.00, 21 and under) including refreshments. This is the best way to ensure you can hear this excellent series. A limited number of individual concert tickets is available in advance at £11.00, (£6.00, 21 and under) and may be available on the door from 10.30am. Concerts start at 11.30am and last for about an hour.
Please send your order with a SAE and your cheque payable to ‘Frome Concerts Group’ to FCG, Zachary’s Mill, Egford Hill, Frome, BA11 3JP. Early booking is advisable as last season was a complete sell-out and the demand for the Quartetto Di Cremona, in particular, is likely to very high. For more information please visit the website www.fromecon certsgroup.org
