1

Welcome

2014 was our busiest year to date, as you will read. We have supported

more concerts than ever before, in turn reaching the greatest number of

young people in a single year’s work.

We welcome a new group onto our roster this year, the Magnard Ensemble.

Currently both chamber music fellows of the Royal Academy of Music – where they

formed in 2012 – and joint fellows of the Royal Academy’s Open Academy and

Wigmore Hall, the Magnard Ensemble is quickly forming a reputation for its high-

quality concert performances and inspirational educational and outreach projects.

Its members regularly work with the country’s leading orchestras, both on the

concert platform and in educational settings. We hope you get to hear them in

concert soon.

The Magnard Ensemble · © Andrew Banks

2

All Change

2014 saw the sad departure of four of our trustees: Huw Davies, Marion Friend,

Richard Ireland, and Jenny White MBE. Before leaving, Marion was awarded an

MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to music, whilst Richard

was honoured with the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ 2014 Cobbett Medal for

services to chamber music. Previous recipients of this award have included Sir

Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dennis Brain, and Yehudi Menuhin. We

thank Huw, Marion, Richard, and Jenny for all they have done for CAVATINA

over the years and wish them well for the future.

We are delighted to welcome two new trustees to the board – Ioan Davies and John

Wright – both of whom bring a wealth of complementary experiences with them.

John Wright

John hails from Derbyshire but moved

south for sunshine, a higher education,

and the wonders of the metropolis. He

now lives in Kingston Vale on the edge of

Richmond Park.

Music has always featured significantly

in John’s life. He took up playing the

piano at the age of seven and progressed

as far as O-level and Grade VII, when A-

levels interrupted his study. He furthered

his love of music during his wider studies

and continues to enjoy it in many forms,

especially in opera. Opera had never

featured in John’s life until it was

brought to him; a seed was sown and thus believes strongly in CAVATINA’s aim of bringing

chamber music to young people, who, like his finding of opera in those early years, may never

otherwise discover the joys of all that it has to offer.

John completed his first degree at Reading University and gained his Masters from Hull, a

project he undertook whilst headmaster of the well-acclaimed St Peter’s Eaton Square Church

of England Primary School – a role he held for eighteen years. The school and the parish were

recognised for their high musical standards. He currently serves as a senior honorary steward

3

at Westminster Abbey with its own wide spectrum of high quality music and where he works,

part-time, as the Protocol Liaison Officer.

In joining CAVATINA as a trustee, John hopes to be able to bring a perspective as a former

school head with a great empathy for the young folk who are unknowingly awaiting its

outreach.

Ioan Davies

Ioan Davies was a founder member of the

Fitzwilliam String Quartet and for eighteen years

toured to great critical acclaim throughout Europe,

North America, the USSR, and Japan. He

participated in many world premières and worked in

close contact with Shostakovich in the last years of

the composer’s life. He took part in recordings on

the Decca label of chamber music works by

Beethoven, Brahms, Borodin, Delius, Franck,

Schubert, Shostakovich (the complete quartets), and

Sibelius. He appears on the last Shostakovich disc as

a soloist with Elisabeth Söderström and Vladimir

Ashkenazy.

Since 1986 he has enjoyed performing the piano trio

repertoire with the Debussy Piano Trio (Switzerland) and the Bohemia Piano Trio. He gives

solo recitals throughout the UK and Europe, and during the past twenty-five years has worked

extensively with the pianist Jana Frenklova.

Dr Davies’s contribution to the education of gifted, young string players in the UK has been far

-reaching. As a member of the Master Panel for the Cambridge Symposiums for Young String

Quartets he worked closely over a number of years with Yehudi Menuhin and Yfrah Neaman.

He was Head of Strings at Wells Cathedral School from 1994 to 2003 and, until August 2008,

Director of Music for Pro Corda, the National School for Young Chamber Music Players. His

close association with the Department for Culture Media and Sport’s Music and Dance

Scheme continues at the Yehudi Menuhin School where he coaches chamber music.

Throughout his career Dr Davies has enjoyed teaching positions at many universities,

including Oxford, Cambridge, and York. He currently teaches at Bristol University and in

2008 was appointed String Consultant at Marlborough College.

4

Family Concerts

Aside from the continuing series of Family

Concerts in Hampstead (Fitzjohn’s

Primary School) and Kensington (Institut

français), CAVATINA has supported an

additional programme of events in

conjunction with the non-profit

organisation, Haringey Families. Its

director, Matt Couch, reflects on the initial

twelve months:

Children and families in and around

Muswell Hill enjoyed a fantastic series of

CAVATINA concerts over the last twelve

months. The concerts were held at

Tetherdown Hall and organised with the

help of Haringey Families, a local group for

families.

In January we had a packed house for the

Galeazzi Ensemble (Lesley Holliday, flute;

Richard Wade, violin; Virginie Guiffray,

viola; Gareth Deats, cello). A very

enthusiastic demonstration of the different

instruments was interspersed with more

formal sections in which children and

adults listened carefully to complete pieces

played with great skill. We were introduced

to an unusual instrument called a pochette

– a sort of compact violin that could be

carried around easily by dance masters –

while two members of the group danced to

illustrate the character of the minuet.

Our concert in March featured the Thorne

Trio (Ilid Llwyd Jones, oboe; Esther

Sheridan, clarinet; Alexandra Callanan,

bassoon). Children were immediately

impressed by the loud and dramatic

sounds. Many will have been seeing these

Feedback from a pupil at St Mark’s CE Primary School following a CAVATINA School Concert

5

instruments for the first time, and so were

naturally interested in their interesting

construction – the reeds, pipes, levers, and

tubes – engagingly described by the

performers.

In May we were treated to the Antara Duo

(Thomas Hancox, flute; Rachel Wick,

harp). This riveting combination of

instruments sounded amazing within the

resonant hall. It was fantastic for children

to see the size, intricacy, and robustness of

the classical harp up close and to learn how

such a wide range of sounds and effects can

be obtained. The music was immediately

appealing and the performers were

particularly skilled at holding the attention

and interest of the children.

Our final concert in November was with

the Sacconi Quartet (Ben Hancox, violin;

Hannah Dawson, violin; Robin Ashwell,

viola; Cara Berridge, cello). A large and

cheerful audience enjoyed the mix of child-

friendly presentation and professional

playing. The introduction was very

dramatic and beautiful, a canon with the

performers emerging one-by-one, adding

their line to the growing sound. Games and

audience participation culminated with a

good old stomp to a Brahms Hungarian

Dance at the end!

Matt Couch · Haringey Families

Ticket Scheme

Since the last Newsletter (February 2014)

to the writing of this one (January 2015),

CAVATINA has supported 185 concerts at

venues across the country, including the

ever-popular Chamber Zone at Wigmore

Hall. This figure excludes approximately

fifty School Concerts and fifteen Family

Concerts.

A conservative estimate suggests that

CAVATINA made it possible for 1,700

young people to attend chamber music

concerts for free in 2014, thereby fulfilling

the second part of our mission statement

by bringing young people to chamber

music. Coupled with 5,000 children

reached through our School Concerts

(approximately), and another 750 children

through Family Concerts, CAVATINA has

shared the delights of chamber music with

almost 7,500 young people in 2014.

In numbers...

In 2014, CAVATINA brought chamber

music to approximately 5,750 young

people, and brought about 1,700 young

people to chamber music concerts

around the country.

We thank you for your continued support

in helping to realise our mission.

6

Ensembles

It is not just the school pupils who profit

from our School Concerts; our ensembles

are grateful for the experience, too. Jakub

Čepický – the new violist of the Wihan

Quartet and son of their first violin, Leoš –

wrote to us about his first experience of

giving a CAVATINA School Concert:

Education is everything! The Wihan Quartet

has played many concerts, with loads of

musicians in dozens of countries. It would

be a shame if they did not share their

experience with young musicians. I joined

the Wihan only recently, so when I was

asked to teach young musicians, I was a bit

worried. However, everything went well.

University College School is amazing: a

lovely area filled with smiling students

playing classical music. After a performance

of Mozart’s ‘Dissonance’ string quartet, the

quartet split up and went into music rooms.

Teaching is not difficult if you do it from the

heart. It was like breathing. I just told the

students how I feel about music and they

listened to me. It was fantastic and I hope

they enjoyed it as much as I did. I am very

happy to have had such an opportunity.

Thank you!

Jakub Čepický · Wihan Quartet

The Wihan Quartet in their new line-up with violist Jakub Čepický · © Marklik.cz

… it felt like each half was 10 mins long

@wigmore-hall tonight! Incredible

experience even in Row U. Thanks

@cavatinachamber

Oliver Till (@olllietill) · 7 October 2014

7

CAVATINA Intercollegiate

Chamber Music Competition

Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5HT

Wednesday 6 May 2015 · 2.00pm

Set Piece: Beethoven Piano Trio, Op. 1, No. 2

Adjudicator: Rob Cowan (broadcaster & musicologist)

The Manon Quartet—first-

prize winners in CAVATINA’s

Intercollegiate Chamber

Music Competition 2014, here

playing at Sage Gateshead

©A

lde

bu

rgh

Mu

sic

The Artesian Quartet

were elected as

CAVATINA’s Chamber

Music Fellows at the

Royal Academy of Music

for 2014-15

8

CAVATINA Matters

21 October 2014 saw the fifteenth anniversary of a significant fund-raising evening for CAVATINA, held

at the Lord Chancellor’s residence.

Sir John Tusa gave a concise and powerful address as to our raison d’être, which resonates as clearly today

as ever before. We reproduce it here and thank you all for your continued support as our friends:

CAVATINA matters because it celebrates and expands the audiences for one of the most rewarding

of musical forms: chamber music.

CAVATINA matters because it introduces young children to the joys of chamber music which they

might find difficult or bewildering if exposed to it without some introduction – or might never be

introduced to it at all.

CAVATINA matters because it believes that listening to music, and learning to listen to music, is at

least as important as learning to express yourself in music.

CAVATINA matters because it declines to accept the view that chamber music is the preserve of

the few and irrelevant to those who may not have specialised musical backgrounds.

CAVATINA matters because it is creating the audiences of the future.

CAVATINA matters because it believes in opening the riches of chamber music without shackling

its young listeners with preoccupations about its difficulty or its exclusiveness.

CAVATINA matters because it provides work for the growing number of fine chamber ensembles

in Britain, at a time when the opportunity for them to perform is getting more and more limited.

CAVATINA matters because it opens minds and hearts and believes in sharing what delights

others with as many people as possible.

CAVATINA matters because two people with a burning belief and a broad instinct of generosity

turned from dreaming about an idea and simply put it into practice.

CAVATINA matters because it is a warm idea; a generous idea; an enriching idea; a broadening

idea.

All those who take part in it are the better for it.

CAVATINA would like to thank the following for their generous and constant support:

Andor Charitable Trust, The Coln Trust, John Lewis Partnership, The Monument Trust,

The Paul Morgan Charitable Trust, The Laurie & Gillian Marsh Charitable Trust,

Peter Storrs Trust, The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, Anonymous Benefactors

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust

52D Maresfield Gardens, London, NW3 5RX

info@cavatina.net · www.cavatina.net

020 7435 8479

Newsletter Editor · Thomas Hancox

Patrons: Derek Aviss OBE, Sir Vernon Ellis, Edmond Fivet CBE, Prof. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, John Gilhooly OBE,

Gavin Henderson CBE, Lady Alison Irvine, Steven Isserlis CBE, Seppo Kimanen, Lord Moser, Gábor Takács-Nagy,

Sir John Tusa, Dr Peter Woodford, Benjamin Zander

Trustees: Dr Ioan Davies, Pamela Majaro MBE, Simon Majaro MBE, Pauline McAlpine, John Wright

Registered Charity No. 1067716