This series of benefit concerts is devised to help support young musicians who have been unable to perform to live audiences because of the pandemic, and to help them advance their careers. Generous private benefactors, together with established artists who are appearing without a fee, are supporting this project. Loosely modelled on the tradition of benefit concerts popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, the series is presented in association with The Craxton Trust, some of the young musicians having played at the trust’s recent auditions in London. All participants are encouraged to programme new repertoire. We hope this modest contribution in support of those taking part will to some extent help a return to live music making in the community.
All concerts begin at 15:00 and are in The Old Chapel, Burnham Road, South Creake, NR21 9JF. Light refreshments available. Parking in the orchard behind the chapel.
Tickets £12.00 from 01328 738482, Text 07899 771366 or by email to carol.jennings2@btinternet.com. Postal booking to The Yorke Trust, Grove Cottage, Southgate Road, South Creake, NR21 9PA with a cheque made payable to The Yorke Trust. Paper tickets will not be issued, but a record will be kept of all bookings. Bank details for BACS payments: The Yorke Trust, NatWest 52-41-29, A/c 44630417. Please use your name as a reference. If you are able to host any of these young musicians, please contact the office on 01328 823501
Saturday 2 October 2021 Will Duerden – double bass & Brenda Blewett - piano Will took up the double bass aged 7, was the second ever bass string finalist of the BBC Young Musician Competition and studies at the Royal College of Music on a full scholarship with Caroline Emery. Schubert, Schumann, Tabakov, Proto, Mišek and a new work by Sam Cave Dream of Flight written to reflect the pandemic.
Saturday 16 October 2021 Emanuele Addis – guitar Emanuele is from Italy and studies with Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music for a Master of Arts degree. An international prizewinner, he already enjoys a blossoming pan-European recital career. Villa-Lobos, Ponce, Tárrega, Dowland and Benjamin Britten Nocturnal Op.70.
Saturday 30 October 2021 Esther Beyer – harp Programme includes Fauré, Grandjany, CPE Bach, Hindemith, Suite Galactique by Caroline Lizotte and three movements from The Crown of Ariadne by the veteran Canadian composer R Murray Schafer for harp and a range of percussion instruments played by the harpist. Esther studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Karen Vaughan and is raising funds to buy her percussion instruments.
Saturday 13 November 2021 Adam Johnson – Erard 1840 Grand Piano Adam plays a selection of Mendelssohn’s evergreen Songs without Words and talks about the piano which is on permanent loan and lives in the Old Chapel. It is believed that Mendelssohn knew this very instrument. Adam is a virtuoso pianist, conductor, composer and former trustee of the Yorke Trust.
Saturday 4 December 2021 Maria Willis – mezzo-soprano Mozart, Schumann and Rebecca Clarke. A recent Honours graduate of Trinity Laban Conservatoire Maria currently holds a scholarship at the Royal College of Music on a Masters course studying with Patricia Bardon. She sang in the Yorke Trust production of Gluck’s Orfeo in 2018.
Saturday 18 December 2021 Leora Cohen – violin A double first-class music degree from Newnham College Cambridge to her credit, Leora holds postgraduate scholarships to the Royal College of Music for study with Ani Schnarch. She is leader of the RCM Symphony Orchestra and was nominated for the RCM/BBCSO Professional Pathway scheme. Programme includes Roxanna Panufnik Hora Bessarabia, Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps, Kreisler, Mozart, Prokofiev.
Saturday 15 January 2022 Benedict Swindells – cello & Ivelina Krasteva – piano Janáek Pohádka, Schumann Fantasiestücke, Errolyn Wallen Dervish, Mendelssohn Cello Sonata No.2 D major. Benedict studies with Tim Lowe at the Guildhall School of Music where he is a postgraduate scholar. Born in Japan he moved to Stamford in Lincolnshire and began playing aged 7.
Saturday 29 January 2022 Matthew Wadsworth – lute & theorbo Matt is a blind lute virtuoso living in Norwich with his wife and young family who took part in the Yorke Trust’s first opera production, playing continuo for the first time. He has developed computer programmes to enable sight impaired musicians to read music more easily. Laura Snowden Echoes in Air, Dowland, Girolamo Capsberger and more.
Saturday 12 February 2022 Edgar Francis - viola and Jonah Spindle - cello Programme to be advised.
Saturday 26 February 2022 Leon Bosch – double bass Leon talks about his early life in Apartheid South Africa where he was arrested aged fifteen for initiating a protest march. He plays some of the works he has commissioned.
Saturday 12 March 2022 Echéa String Quartet Prestigious award holders and postgraduate students at the RCM, the Echéa Quartet locked down in the Trust’s premises to live together, study, prepare for competitions, make recordings and live-stream concerts. Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven.
All concerts begin at 15:00 and are in The Old Chapel, Burnham Road, South Creake, NR21 9JF Tickets £12.00 from 01328 738482, Text 07899 771366 or email to carol.jennings2@btinternet.com.
The Yorke Trust | UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1158927 | Phone: +44 1328 823501
