Beaconsfield Concerts (formerly known as Beaconsfield Music Society) is a well established organisation, dedicated to promoting high quality live classical music performances by professional performers, in Buckinghamshire.
We offer everything from vocal quartets to solo piano, from Bach to Bartok, from well-loved repertoire to less well known works, from world famous names to “ones to watch”. We were delighted to see that one of our ‘ones to watch’, Benjamin Grosvenor, who performed at our opening concert in 2006 aged 14, was seen by a much larger audience as he played for the opening night of the 2011 BBC Proms, the youngest soloist to do so and to highly favourable reviews.
Over the past few seasons we have been able to attract names such as Steven Isserlis, Emma Johnston, Guy Johnston, Freddy Kempf, Tasmin Little & Christopher Maltman.
Membership offers you five varied concerts a year or, if you can’t attend all the concerts, there is the option of day membership.
Extensive programme notes are provided - these are free to patrons. Parking is easy.
A bonus is that we encourage artists to stay behind for a short while after the concert to enjoy a drink and chat with members of the audience.
We are grateful to our sponsors:
We also thank Savills (L&P) Ltd for setting up signboards for each concert.
Membership is open to all by annual subscription and members are entitled to attend the concerts and the AGM/Soiree free of charge. Day membership is normally also available. The Society is a registered charity run by an elected committee who give their services voluntarily.
If you feel able to contribute a little more, and help to ensure the continued success of the Society, why not become a Patron? You would then enjoy free programmes and choice seating.
If you would like to become a member please print out the Membership Form page and send to the address shown on the form. Membership rates are:
Member : £60
For Membership enquiries call 01494 680275
For Day membership (for an individual concert) call 01494 678595. Tickets are priced at: £16 (Students £5).
Look at some of our recent reviews of earlier concerts.
These are reviews of some of our recent concerts which appeared in the local Buckinghamshire press.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Soloists, November 24 2010.
Emer McDonough, principal flute; Suzanne Willison-Kawalec, principal harpist; Clio Gould, leader; Vicci Wardman, principal viola and Tim Gill, principal cello.
It was surely an unusual experience to hear a group of such talented musicians all at the top of their profession. The audience knew the name Willison for Suzanne¹s parents Sally and Peter are respectively chairman and honorary vice president of Beaconsfield Concerts. It was good to see Suzanne perform on her most impressive instrument at her old school. She and her colleagues are busy people with engagements worldwide.
Tim Gill introduced the programme which, apart from Mozart's Flute Quartet in D Major, consisted of five 20th century French composers: J.G. Ropartz, Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saens and Jean Francaix. The blend of the five instruments had in itself a sound appropriate to these composers and the quintets which opened and closed the concert were written expressly for them.
Frances Chidell
The Advertiser certainly did its readers a favour when it recommended virtuoso violinist Tasmin Little's Naked Violin performance on 24 October as one of its 'Five of the Best' outings this Autumn. This, the opening concert of Beaconsfield Concert's 2009−10 season, was an exceptional event by any standards, not least because Tasmin brought with her two priceless violins - her own Guadagnini of 1757 and the 'Regent' Stradivarius of 1708 - to discuss and demonstrate their very different qualities.
Performing solo on a 'catwalk' platform, Tasmin created an immediate sense of connection with the audience and encouraged them, between the pieces, to ask questions. She responded to the resulting barrage with bewitching wit, humour and insight.
One of Tasmin's passions, and a key part of her award-winning Naked Violin programme, is to bring live classical music to those who have either no interest or no opportunity to hear it. Earlier that day, she brought the same magical mix of music and conversation to a workshop for more than 50 patients, relatives and staff at the National Society for Epilepsy Centre at Chalfont St Peter. Her warmth, clarity and expressive playing held the residents entranced, and it was a very moving experience for all who attended. Mar 4 2009
Each prize-winning member of this Trio has a flourishing career combining solo, chamber and orchestral work, composition and teaching. With this wide horizon of music-making we could expect playing of a very high standard, and we got it.
Dec 11 2008 By Frances Chidell
From time to time Beaconsfield Concerts presents a world famous musician. The pianist Freddy Kempf is one of them. Before presenting him, Mrs Sally Willison (chairman), paid tribute to the memory of our locally-born conductor, Richard Hickox, CBE, President of Beaconsfield Concerts, who had died on November 23.
Freddy Kempf said he was dedicating the concert to him. He recalled that at the start of one concert conducted by him, they looked at each other questioningly for some moments and then had a quiet word. "The Emperor starts with a chord, won't you bring me in?" asked Freddy. "But we're not doing the Emperor, we're doing Beethoven's 4th," hissed Hickox.
For us, Freddy began with a seminal masterwork: Bach's Goldberg Variations, all 30 of them, which he's taking shortly to several leading concert halls. This is a testing work few professional pianists take on. It lasted an hour and showed off his stunning virtuosity.
I could hardly believe the man's energy, skill and musicality and began to realise we were in the presence of near genius.
Nov 7 2011 by Frances Chidell
`The Colours of Spain` was the title of this concert given by four experienced singers most capably accompanied on the piano by Joseph Middleton. They were Julia Sporsen, soprano; Clara Mouriz, mezzo-soprano; Joshua Ellicott, tenor, and Marcus Farnsworth, baritone. Each could be said to be at the top of their profession and we were lucky to hear them in Beaconsfield.
All the songs described romantic aspects of Spain, set to music written by 19th century German and French composers -- although the first group was by Joaquin Turina, a Spaniard. These were most dramatically sung by Clara Mouriz.
Joshua Ellicott had a strong, clear voice, shown so softly in the Brahms
dream and double forte in Der Hildago, the defiant lover, by Schumann.
Further highlights were Marcus Farnsworth's cameo of the life of a Toreador,
and his impersonation of a jolly smuggler. Julia Sporsen's soprano was
shown to advantage in Ravel's coloratura study without words.
Duets and quartets followed after the interval and we felt reassured us that
the art of lieder singing, though rarely performed, is vitally alive.
Beaconsfield High School pupils started what we hope will be a new
tradition. On arrival we were played in by Emily Croft, (18), on saxophone
accompanied by Alan Lewis, music master. After the interval, we were
treated to Bach and Chopin by the gifted pianist Hannah Bennett (17).
After a wonderful concert, we were delighted that Pascal Roge was happy to remain behind after his performance to talk to members of the audience and sign copies of his CDs.
Victoria Simmonds studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was awarded the Countess of Munster Award, Sybill Tutton Award, and the Maggie Teyte Prize. In 1999 she sang an acclaimed Rosina for British Youth Opera, and Sesto/La Clemenza di Tito for Glyndebourne Touring Opera. In 2000 Victoria made her English National Opera debut as Nancy T’ang in Adam’s Nixon in China, conducted by Paul Daniel and directed by Peter Sellars. She went on to become a company principal there singing such roles as Cherubino/ Figaro, Mercedes/Carmen, Zaida/The Turk in Italy, Pitti-Sing/The Mikado, Ascanius/The Trojans, Rosina/The Barber of Seville, Dorabella/Così fan tutte, Hermia/A Midsummer Night's Dream and Zerlina/Don Giovanni.
Susequent concert engagements have included the Philharmonia in the Royal Festival Hall, the BBC Proms, Buxton Festival, the Concertgebouw, Salzburg Festival in 2006 and Edinburgh Festival in 2007.
In 2012/13 she will be taking part in the world premiere of "Written on Skin" by George Benjamin at the Aix Festival in 2012, with subsequent performances at the Netherlands Opera, Opera Comique Paris, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Wiener Festwochen, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, and Toulouse.
24th November: Yuki Ito (cello), Kumi Matsuo (piano), Olivia Dora (Violin), James Lill (piano)
19th January 2013: Purcell School Musicians
Martin Bartlett (piano), Cristian Grajner De Sa (violin) and Hyungi Lee (percussion - marimba). All three were category finalists in the 2012 BBC Young Musician of the Year, and Hyungi was awarded the Walter Todd Bursary for her performance.
Hyungi Lee (marimba) was born in South Korea in 1996. She has been studying percussion for four years. Hyungi became a pupil at The Purcell School in February 2011, and holds a Government Scholarship under the Music and Dance Scheme. Her percussion teachers are Daniella Ganeva and Cameron Sinclair, and she also studies piano with Alla Kravchenko. She has been awarded First Prize at the Seoul University National Competition, the Guildhall and Trinity Hall Marimba Competition (category B) and the Fermo International Percussion Competition (tuned percussion) in Italy.
Hyungi enjoys maths and art. In the future she would like to teach marimba, and perform as a professional musician.
Hyungi was awarded the 2012 BBC Young Musician of the Year Walter Todd Bursary for the most promising young performer.
Martin Bartlett (piano) from Hornchurch, Essex was born in 1996. Martin began learning the piano at the age of six and bassoon and recorder from the age of eight. By the time he was 12 he’d achieved Grade 8 Distinction on all three. He joined The Purcell School in 2010, where he currently studies piano with Emily Jeffrey and Helen Leek. Martin has been a member of the National Children’s Orchestra and studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. He has also taken part in a master class with Lang Lang, and has performed at Wigmore Hall as a result of winning the Jacques Samuel Piano Competition and has also given performances at venues including Steinway Hall and St. John’s Smith Square. Martin enjoys reading and listening to Martha Argerich and Vladimir Horowitz and in the future he hopes to build a career playing or teaching the piano.
Cristian Grajner De Sa (violin) was born in Milton Keynes in 1994. He has been playing the violin since he was seven. In 2011 he joined The Purcell School where he currently studies with Maurice Hasson. At the age of ten, Cristian became the youngest ever winner of the Bedfordshire Festival competition.
He has performed recitals at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London and at a music festival at Lake Como in Italy. He has also performed and recorded concertos by Bach and Mozart.
Cristian is also interested in photography and travelling and hopes to continue studying the violin with Maurice Hasson at Senior Academy when he leaves Purcell.
16th February 2013: Lara Melda At the age of sixteen Lara Melda won the BBC Young Musician 2010 competition, performing Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2 in the final round, with VasilyPetrenko and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff. The competition had an international following via television and radio broadcasts on the BBC. Since then she has also performed Mozart Concerto K466 with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and next season will return to Cardiff to play Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3. Lara’s concerto performances last season included the Northern Sinfonia with Kirill Karabits, Sinfonia of Leeds, Watford Philharmonic, and the Maidstone, Aylesbury, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Worthing Symphony Orchestras. Previous London concerto engagements have includedMozart with the Aurora Orchestra and Nicholas Collon (Kings Place) and English Chamber Orchestra (Cadogan Hall) and the Grieg Concerto with English Sinfonia (St John’s Smith Square). Lara Melda performs regularly in Turkey and made her debut at the International Music Festival in Istanbul in June 2011, playing the Grieg Concerto with the Borusan Philharmonic. She has also been presented by the 'Istanbul Recitals' piano series and performed at the Antalya Piano Festival and Bogazici University. In 2012 she received the prestigious 'Promising Young Artist' award from Kadir Has University. Recital appearances have included Les SommetsMusicaux in Gstaad (Switzerland), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival (Germany) and the Wigmore Hall. During this season Lara will perform at the Wiltshire Music Centre and many other venues in the UK. Lara is a student at the Royal College of Music where she is aQueen Elizabeth Queen Mother Scholar supported by a Musicians' Company Lambert Studentship. She began piano lessons with Emily Jeffrey at the age of six and currently studies with Ian Jones. Lara is also an accomplished viola player and enjoys playing chamber music on both piano and viola. In 2009 she was a finalist in the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Weimar, Germany. Lara Meldais very grateful for support from Non Worrall and Richard Williams. 23rd March: Doric String Quartet.
Described by Gramophone Magazine as ‘one of the finest young string quartets’, whose members are ‘musicians with fascinating things to say’ the Doric String Quartet has received glowing responses from audiences and critics across the globe. In 2008 the Quartet won 1st prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. The Quartet was represented by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) from 2006-2010.
Since its formation in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School for Young Chamber Music Players the Quartet has performed across the world and collaborated with artists including Ian Bostridge, Philip Langridge, Mark Padmore, Piers Lane, Kathryn Stott, Chen Halevi and the Florestan Trio. In autumn 2010 the Quartet made their highly acclaimed American debut with recitals at the Frick Museum in New York and Library of Congress in Washington. Other recent highlights include recitals at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and in Brussels, Frankfurt, Lucerne, Milan and Paris. In addition to their regular appearances at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern they have performed at the Carinthischer Sommer, Incontri in Terra di Siena, East Neuk, Isle of Man, I Soloisti del Vento and Schwetzinger Festivals. Further afield they have toured to Japan, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.
In 2009 the Doric String Quartet’s first CD was released to critical acclaim on the Wigmore Live label and was chosen as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone “The Doric’s Haydn sparkles with wit on their impressive [and] very auspicious recording debut”. Since 2010 the Quartet has recorded exclusively for Chandos Records. The first CD, the complete Korngold String Quartets, was released in September 2010 and featured as one of the 2010 Critic’s Choice discs in Gramophone, followed by string quartets by Walton in spring 2011 which was similarly enthusiastically received by the press. The Quartet’s next release will be the Schumann String Quartets (autumn 2011). Future releases will include works by Schubert, Chausson, Bartók and Haydn.
Concerts are held during the winter months on Saturday evenings at 7.45 pm, at Beaconsfield High School, Wattleton Road, Beaconsfield, HP9 1RR. Car parking is easy within the school site. For popular concerts off-road parking is freely available.
Student (under 21) : £15
Patron : £30 extra minimum.
Violinist Tamsin Little Oct 30 2009
The Consort Trio
Freddy Kempf
The Colours of Spain
Pascal Roge
Handel: Where’er You Walk Gluck: What is Life? (Che faro) Schubert: An Die Musik Gretchen am Spinnrade Der Musensohn Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben Faure: Apres un Reve Lydia Nell Trad: Down By the Salley Gardens Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon Warlock: Sleep Pretty Ring Time Unaccompanied/Recording: Blow the Wind Southerly 
Brahms: Cello Sonata No 2 in F major, Op.99 Britten: Cello Suite No.1, Op.72 Handel-Halvorsen: Passacaglia Rachmaninov: Trio no.1 Prelude Op.23 No.10 Spring Waters Op.14 No.11 E Hartzell: Essie's Gigue (2011 - dedicated to Yuki Ito) J Lill: Kioku(2011 - dedicated to Yuki Ito) Faure: Papillon 
Haydn: String Quartet Op 20 No 3 Bartok: String Quartet No 5 (being negotiated) Dvorak: String Quartet in G major Op 106
We are also advertising on:
Where Can We Go.
Disclaimer: Beaconsfield Concerts makes every endeavour to supply accurate information but does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of any information contained in the Home Page or any associated, referenced or linked pages.
Last updated: 7th February