This August Purbeck Art Weeks Festival (PAW) will be hosting five classical music concerts featuring musicians of international repute with repertoire ranging from baroque to jazz.
I Fagiolini launches the festival with a musical journey through the year in The Changing Seasons inspired by the paintings of the renaissance artist Pieter Brueghel and featuring music that captures the essence of spring, summer, autumn and winter from Monteverdi and Schütz to Poulenc and Britten.
I Fagiolini are grounded in the classics of renaissance and 20th century vocal repertoire and are renowned for their innovative and often staged productions of this music. Not to be missed!
August 7, The Priory Church of Lady St Mary, Wareham
In, From Love to Despair, The Fieri Consort and the Chelys Consort of Viols explore the full gamut of Elizabethan emotions expressed through music from this time including part songs and fantasias by Michael East (1580 – 1648) and choral works by Byrd, Gibbons, and Tallis. Founded in 2012, Fieri Consort is one of the UK’s most exciting vocal groups, they specialise in the rich and varied music tradition of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Chelys Consort of Viols are among the UK’s leading exponents of the viol, particularly as a consort instrument, theirs are all strung with gut. They have made recordings of viol music by Dowland, Purcell, East and other composers and have also commissioned new works.
August 10 at St James’ Church, Kingston
Wind Quintets, featuring leading clarinettist Michael Collins and London Winds, takes us through a the history of the wind quintet from Mozart and Danzi to Dvořák and Bartók. London Winds is a flexible group of virtuoso players who also enjoy active solo careers and are one of the world’s premier chamber ensembles. Their line-up for this event is Philippa Davies (flute), Gareth Hulse (oboe), Michael Collins (clarinet), Richard Watkins (horn) and Robin O’Neill (bassoon).
August 11, The Priory Church of Lady St Mary, Wareham
In, The Gem Within, internationally renowned violinist Rachel Podger, a leading interpreter of the Baroque and Classical music periods, showcases Bach’s works for both solo violin and string trio (Alfonso Leal del Ojo- viola and Alex Rolton – cello) including Six Preludes & Fugues.
She is joined by Sestina, a Belfast-based male voice ensemble led by counter tenor Mark Chambers, who specialise in early music. They will perform renaissance choral gems by Tallis, Byrd and others.
August 12, The Priory Church of Lady St Mary, Wareham
The PAW concert series finishes with some of the UK’s finest trombone players in Trombone Quartets: The Evolution of the Trombone featuring works from Mozart and Beethoven to Hoagy Carmichael. These will be played by The Concert Trombone Quartette (CTQ) and Studio 5. CTQ line-up is Sue Addison, Emily White, Miguel Tantos (alto & tenor trombones), Adrian France (bass trombone & director) and Robert Macdonald (bass voice). Founded in 2018, its name is taken from a prominent trombone quartet active in London from 1892–1896. CTQ perform repertoire originally written for trombone on the instruments at the time of the compositions, giving a unique insight into the sound world that composers such as Schütz, Beethoven and Bruckner would have been familiar with in their own compositions.
Studio 5 features some of Britain’s brightest millennial brass talent. James Buckle, Mike Buchannan, Matthew Lewis and Tom Berry first met as teenagers at the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Between them they have frequented many of the world’s top orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing in their own right in chambers groups and as soloists.
August 21 , St Mary’s Church , Swanage
All concerts start at 6.30pm. To buy tickets go to purbeckartweeksfestival.co.uk where you can also find the full PAW events programme including their collective art exhibition at Rollington Barn, near Corfe Castle and open studio events (September 11 - 26).
