2003/04 season

Sunday 5 October 2003 · 3:00pm

Charles Owen

Charles Owen

• Charles Owen · Piano

His musical education began at the Yehudi Menuhin School and continued at the Royal College of Music where he won all the major piano prizes, since when he has either won or been runner-up for several prestigious awards.

His work includes solo, concerto and chamber music, and he has performed in such leading concert halls as the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Wigmore Hall, and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, as well as at various festivals such as Bath, Cheltenham and the Three Choirs.

Internationally he has played in the Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and at the Perth International Music Festival in Western Australia and the 'Homecoming Festival' at the Moscow Conservatoire. This last promptedthe reviewer to say: "a brilliant player with a fantastic touch, flair and sense of style." (Kultura, Moscow, 2002)

Sunday 9 November 2003 · 3:00pm

The 18th Century Concert Orchestra

They began as Platform 4, which was music ensemble in residence at Staffordshire University from 1997, and in 2001 planned to give twelve concerts. Such was their success that since then they have given over 70 concerts all over the country, in stately homes, theatres, music clubs and festivals. They have made one recording, and have another planned, while they will tour Europe and America this year. The Oxford Times said: "The musical standard throughout was exceptional, demonstrating enthusiasm, dedication and technical excellence. Small wonder this chamber orchestra has earned a reputation as one of the finest exponents of baroque music in the country."

Tuesday 9 December 2003 · 7:30pm

Dec-Verse

Sunday 18 January 2004 · 3:00pm

The Bochmann String Trio and Paul Arden-Taylor

The Bochmann String Trio & Paul Arden-Taylor

• The Bochmann String Trio
• Paul Arden-Taylor

A crowded Huntingdon Hall enjoyed an excellent concert last Sunday afternoon. It was given by principals of the English Symphony Orchestra: Paul Arden-Taylor (oboe), Janet Masters (violin), Helen Roberts (viola) and Peter Adams (cello) who introduced the music. It was promoted by Worcester Concert Club which had created a warm and friendly ambiance such that quite a number of first-timers to these events remarked on how enjoyable they found it.

The first piece, its premiere. was a "new" oboe quartet by Mozart arranged by local resident Derek Smith from an early string quartet; this and a short Rondo from the same source launched the afternoon on some light and airy notes. The strings then gave Beethoven's Trio in G Op. 9 no. 1, a large-scale work which was played with tautness and rhythmic energy. After the interval came Malcolm Arnold's Oboe Quartet, a piece of fun using the language of film music, and finally the great Mozart Quartet K. 370 in which Arden-Taylor excelled both in expressiveness and virtuosity.

Sunday 15 February 2004 · 3:00pm

James Oxley and Caroline Dowdle

James Oxley & Caroline Dowdle

• James Oxley
• Caroline Dowdle

Since then he has sung in the major London concert halls, Birmingham's Symphony Hall and Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall, and has toured all over Europe. He sings regularly in opera productions, and has performed several roles with the Opéra de Rennes, and in opera productions in Britain.

He has just returned from a very successful tour of Australia, where the review in the Melbourne paper Metropolitan began: "To put it simply, this was outstanding. Oxley had the rounded lyricism of a tenor and the rhetorical poise of an actor."

Monday 15 March 2004 · 3:00pm

Sue Gill and Karen Suter

Sue Gill & Karen Suter

• Sue Gill
• Karen Suter

They have both toured under the auspices of the Countess of Munster Trust and the National Federation of Music Societies