SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2019ST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE

63RD SEASON2018/19

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TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME TIMELINE

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MAHLER 1860-1911

ENESCU 1881-1955

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I love traditional instruments, though of course they are anachronisms. Satellites run around our planet, but we still play bassoons. It’s ridiculous!‘ The artist reveals to mankind the way to

harmony, which is happiness and peace‘GEORGE ENESCU Romanian Rhapsody No.1 (1901), p4

It should be one’s sole endeavour to see everything afresh and create it anew‘GUSTAV MAHLER Kindertotenlieder (1901-04), p5

WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra (1950-54), p8I

LUTOSLAWSKI 1913-94I

COVER IMAGE: Wojciech Weiss’s Poppies (1903; detail). The painter, a contributor to Polish socialist realism, was also a member of the Vienna Secession and an Art Nouveau poster designer. Photo: © Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

In accordance with the requirements of Westminster City Council, persons shall not be permitted to sit or stand in any gangway. The taking of photographs and use of recording equipment is strictly forbidden without formal consent from St John’s. Smoking is not permitted anywhere in the venue. Refreshments are permitted only in the restaurant in the crypt, which is open for licensed refreshments during the interval and after the concert. Please ensure that all digital watch alarms, pagers and mobile phones are switched off.

PHONE 020 7222 1061 ONLINE sjss.org.uk

SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2019 7.30PMST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE LONDON

HOLLY MATHIESON ConductorALAN TUCKWOOD Leader

ST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE

St John’s Smith Square Charitable Trust: registered charity no. 1045390; registered in England; company no. 3028678. KSO: registered charity no. 1069620

ENESCURomanian Rhapsody No.1

Concerto for Orchestra

Interval 20 minutes

MAHLERKindertotenliederBaritone: Julien Van Mellaerts

LUTOSLAWSKII

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TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME GEORGE ENESCU 1881-1955

ENESCU Romanian Rhapsody No.1 (1901)

IN HIS NATIVE ROMANIA, George Enescu not only towers over 20th-century classical music, but is also a national hero. After his death, his homes in Liveni and Bucharest were turned into museums; his home town, a street in Bucharest and the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra were all renamed after him; and the George Enescu International Festival and Competition was founded, in 1958.

A child prodigy, Enescu entered the Vienna Conservatory at the age of seven, before going on to the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers included Gabriel Fauré and Jules Massenet. In the US, he became best known as a conductor, and in Europe as one of the greatest violinists of the century (his pupils included Yehudi Menuhin and Arthur Grumiaux). But he was first and foremost a composer. Sadly, his intricately beautiful mature works, fusing German and French influences, remain little-known outside Romania.

It was music with a strong Romanian flavour that first brought him acclaim, especially the

two Romanian Rhapsodies, written in 1901. Although they were first performed together in Bucharest in March 1903, their fame stemmed from a performance in Paris in February 1908, organised by Pablo Casals, who described Enescu as “the most amazing musician since Mozart”. But by the end of his life, Enescu was sick of the success enjoyed by his Rhapsodies, which had eclipsed all of his other works.

The first Rhapsody is a wonderfully convincing fusion of folk music and orchestral forces. It opens with a languorous subject in the clarinet, repeated by the woodwind, the strings and finally, in a quickened tempo, the full orchestra. Then follow scenes from rural life: a gypsy tune in the strings, an exciting dance melody in the first violins and an exotic improvisation on the solo flute. The mood grows frenetic as a rapid succession of whirling dance melodies and rhythms build to a climax. After a moment of relaxation in the clarinet, the work ends with an outburst of vitality.

The violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1936, with George Enescu, whom he described as “the absolute by which I judge all others”

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The cellist Pablo Casals considered Enescu (below) to be a worthy successor to Mozart

GUSTAV MAHLER 1860-1911

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‘I grieve for the world that will hear the songs, so sad is their content’Gustav Mahler on his Kindertotenlieder

MAHLER Kindertotenlieder (1901-04)

“MY TIME WILL COME,” prophesied Gustav Mahler. And it certainly did in the 1960s and 1970s, when, having been dismissed by most critics as an overblown late-Romantic of little interest, he became one of the most performed composers of all time.

But who was Mahler, and why did his music now strike such an intense emotional chord with so many? Born into a Jewish-Bohemian family, he studied at the Vienna Conservatory, where fellow pupils included the composers Hugo Wolf and Hans Rott. The latter, who was diagnosed insane and died at the age of only 25, is now little-known, but his music helped to shape Mahler’s own. Another significant influence was Anton Bruckner, a composer idolised by Mahler and his fellow students.

It was as a conductor rather than as a composer that Mahler made his reputation, however, coming to be regarded as the greatest opera conductor of his or perhaps of any age.

He died of heart disease in 1911, sadly never having heard a note of either his symphonic song-cycle Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) or his Ninth Symphony. Although he died aged only 50, he had packed an almost superhuman amount into his short life.

The Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children) were written between 1901 and 1904, while Mahler was working on his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Three of the songs belong to the peaceful summer of 1901, before his marriage. Childhood deaths among Mahler’s brothers and sisters – his brother Ernst in particular – were probably the cue for him to choose some of Friedrich Rückert’s tragic poems as his texts. Mahler admitted that “it hurt me to write them, and I grieve for the world that will one day have to hear them, so sad is their content”.

Two of the songs were written after the composer’s marriage to Alma, who was disturbed by the subject. “For heaven’s sake, don’t tempt providence,” she railed. After the death of his four-year-old daughter Maria Anna, three years later, Mahler confessed that he had set the poems “in an agony of fear lest this should happen”.

Mahler uses a small orchestra, with no brass apart from the horns, and the folk element of his earlier songs has vanished. The texture is always spare; stark, lonely instrumental lines moving in bare counterpoint anticipate Das Lied von der Erde. Yet he captures precisely the poems’ varied moods, by turns emotionally stunned, wildly grief-stricken, warmly affectionate and radiantly consolatory.

Mahler’s wife Alma (around 1905-06), with Maria (left), who died in 1907, and Anna

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GUSTAV MAHLER 1860-1911TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME

I. NOW THE SUN WANTS TO RISE SO BRIGHTLY

Now the sun wants to rise so brightly, As if no catastrophe happened during the night. The tragedy happened to me alone. The sun, it shines on everyone. You must not shut up the night inside you, Must immerse it in eternal light. A little lamp went out in my tent. Greetings to the joyous light of the world.

II. NOW I SEE WELL WHY SUCH DARK FLAMES Now I see well why such dark flames You flashed at me sometimes, Oh eyes! Just as if, totally in one instant, To concentrate all your power. But I didn’t suspect, because fog surrounded me, Trapped by blinding fate, That the ray was already preparing to depart To that place from where all rays come. You wanted to tell me with your flashing: We’d love to be able to stay with you! But that has been denied us by fate. Just look at us, for soon we will be far from you. What are only eyes to you in these days, In future nights will be only stars.

III. WHEN YOUR DEAR MOTHER… When your dear mother walks in through the door, and I turn my head to look at her, my gaze doesn’t rest on her at first, but rather on that place, closer to the threshold, where your sweet face would be, if, bright with joy, you entered with her, as you used to do, my dear daughter.

I. NUN WILL DIE SONN’ SO HELL AUFGEHN

Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgehn, Als sei kein Unglück die Nacht geschehn! Das Unglück geschah nur mir allein! Die Sonne, sie scheinet allgemein! Du mußt nicht die Nacht in dir verschränken, Mußt sie ins ew’ge Licht versenken! Ein Lämplein verlosch in meinem Zelt! Heil sei dem Freudenlicht der Welt!

II. NUN SEH’ ICH WOHL, WARUM SO DUNKLE FLAMMEN

Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen Ihr sprühtet mir in manchem Augenblicke. O Augen! Gleichsam, um voll in einem Blicke Zu drängen eure ganze Macht zusammen. Doch ahnt’ ich nicht, weil Nebel mich umschwammen, Gewoben vom verblendenden Geschicke, Daß sich der Strahl bereits zur Heimkehr schicke, Dorthin, von wannen alle Strahlen stammen. Ihr wolltet mir mit eurem Leuchten sagen: Wir möchten nah dir bleiben gerne! Doch ist uns das vom Schicksal abgeschlagen. Sieh’ uns nur an, denn bald sind wir dir ferne! Was dir nur Augen sind in diesen Tagen: In künft’gen Nächten sind es dir nur Sterne.

III. WENN DEIN MÜTTERLEIN Wenn dein Mütterlein tritt zur Tür herein, Und den Kopf ich drehe, ihr entgegen sehe, Fällt auf ihr Gesicht erst der Blick mir nicht, Sondern auf die Stelle, näher nach der Schwelle, Dort, wo würde dein lieb Gesichten sein, Wenn du freudenhelle trätest mit herein, Wie sonst, mein Töchterlein.

MAHLER Kindertotenlieder (1901-04)

POEMS (1833-34): FRIEDRICH RÜCKERTTRANSLATIONS: CELIA SGROI

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

MARCH 2019 7

When your dear mother walks in through the door, With the candle’s glow, I feel as I always did, That you came in with her, slipped behind into The room as you always did. Oh you, ray of happiness in your father’s cell, Too quickly extinguished!

IV. I OFTEN THINK THEY’VE ONLY GONE OUT I often think they’ve only gone out. Soon they will get back home. The day is fine. Oh, don’t be afraid. They’re only taking a long walk.

Indeed, they’ve only gone out And will soon come back home. Oh, don’t be afraid; the day is fine. They’re only walking up to those heights.

They’ve only gone on before us And will soon come back home. We’ll catch up with them on those heights In the sunshine. The day is fine upon those heights.

V. IN THIS WEATHER, IN THIS RAGING WIND In this weather, in this raging wind, I should never have sent the children out; Someone carried them away, I didn’t have anything to say about it.

In this weather, in this tempest, I should never have let the children go out, I was afraid they’d get sick, Now that’s just a futile thought.

In this weather, in this dreadfulness, I should never have let the children go out, I was afraid they’d die tomorrow, That’s not a problem now.

In this weather, this tempest, this wind, They’re at peace as if in their mother’s house, Frightened by no storm, Protected by God’s hand.

Wenn dein Mütterlein tritt zur Tür herein, Mit der Kerze Schimmer, ist es mir, als immer Kämst du mit herein, huschtest hinterdrein, Als wie sonst ins Zimmer! O du, des Vaters Zelle, Ach, zu schnell erloschner Freudenschein!

IV. OFT DENK’ ICH, SIE SIND NUR AUSGEGANGEN Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen! Bald werden sie wieder nach Hause gelangen! Der Tag ist schön! O sei nicht bang! Sie machen nur einen weiten Gang!

Jawohl, sie sind nur ausgegangen Und werden jetzt nach Hause gelangen! O, sei nicht bang, der Tag is schön! Sie machen nur den Gang zu jenen Höh’n!

Sie sind uns nur vorausgegangen Und werden nicht wieder nach Hause gelangen! Wir holen sie ein auf jenen Höh’n Im Sonnenschein! Der Tag is schön auf jenen Höh’n!

V. IN DIESEM WETTER, IN DIESEM BRAUS In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus, Nie hätt’ ich gesendet die Kinder hinaus; Man hat sie getragen hinaus, Ich durfte nichts dazu sagen!

In diesem Wetter, in diesem Saus, Nie hätt’ ich gelassen die Kinder hinaus, Ich fürchtete sie erkranken; Das sind nun eitle Gedanken.

In diesem Wetter, in diesem Graus, Nie hätt’ ich gelassen die Kinder hinaus; Ich sorgte, sie stürben morgen, Das ist nun nicht zu besorgen.

In diesem Wetter, in diesem Saus, in diesem Braus, Sie ruh’n als wie in der Mutter Haus, Von keinem Sturm erschrecket, Von Gottes Hand bedecket.

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TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME

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Tadeusz Kantor’s Untitled (1959; detail). The painter and theatre director co-founded the Young Visual Artists’ Group, which sought to renew Polish culture after the Second World War

LUTOSLAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra (1950-54)

I INTRADA II CAPRICCIO NOTTURNO ED ARIOSO III PASSACAGLIA, TOCCATA E CORALE

A quiet, gentle and cultured man, Witold Lutosławski had to live through some of the worst horrors of human history – horrors that no one should ever have to witness. The fact that he was nonetheless able to produce some of the most humane music of the late 20th century is a tribute to his integrity.

Lutosławski was 26 when, in 1939, the Nazis invaded western Poland with terrifying speed and ferocity. They were determined to wipe Polish culture off the face of the earth (banning even the music of Chopin), reducing the once great city of Warsaw to a pile of rubble after enslaving and then murdering its large Jewish population.

Following a brief period of optimism immediately after the Second World War, a Soviet-style socialist state was established in 1947, with one monstrous tyrant, Adolf Hitler, being swapped for another, Joseph Stalin. This

was especially tragic as it had been specifically to restore the freedom of Poland that Britain had finally declared war on Germany in 1939.

Looking back on the dark Stalinist years late in life, Lutosławski said that he had “never felt any pressure to write a certain way”. However, his First Symphony (1941-47) had been banned for being “formalist” (a standard, meaningless Stalinist criticism). In 1981, speaking at the Congress of Polish Culture about the worldwide acclaim of Polish music, he said: “Naturally, we should be glad of this, but it should not obscure the sad truth about the years before 1956, because the wounds then inflicted still hurt today.”

Having first studied mathematics, Lutosławski matured late as a composer. His main concern was always form, in particular the creation of large-scale forms that had connections with tradition while providing a framework for new sonorities and methods.

Early works showed the influence of Ravel and Neoclassical Stravinsky, combined with a wild abandon strongly influenced by Prokofiev. Taking his cue from Bartók, he explored folk music in the 1940s and early 1950s; the Concerto for Orchestra (1950-54) is the crowning achievement of this period.

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Lutosławski eventually emerged as a major figure in late 20th-century classical music, active internationally as a teacher and as a conductor of his own music. From 1960, he used chance techniques, influenced by John Cage, which give performers rhythmic freedom – but this was always carefully controlled, preserving a French-style fastidiousness and delight in colour.

In 1950, the conductor Witold Rowicki asked Lutosławski to write a work for his newly formed Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, part of the rebirth of Polish culture. It was to be based to some extent on folk music and was to display the orchestra’s qualities without being too difficult. This commission became the Concerto for Orchestra, which in the end took nearly four years to complete.

The first performance, in November 1954, was received enthusiastically, cementing Lutosławski’s reputation in Poland as the most distinguished composer of his generation while also making his name in the West. It was honoured with a state prize the following year.

The composer said that the work uses fragments of folk songs “as raw material to build a large musical form”, but there is no

attempt to reproduce folk idioms. Scored for a large orchestra, including triple woodwind and four each of horns, trumpets and trombones, the work is characterised by rhythmic vitality and sharply focused instrumental colours.

The opening Intrada, which has a three-part structure (A-B-A), grabs the attention with a powerful introduction over a repeated low pedal-note in the timpani and harps. A single idea is handed between groups of instruments as the texture becomes more complex. The longer middle section is more dramatically expansive, introducing ideas that are later transformed in the finale’s Toccata.

The final section is a condensed, quiet reprise of the first, the low pedal-note now magically transferred to the higher instruments. In the haunting closing section, solo wind exchange ideas over held strings and a tinkling celeste.

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WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI 1913-94

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Composition (1956; detail) by Boguslaw Szwacz, who took part in the landmark Exhibition of Modern Art in Kraków, in 1948. He also wrote around 4,000 sonnets and played the violin

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‘The wounds inflicted in the years before 1956 still hurt today’Witold Lutoslawski on Poland’s pastl

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TONIGHT’S PROGRAMME

Tadeusz Brzozowski’s Fawory (1966; detail). One of Poland’s key post-war artists, he withdrew from the country’s cultural scene in the 1950s as the socialist realist doctrine was imposed

Distinctive for its atmospheric timbres, the Capriccio notturno ed Arioso is an airy, virtuosic scherzo. The opening section is murmuring and nocturnal, the first big climax not coming until the trumpets and then the horns initiate the Arioso, which, although maintaining the same tempo, is equivalent to the traditional Trio. The much shorter reprise of the first part peters out enigmatically, with ominous rumblings of bass clarinet, drums and double basses.

The weight of the work’s structure falls on the final Passacaglia, Toccata e Corale, which is longer than the other two movements combined. The Passacaglia is a set of variations on a brooding theme announced by the double bass and harp. It gradually broadens its span to spread over six octaves before slowly dropping the lower instruments, leaving only the violin harmonics at the end.

The vivacious and dynamic Toccata seems to be propelling the work towards its conclusion, but as it draws to a close, the monumental Corale begins to emerge. Later, the two become ingeniously entwined, before the Corale clinches the work with a massive statement in the brass. The movement ends with a short and very fast coda, referring back to earlier material.

In 1973, Lutosławski admitted that “I do not like this work of mine very much, but apparently it has preserved some freshness”. Audiences have begged to differ, and it has remained one of his most enduringly popular pieces. Indeed, the work is a post-war masterpiece with immediate appeal.

WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI 1913-94

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FABIAN WATKINSONProgramme notes: © the author, 2019

Witold Lutoslawski (left) conducts his Piano Concerto with Krystian Zimerman at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, in 1988

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Lyadov The Enchanted Lake

Huw Watkins Symphony

Sibelius Four Legends from the Kalevala

MONDAY 13 MAY 7.30PM

COMING SOON KSO RETURNS TO CADOGAN HALL

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HOLLY MATHIESONARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES

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NEW ZEALAND-BORN Holly Mathieson was, until recently, assistant conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and resident conductor within the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland. She is the artistic director of Rata Music Collective and the co-artistic director, with Jon Hargreaves, of the Nevis Ensemble.

A passionate communicator, with crystalline technique and a collaborative approach, she has won plaudits in all forms of music direction, from opera, ballet and family concerts to full-scale symphonic programmes.

In the 2017/18 season, she worked with the London Symphony, BBC Concert, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, London Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber and Salomon orchestras, Southbank Sinfonia, Royal Northern Sinfonia’s Young Sinfonia, Red Note Ensemble, Scottish Ballet, Royal College of Music Philharmonic and Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra.

Summer 2018 saw the inaugural tour of the innovative Nevis Ensemble: founded on the maxim that “music is for everyone, everywhere”, it takes music out of the concert hall and into isolated communities. The orchestra undertook more than 70 concerts in two weeks, travelling throughout Scotland.

In the 2018/19 season, Mathieson makes her debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Ulster Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia.

She also undertakes return appearances with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia and Royal College of Music Philharmonic, as well as a national tour with Scottish Ballet and performances at Garsington Opera festival.

Mathieson is based in Glasgow, where she previously held the Leverhulme Fellowship in Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has a PhD in Music Iconography and was named one of New Zealand’s Top 50 Women of Achievement in 2016.

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HOLLY MATHIESON

Conductor

Crystalline technique: Holly Mathieson

JULIEN VAN MELLAERTS

MARCH 2019 13

Highlights of the British-New Zealand baritone’s 2017/18 season included performances with Julius Drake at the Wigmore Hall, the Enniskillen International Beckett Festival and the Juan March Foundation, Madrid; the roles of the Referee in Dominic Robertson’s Mozart vs Machine for Mahogany Opera Group and Harlekin in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos for Longborough Festival Opera; Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin for Cambridge Philharmonic Society; Vaughan Williams’s Hodie with the London Chorus at Cadogan Hall; recitals for Leeds Lieder, Lewes Festival of Song and the London Song Festival; and Elizabeth with the Royal Ballet at the Barbican Centre.

During 2018/19, Van Mellaerts tours with the pianist James Baillieu for Chamber Music New Zealand. He also gives further recitals with Julius Drake at the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, and at Temple Song, London; takes the role of Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème for New Zealand Opera; and sings the title role in Charles Villiers Stanford’s The Travelling Companion for New Sussex Opera.

Other engagements include Britten’s War Requiem in Lincoln and Salisbury Cathedrals; Copland’s Old American Songs with the Joensuu City Orchestra, Finland; Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen on tour with the Israel Camerata; Schumann’s Liederkreis at the Oxford Lieder festival; the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Gala at the Wigmore Hall; and recitals with the pianist Simon Lepper for the Festival Lied Victoria de los Ángeles, Barcelona, and with Richard Fu at Paul Hall, New York.

Future engagements include the role of Figaro in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro under the direction of Sir András Schiff and Rolando Villazón at MozartWoche 2020 in Salzburg, a return to the Wigmore Hall and a recital at the Mahler Festival 2020 in Amsterdam.

JULIEN VAN MELLAERTS’s accolades include the Maureen Forrester Prize at the 2018 Concours Musical International de Montréal. In 2017, he won first prize at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition and the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, and was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal upon graduating from the Royal College of Music.

JULIEN VAN MELLAERTS

Baritone

Prize-winning baritone Julien Van Mellaerts

14 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES

‘A feast of brilliant playing’The Evening Standard

Russell Keable has aired a number of unusual works, as well as delivering significant musical landmarks: the London première of Dvorak’s opera Dimitrij and the British première of Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, the latter praised by the Evening Standard as “a feast of brilliant playing”.

In 2004, KSO performed a revival of Walford Davies’s oratorio Everyman, a recording of which is available on the Dutton label.

Contemporary music continues to be the lifeblood of KSO. Recent programmes have featured works by an impressive roster of composers working today, including Thomas Adès, Charlotte Bray, Brett Dean, Jonny Greenwood, Magnus Lindberg, Rodion Shchedrin, Joby Talbot and John Woolrich.

In 2005, Errollyn Wallen’s Spirit Symphony, performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra,

KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, now in its 63rd season, enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the finest non-professional orchestras in the UK. Its founding aim – “to provide students and amateurs with an opportunity to perform concerts at the highest possible level” – remains key to its mission.

KSO has had only two principal conductors: its founder, Leslie Head, and Russell Keable, who has been with the orchestra for more than three decades. The knowledge, passion and dedication of these musicians has shaped KSO, giving the orchestra a distinctive repertoire that sets it apart from other groups.

Revivals and premières of new works often feature in the orchestra’s repertoire, alongside major works of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. World and British premières have included music by Bax, Brian, Bruckner, Nielsen, Schoenberg, Sibelius and Verdi.

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The orchestra is a “remarkable band of non-professionals”, according to Classical Source

KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Founded in 1956

won the Radio 3 Listeners’ Award at the British Composer Awards. In 2014, KSO gave the world première of Stephen Montague’s From the Ether, commissioned by St John’s Smith Square to mark its 300th anniversary.

During the 2014/15 season, the orchestra collaborated with Seán Doherty as part of Making Music’s Adopt a Composer scheme. A new work is being written for KSO by Chris Long, and the orchestra will give the world première at St John’s Smith Square in July.

In April 2018, KSO staged its 16th “sponsored play” event at Westfield London, raising more than £21,000 for War Child and the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation’s Grenfell Tower Fund. The orchestra also supports the music programme at Pimlico Academy, its primary rehearsal home.

This reflects the orchestra’s long history of charitable activities: KSO’s first concert was given in aid of the Hungarian Relief Fund, and it has developed links with the Kampala Symphony Orchestra and Music School under its KSO2 programme, providing training, fundraising and instruments.

The reputation of the orchestra is reflected in the quality of international artists who appear with KSO. Recent soloists include Nikolai Demidenko, Sir John Tomlinson, Yvonne Howard, Katherine Watson, Matthew Trusler, Fenella Humphreys and Richard Watkins. The orchestra also enjoys working with up-and-coming artists such as the pianists Martin James Bartlett, Alexander Ullman and Richard Uttley.

KSO works with a guest conductor each year; recently, these have included Jacques Cohen, Nicholas Collon, Andrew Gourlay, Michael Seal and Holly Mathieson, who returns tonight.

The orchestra regularly performs at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square. KSO celebrated its 60th anniversary with a gala concert at the Barbican Centre in May 2017.

KSO makes its second appearance with guest conductor Holly Mathieson tonight

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‘A force to be reckoned with… London is lucky to have KSO’Classical Source

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SPONSORSHIP AND DONATIONS Make a difference to KSO

YOU, OUR AUDIENCE, can really help us through sponsorship. Anyone can be a sponsor, and any level of support – from corporate sponsorship of a concert or soloist to individual backing of the orchestra – is enormously valuable to us. We offer a variety of benefits to sponsors, tailored to their needs, such as programme and website advertising, guest tickets and assistance with entertaining.

As a charity, KSO is able to claim Gift Aid on any donations made to the orchestra.

Donating through Gift Aid means that KSO can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give, at no extra cost to you. Your donations will qualify as long as they are not more than four times what you have paid in tax in that financial year.

TO SPONSOR KSO, or to find out more, call David Baxendale on 020 8650 0393, email sponsorship@kso.org.uk or speak to any member of the orchestra.

TO MAKE A DONATION, or to find out more about Gift Aid, email the treasurer at subs@kso.org.uk.

LEAVING A LEGACY Support the next generation

LEGACIES LEFT to qualifying charities, such as KSO, are exempt from inheritance tax. In addition, if you leave more than 10% of your estate to charity, the tax that is due on the rest of your estate may be reduced from 40% to 36%.

Legacies can be left for fixed amounts (specific or pecuniary bequests) as either cash or shares, but a common way to ensure that your loved ones are provided for is to make a residuary bequest, in which the remainder of your estate is distributed to one or more charities of your choice after specific bequests to your family and friends have been met.

Legacies, along with conventional donations to KSO’s Endowment Trust, enable us to plan for the next decades of the orchestra’s development.

If you include a bequest to KSO in your will, please tell us that you have done so; we can then keep you up to date and, if you choose, we can also recognise your support. Any information you give us will be treated in the strictest confidence, and does not form a binding commitment of any kind.

TO LEAVE A LEGACY or to find out more, speak to your solicitor or contact Neil Ritson, the chair of KSO’s Endowment Trust, on 020 7723 5490 or neil.ritson@kso.org.uk.PH

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Support KSO by sponsoring a concert

SPONSOR OR DONATESUPPORT US

FRIENDS’ SCHEMESUPPORT US

MARCH 2019 17

PATRONS Sue and Ron Astles Kate Bonner Sim Canetty-ClarkeCWA International Ltd John and Claire Dovey Bob and Anne Drennan Malcolm and Christine DunmowNick Marchant Jolyon and Claire Maugham David and Mary Ellen McEuenJohn and Elizabeth McNaughton Belinda MurrayMichael and Jan Murray Linda and Jack Pievsky Neil Ritson and family Kim Strauss-Polman Keith Waye

PREMIUM FRIENDS David Baxendale Dr Michele Clement and Dr Stephanie Munn John Dale Alastair Fraser Michael and Caroline Illingworth Maureen Keable Jeremy Marchant Margot RaybouldRichard and Jane Robinson

FRIENDS Anne Baxendale Robert and Hilary Bruce Yvonne and Graeme Burhop George FriendJim and Gill Hickman David JonesDeborah ReganRufus Rottenberg Jane SheltonPaul SheehanFabian Watkinson Alan Williams

Join our Friends’ Scheme to receive special benefits

SUPPORT KSO by joining our popular Friends’ Scheme.

There are three levels of membership, each with special benefits, for the 2018/19 season.

FRIEND £65Unlimited tickets at concessionary rates, priority booking and free interval drinks and concert programmes.

PREMIUM FRIEND £135One free ticket for each concert, unlimited guest tickets at concessionary rates, priority booking and free interval drinks and concert programmes.

PATRON £235Two free tickets for each concert, unlimited guest tickets at concessionary rates, priority booking and free interval drinks and concert programmes.

SEE YOUR NAME listed in our concert programmes as a Friend, Premium Friend or Patron, under single or joint names.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS are available on request for companies and groups, tailored to your needs.

TO JOIN the Friends’ Scheme, contact David Baxendale on 020 8650 0393 or friends@kso.org.uk.

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18 KENSINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

THE ORCHESTRATONIGHT’S PERFORMERS

FIRST VIOLINAlan TuckwoodSabina NielsenMatthew HickmanAdrian GordonSusan KnightSarah HackettClaire DoveyHelen TurnellRobert ChatleyRia HopkinsonHeather BinghamQuyen LeClaire MaughamTaro Visser

SECOND VIOLINDavid Pievsky Juliette BarkerKathleen RuleJenny DavieLiz ErringtonElizabeth BellErica JealBronwen FisherFrancoise RobinsonWendy Jeff eryRufus RottenbergCamilla NelsonJill IvesDanielle Dawson

VIOLABeccy Spencer Guy RaybouldAndrew McPhersonTom Milburn-PhilpottSally RandallOlivia Foster Vander ElstJeremy LambertJane Spencer-DavisLiz LavercombeDaniela DoresAlison Nethsingha

CELLONatasha BriantVanessa Hadley

Alex BreedonNatasha FosterHannah ReidKim PolmanDavid BaxendaleAnnie Marr-JohnsonJudith Robinson Rosi Callery

DOUBLE BASSSteph FlemingAndrew NealCathy LearSam WiseMark McCarthyPeter Taunton

FLUTEChristopher WyattClaire KnightonDan Dixon

PICCOLO Dan DixonClaire Knighton

OBOECharles BrenanLindi Renier ToddChris Astles

COR ANGLAISChris Astles

CLARINETChris HorrilClaire BaughanGraham Elliott

BASS CLARINETGraham Elliott

BASSOONNick RampleyHannah PrevitySheila Wallace

CONTRABASSOONSheila Wallace

FRENCH HORNJon BoswellHeather PawsonAndy FeistAlex Regan

TRUMPETStephen WillcoxJohn HackettLeanne HamiltonNoah Lawrence

CORNETJohn HackettNoah Lawrence

TROMBONEDavid CarnacKen McGregor

BASS TROMBONEStefan TerryDavid Musgrove

TUBATom Briers

TIMPANITommy Pearson

PERCUSSIONTim AldenCatherine HockingsSimon WillcoxStephen HarkerAndrew Barnard

HARP Zita SilvaMilo Harper

PIANORichard Leach

CELESTE Rebecca Taylor

MUSIC DIRECTORRussell Keable

TRUSTEESChris AstlesDavid BaxendaleElizabeth BellSam BladeJon BoswellRosi CalleryJohn DoveySabina NielsenHeather PawsonNick Rampley

ENDOWMENT TRUSTRobert DrennanGraham ElliottJudith Ní BhreasláinNick RampleyNeil Ritson

EVENTSCatherine AbramsChris AstlesJudith Ní BhreasláinSabina NielsenBeccy Spencer

MEMBERSHIPJuliette BarkerDavid BaxendaleAndrew Neal

MARKETINGJeremy BradshawRia HopkinsonJo JohnsonAndrew NealGuy Raybould

PROGRAMMESRia Hopkinson

WOODWIND COACHJohn Lawley

CONTACT US:

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MARCH 2019 19

KSO ONLINEFIND OUT MORE

GO TO KSO.ORG.UK to keep up to date with the orchestra and all our events. You can see the details of forthcoming concerts, listen to previous performances, read reviews and learn more about the history of KSO.

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63RD SEASON2018/19

MONDAY 13 MAY 2019 7.30PMCADOGAN HALL LYADOV The Enchanted LakeHUW WATKINS SymphonySIBELIUS Four Legends from the Kalevala

MONDAY 1 JULY 2019 7.30PMST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE KODALY Dances of MarosszékCHRIS LONG World premièreDVORAK Symphony No.6

PHOTO: © SIM CANETTY-CLARKE

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