The Elmore String Quartet and the Zephyr String Quartet in concert at Fairlight Hall.
This concert is presented in aid of The Friends of Conquest Hospital and will be followed by an informal Art Tour.
Faure String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121
Haydn String Quartet in D major, Op. 20, No. 4
Mendelssohn Octet in Eb major, Op. 20 (last movement)
Tickets must be booked in advance, suggested donation £75 per person
R.S.V.P. to angie@conquestfriends.co.uk
-
Winners of the Tunnell Trust Awards 2020, the Elmore String Quartet (formerly the Freeman String Quartet) is a dynamic young ensemble formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2017.
Working closely with Donald Grant (Elias String Quartet) and Petr Prause (Talich String Quartet), the group found early success winning the RNCM’s Nossek and Hirsch Chamber Music Prizes for their performances of Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Op. 12, and Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 132.
These successes led to performances across the UK, performing recitals for Manchester Concert Society, the Lake District International Music Festival and the South Downs International Summer Music Festival, where they became the first ‘Quartet in Residence’ in 2018. The South Downs Festival presented them with the opportunity to learn with the Benyounes String Quartet, as well as giving the closing performance of the festival where they performed works by Smetana, Haydn and Glass in St. Andrews Church, Alfriston Sussex.
In 2020, the Elmore Quartet were appointed as the RNCM’s Studio Quartet. They enjoyed an intense year of study, culminating in a second place finish at the CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition in Wigmore Hall. During their time as Studio Quartet, they had the privilege of working with both Frederik øland (Danish Quartet) and Bruno Schrecker (Allegri Quartet).
In 2021, the Quartet were delighted to be appointed as Junior Fellows in Chamber Music at the RNCM for the academic year 2021/22. This position allows the Quartet to continue to work intensely together alongside coaching young chamber ensembles at the RNCM. This year, the Quartet have enjoyed touring Scotland as well as recording Joseph Bologne Concertante Quartet No. 2 as part of the BBC Philharmonic’s Diversity in Music programme for BBC Radio 3.
-
The Zephyr Quartet was formed in London in December 2019 by four outstanding musicians whose paths crossed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Individually, the members have performed as soloists or orchestral leaders at many prestigious venues and events across the globe, such as the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, the Menuhin Hall, Konzerhaus Berlin, Mozartfest Wurzburg and Menuhin Festival Gstaad. As a quartet, they have had the privilege of working closely with eminent musicians such as Catherine Manson, Valentin Erben, Levon Chilingirian and David Dolan.
The quartet has also performed at distinguished venues and events both in London and in Europe, such as LSO St. Luke’s, Milton Court Barbican, and the KLANGRUAM Festival in Cologne; and regularly attend masterclasses and workshops such as MusicWorks Sundays at King’s Place London.
In 2022, the Zephyr Quartet represented the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as the sole participants from a UK-based music college at the Musical Chairs Festival hosted by McGill University.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, two notable examples of narrowly missed-out opportunities were a quintet collaboration with Robert Levin in March 2020 and performing at the Melbourne Chamber Festival in November 2020.
The Zephyr Quartet takes pride in their interest in contemporary music as well as their passion for repertoire beyond the currently well-represented canon. Hailing from a mixed cultural background across Europe and Asia, they strongly believe in music as a powerful force for good in the context of promoting cultural diversity in our society.
-
Richard Ireland is one of the UK’s leading chamber musicians and has been a regular performer at London’s Wigmore Hall and at all of the major chamber music venues across Europe.
Richard has 25 years experience teaching violin at conservatoire level and many of his ex-students now hold principal positions in top orchestras and chamber ensembles across Europe. He is sought after as a performance coach by musicians at all stages of their careers.
Richard is a visiting professor for the Chamber Music in Residence series at Snape Maltings and is a guest professor at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy. Alongside his chamber music career Richard has been Guest Leader of orchestras such as the City of London Sinfonia, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Richard studied the violin with Sheila Nelson throughout his childhood, then with Yossi Zivoni, and finally with Eli Goren and Shmuel Ashkenasi, both eminent string quartet leaders. He was Teaching Assistant to Shmuel Ashkenasi in the USA for three years, Professor of Violin at the Royal Northern College of Music for thirteen years and also Professor of Chamber Music at the Royal College of Music.
In 2010 Richard founded and is now Artistic Director of ChamberStudio which provides high-level coaching and support to professional chamber groups in the early stages of their careers. In 2017 he launched a new organisation Offstage which provides ongoing mentorship for post-study performers.
In his free time, Richard is a keen mountain walker and wild camper together with his cellist wife and their 850 gram two-person tent! He was a passionate rock climber until he broke a knuckle on his left hand and was told in no uncertain terms by Yossi Zivoni, his violin teacher at the time, that he had to decide whether he wanted to be a climber or a violinist! He holds a first-class Pure Mathematics degree from the Open University which he studied part time in his 30’s. He has two children aged 27 and 25 who studied Physics and History and now both live and work in London.
In recognition of his teaching and his work creating ChamberStudio, Richard was awarded the 2014 Cobbett Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians. In 2017 he was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon ARAM) for special contribution to the institution.