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Performance, Page 11

Made in Italy – From Rome to Venice

Many performance projects at Southampton are completely student-led, from the initial idea to final realisation. Natalie Davies (year 3) tells us about the final extravaganza of our Italian weekend, featuring rare Roman cantatas matched up with Vivaldi favourites: Having had just over two weeks to rehearse the Vivaldi Gloria with the choir, it was not without trepidation that we came together with the orchestra on Sunday for our last rehearsal before the evening’s concert. Continue reading →

Southampton saxes at the RCM

Last week undergraduate Kathryn Firth (year 2) and fellow saxophonists from Southampton went to  London with their tutor Dr Angela Space for a specialist masterclass.  Kathryn tells us what they learned: Last Friday (7th February), I travelled to London with six other undergraduate classical saxophone students from the university for a Saxophone Masterclass with Lars Mlekusch at the Royal College of Music. Continue reading →

Shlomowitz and Knoop CD Launch in Germany

Lecturer in Composition Matthew Shlomowitz reports back after a recent trip to Germany: In January 2014 Mark Knoop (Turner Sims New Music Fellow) and I travelled to Germany for concerts in Berlin and Hamburg to mark the release of Mark’s CD on the Belgian label Sub Rosa. The CD features two large-scale works for piano and pre-recorded sound by Austrian composer Peter Ablinger and myself. Continue reading →

Performing for a pro

Last week the Music Director of Carnival UK came to hear some of our undergraduate musicians.  Singer-songwriter Olly Lewis (year 3) tells us about performing for one of the region's top entertainment employers: When Dave Desmond from Carnival Cruises was invited to our weekly Jazz and Pop performance workshops, it was an honour to perform on behalf of Southampton's music department and to get professional feedback from him. Continue reading →

Happy holidays

We're now closed for business until 2 January.  Along with our best wishes of the season, here's a warm account of our final festive event from Phil Draisey (year 3) - with a link to the live streamed video at the bottom.  Happy holidays to all from the staff and students of the Music department! Over to Phil: It’s December the 13th, the last day of term at the University of Southampton. There is a seeping chill in the air and winter rain falls for the first time this month. Continue reading →

I’m dreaming of a French Christmas

In the first of two seasonal posts before we close down for the holidays, Head of Early Music Liz Kenny writes about the work that led to concerts with her early music ensemble, Theatre of the Ayre, in Southampton and London last week: With performance projects, getting the first plank or idea in place is the tricky bit, but once that’s done other ideas suggest themselves and the thing gets rolling. Continue reading →

Music returns to Chawton House

The Department of Music has just launched a new concert series in collaboration with our friends and long-time partners at Chawton House Library, the research centre in the beautiful country house formerly owned by Jane Austen's brother.  Postgraduate pianist Ellen Day tells us about the performance: On December 10 we gathered at Chawton House for the inaugural concert, featuring a newly restored 1828 Stodart grand piano. Continue reading →

Michael Finnissy Chi Mei Ricercari Tour Part 2

Senior lecturer Tom Irvine updates us on the how the tour of Michael Finnissy's new piece is going:  Greetings from Hsinchu, Taiwan's own 'windy city' and home of National Chiao Tung University, the hosts of the second of our three concerts. It's been a real whirlwind. We left lovely laid-back Tainan this morning after the very successful premiere there last night, celebrated afterwards with a outdoor (!) reception with new friends and old. Continue reading →

UoS Voices sing out

Almost exactly a year ago Turner Sims Professor of Music Harvey Brough launched a new community choir based in the university.  Elwyn Edwards tells us what led the group to their first big stage appearance last week (and there's a video at the end of the post!): Like many people I have had a secret ambition to sing in a choir for most of my adult life. Continue reading →

Michael Finnissy Chi Mei Ricercari Tour, Part 1

Senior lecturer Tom Irvine is about to set off for Taiwan where he will hear the premiere of our chair of composition Michael Finnissy's new pieces for cello and piano.  Tom has promised to send posts throughout the tour but already has one advance report on how things are going: I'm still here in comparatively wintery Southampton, wondering if I will set off tomorrow as planned given various air-traffic problems in the skies overhead. Continue reading →

The harp, South American style

Earlier this month Charlie Grimsey and Cerys Beesley (year 2) participated in a fantastic workshop in Turner Sims: On the 4th November the word quickly spread that there was going to be a harp recital at the Turner Sims lunchtime concert series. What we didn’t expect was the charismatic Columbian harpist, Diego Laverde Rojas, to take the packed audience on a whirlwind tour of his homeland. Continue reading →

Britten and Mahler

November 17 saw a major event in our series marking the Britten anniversary. Cantores Michaelis singer and year 3 Music student Hannah Woodhouse, who was a soloist in the concert, tells us how it went: Last weekend music students from across the University of Southampton came together to produce a centenary concert marking Benjamin Britten’s birth. Continue reading →