Pre-Concert Talk
Michael Collins talks about the evening's programme
Entrance: Free (access to the pre-concert talk by concert ticket
7.30pm Wycombe
Swan, High Wycombe
Orchestral Concert
Conductor
and Clarinet:
Michael Collins
Soloist:
Noriko Ogawa
- piano
Nicholas Betts
- trumpet
| Rossini Shostakovich - Interval - Weber Mozart |
String Sonata No. 1 in G Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor Clarinet Quintet (arranged for clarinet and strings) Symphony No. 40 |
City of London Sinfonia is one of the UK's leading professional orchestras and performs more than one hundred concerts each year in London, throughout the UK and abroad. Founded in 1971 by its Music Director Richard Hickox CBE, it has established a reputation for thoughtfully combined programmes, a commitment to music by 20th and contemporary British composers and for the expert stylistic interpretation of the repertoire performed.
City of London Sinfonia engages audiences in vibrant and fresh performances that reach over over 100,000 each year in both the concert hall and through participation in education projects. The Orchestra brings regular professional orchestral presence to two UK regions with its successful concert series in High Wycombe and Chatham. It has performed regularly at London's Cadogan Hall since in 2007, continues to be engaged as a guest at major festivals throughout the UK and abroad, and has been Resident Orchestra at Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park since 2004.
Michael Collins' dazzling virtuosity and sensitive musicianship have made him one of today's most sought-after soloists. At 16 he won the woodwind prize in the first BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and at 22 made his American début at Carnegie Hall, New York.
Since then he has performed as a soloist with many of the world's major orchestras, including the Philadelphia, NHK Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, City of Birmingham Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra. Since his first performance at the BBC Proms, Collins has returned to the festival more often than any other wind soloist, including several appearances at the renowned Last Night of the Proms.
As a chamber musician, he has a long standing relationship with Wigmore Hall and this season sees him enjoy a further residency there. Indisputably one of the leading clarinetists of his generation, Collins has formed close alliances with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Carlo Maria Giulini, Neeme Järvi, Tadaaki Otaka, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Leonard Slatkin and Mikhail Pletnev.
In recent seasons Collins has become increasingly highly regarded as a conductor and from September 2010 assumed the role of Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia. His successes as a conductor with both the City of London Sinfonia and other orchestras with whom he works as a guest conductor, including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, London Mozart Players, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony and Johannesburg Philharmonic are testament to the persuasive musicianship and galvanising leadership that is evident in both his playing and conducting.
Noriko Ogawa has achieved considerable renown throughout the world since her success at the 1987 Leeds International Piano Competition. Ogawa's "ravishingly poetic playing" (Telegraph) sets her apart from her contemporaries.
Ogawa appears with all the major UK, European, Japanese and US orchestras. With her wonderful dynamic range and colour palate, Ogawa's particular affinities range from the works of Takemitsu, through the larger Romantic composers such as Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, to contemporary concerti commissioned from Graham Fitkin and Dai Fujikura. Amongst the leading conductors she has worked with are Dutoit, Vanska, Vonk, Lazarev, de Roo, Brabbins, Pesek, Slatkin, Fischer, Herbig, Otaka, Rozhdestvensky and Tortelier.
Ogawa is also renowned as a recitalist and chamber musician. In February 2008, Ogawa made her recital debut at Suntory Hall, Japan for her 20th anniversary concert. Notable chamber projects include a tour of Japan with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble and the leader of the Vienna Philharmonic, Rainer Honeck. In 2001 Ogawa and Kathryn Stott launched their piano duo and have since toured in Japan and given premieres of Graham Fitkin’s double piano concerto Circuit, including the world premiere at Bridgewater Hall. Ogawa has also collaborated with Steven Isserlis, Isabelle van Keulen, Martin Roscoe, Michael Collins and Peter Donohoe.
An advocate of commissioning, Ogawa has been involved in numerous premieres. Ogawa has toured in Japan with Evelyn Glennie, premiering an exciting new commission for two pianos and percussion by Yoshihiro Kanno. In February 2009, Ogawa performed the premiere of Dai Fujikura's Ampere for piano and toy piano, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins. Ogawa’s current ongoing commission is a ground-breaking series of four recital pieces from Kanno which feature the piano alongside various traditional Japanese instruments or sounds; the first for Nambu bell and piano Hikari no Ryushi (A Particle of Light) will be followed by Mizu no Ryushi (A Particle of Water) for metal chopsticks and piano.
Noriko lives with her partner Philip and their cat Tama. When not practising she enjoys writing and cooking for friends. As a writer, Ogawa has completed her first book (published in Japan) and is a regular columnist for the music press both in the UK and in Japan.
Tickets: £26.00, £21.00, £17.00 Book
Tickets
(Concession of £1.50 for Under 16s, Over 60s, job seekers, full-time
students, registered disabled. Group Rate: 10% off for groups of 8+.
10% discount for booking the CLS Season of 4 or 5 concerts)
The Encore
Join CLS musicians in the bar after the concert for a chat and a ten-minute performance of light music.
This concert is supported by Orchestras Live