Roman River Festival 2012

29th September - 7th October 2012

2011-10-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

Clinker Peapod by James Dodds,
Festival Artist 2012

We welcome the wonderful musicians Katharine Gowers, Richard Lester, Tom Poster, James Boyd, Tom Hankey and others, and offer you our very first orchestral concert, a Festival Choir who will rehearse during the week of the festival and perform Mozart's Requiem on the final night, the masterpiece of the chamber music repertoire Schubert's String Quintet, a piano trio recital, songs by Messiaen, family concerts, the world-class vocal ensemble the Philharmonia Voices, and more.

We are delighted to be able to hold ticket prices at last year's level. Prices will range from £2.50 for the family concerts to £22.50 for the best seats at the large-scale events.

Initial details of the festival have been sent out. Please make sure you are on our mailing list by giving your details to info@romanrivermusic.org.uk. We will contact you twice each year by post or email (whichever you prefer) and we never pass on any details to anyone else.

Our friends and supporters have priority booking. Our venues are intimate and most of our concerts sell out, so to ensure your seat please support us by becoming a friend.

James Dodds, Festival Artist 2012

We look forward to welcoming you.

The Roman River Festival team.

Thames Barge at Mersea Island

Overview

2011-10-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday 29th September 2012
11am Nayland Village Hall & 2pm Abberton Village Hall

Family Concerts

Dominic Harlan and friends
Suitable for ages 8-88, all tickets £2.50

11am Sunday 30th September 2012

Solo Bach
Bach Suite no 3 in C major & new work by John Barber

Orlando Jopling cello

6pm Sunday 30th September 2012 Lawford Church
Romantic Violin

Katharine Gowers violin Simon Crawford-Philips piano

onatas by Enesco and Schumann
£17.50 / £7.50

8pm Tuesday 2nd October 2012, St Mary's, Dedham

Philharmonia Voices Aidan Oliver Director

The Bluebird and other masterpieces of the choral repertoire. Ravishing music by Byrd and Weelkes which might have been heard in this very church in the first century of its existence, followed by the great giants of English choral music Parry and Stanford framed by Samuel Barber and James Macmillan conjuring up visions of paradise on earth.
£22.50 / £12.50 side aisles / £7.50

8pm Wednesday 3rd October 2012 St Andrew's Fingringhoe

Tom Poster piano

£17.50 / £7.50

8pm Thursday 4th October 2012 Fordham

Schubert String Quintet

Katharine Gowers & Tom Hankey violins

James Boyd viola

Richard Lester & Orlando Jopling cellos

£17.50 / £7.50
This concert has been generously sponsored by an anonymous patron.

8pm Friday 5th October 2012 St Andrew's Fingringhoe

Piano Trios

Tom Poster piano Tom Hankey violin Richard Lester cello

£17.50 / £7.50

11am Saturday 6th October 2012, Abberton Church tbc
Solo Bach
Bach Suites nos 1 in G major & 5 in C minor for solo cello

Richard Lester cello

£7.50 / £2.50

6pm Saturday 6th October 2012, St Mary's Stoke by Nayland
Grand finale

Britten Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings
Mozart Requiem

Roman River Festival Choir & Orchestra conducted by Orlando Jopling

Soloists

£22.50 / £12.50 / £7.50

11.30am Sunday 7th October 2012, St Edmunds Church, East Mersea

The morning after
Schubert Arpeggione Sonata

James Boyd viola

£12.50 / £5

Katharine Gowers

2011-10-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

You can hear Katharine in recital with Simon Crawford-Phillips at 6pm on Sunday 29th September in Lawford, and playing the Schubert Quintet at 8pm on Thursday 4th October in Fordham.

“the tonal splendour and controlled passion of a Kyung Wha Chung” The Sunday Times

Katharine is one of the most wonderful musicians I have come across, and for years has been top of my list of people to invite to the festival. She has a big solo career, playing concertos with the Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras, the BBC Big Band and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and touring the world with Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra playing Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.

“Gowers’s willingness to take risks pays dividends time and time again…” The Strad

Kathy has recorded for EMI Classics and has frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and across many other European networks, performing chamber music with Alfred Brendel, Imogen Cooper, Steven Kovacevich, Steven Isserlis, Denes Varjon and Lars Vogt. She has appeared at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Aldeburgh Proms, and at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Salzburg, Bath, Lucerne, Delft, Vancouver, City of London, Heimbach, Tresanton, Plush, Spoleto and Oxford festivals. She regularly attends the Open Chamber Music seminar at IMS Prussia Cove.

“lovely, delicate, enthralling performances.” Gramophone

Katharine Gowers studied with David Takeno at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Guildhall School of Music, with Roland and Almita Vamos at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and with Joey Corpus in New York.

“[...] The Lark Ascending, given radiantly unsentimental flight at the hands of Katharine Gowers…” The Times

Tom Poster

2011-10-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

You can hear Tom Poster in recital on Wednesday 3rd October and playing piano trios with Richard Lester and Tom Hankey on Friday 5th October, both in Fingringhoe Church.

Tom is another musician who I have known for over a decade and who I have been wanting to invite to Roman River for years. As you will see from his biography below, he has a stratospheric career which is all the more impressive when you hear him introduce his recital and realise he is totally without pretension or airs.

Tom Poster has established himself as a sensitive and passionate interpreter of an unusually extensive repertoire. He has been described as “an unparalleled sound-magician” (General-Anzeiger) and a “young lion” (The Guardian). He won First Prize at the Scottish International Piano Competition 2007 and the keyboard sections of the Royal Over-Seas League and BBC Young Musician of the Year.

“a marvel who can play anything in any style” (The Herald)

Since his London concerto debut at the age of 13, Tom has appeared in a wide-ranging concerto repertoire of over 30 major works, with orchestras and conductors including the BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier, the BBC Scottish Symphony, Vladimir Ashkenazy, European Union Chamber Orchestra, China National Symphony/En Shao in Beijing and the State Capella Philharmonic in St Petersburg. Tom recently appeared in London and Snape with the Aurora Orchestra playing the Liszt/Scott Bradley Cat Concerto, whose original soloists were Tom and Jerry in the celebrated 1946 MGM animated short.

Tom features regularly on BBC Radio 3 and at the BBC proms as soloist and chamber musician. He has given recitals at concert halls and festivals throughout the UK and in Bonn, Calgary, Hamburg, Leipzig, Paris and the Spoleto Festival. Tom recently gave the world premiere of a solo piano work by Benjamin Britten on Radio 3 to mark the composer’s birthday.

As pianist of the Aronowitz Ensemble he has appeared at the Wigmore and Bridgewater Halls and the Aldeburgh, Bath and Cheltenham Festivals. The Ensemble’s debut CD, Climbing the Skies, was released in 2010.

Tom has recital partnerships with Alison Balsom, Guy Johnston and Jennifer Pike, and has collaborated with the Brodsky, Endellion, Medici, Sacconi and Skampa Quartets. This season he gives a series of performances with Steven Isserlis at the Wigmore Hall.

He has had his compositions performed extensively, including two chamber operas written when he was twelve.

Born in 1981, Tom studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he held a Postgraduate Fellowship, and at King’s College, Cambridge, where he gained a Double First in Music.

Richard Lester

2011-10-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

You can hear Richard playing Schubert's Quintet on Thursday 4th and piano trios on Friday 5th October.

Leading chamber-musician, solo-cellist and member of the much-acclaimed Florestan Trio, Richard Lester appears regularly at the world’s foremost concert venues and festivals. Equally at home on both period instruments and ‘modern’, he is principal cello with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and has recently joined the London Haydn Quartet.

Recent highlights include concerts as soloist, conductor and director with the OAE, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and in Montreal and Quebec with Les Violons du Roy.

He has made over 30 highly acclaimed recordings, twice winning the Gramophone award for best chamber-music. His recordings of the complete works of Mendelssohn for cello and piano with Susan Tomes, and a disc of Boccherini sonatas on period instruments are available on the Hyperion label.

Richard Lester teaches at the Guildhall School.

Philharmonia Voices and Aidan Oliver

2011-10-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

You can hear the Philharmonia Voice in Dedham Church on Tuesday 2nd October

The Philharmonia Voices was founded by Aidan Oliver in 2004 at the invitation of the Philharmonia, one of the world’s great orchestras. He brought together some of the finest young singers in the country and the choir has since established itself as one of the most exciting professional choruses in London, attracting consistently high praise in a wide range of repertoire.

They are incredibly flexible, able to pull off superlative 10-voice acapella performances like the one we will hear at Roman River Festival, and also huge choruses in which guise they have performed Verdi’s Requiem under Riccardo Muti, Mahler’s Third Symphony, the Singin’ in the Rain soundtrack and the first live presentation of Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The choir has performed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and in the prestigious Holy Week Festival in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, performing with Simon Callow. Philharmonia Voices has also worked with Samuel West and Tim Pigott-Smith, and with the early music ensemble His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.

Aidan Oliver

One of the country’s leading young choral

conductors, Aidan Oliver is Director of Music at St Margaret’s Church Westminster, and works as a freelance choir trainer with many of London’s leading professional and amateur choirs.

Having also trained as a répétiteur at the National Opera Studio he is highly active in the field of opera, and has worked on the music staff of most of the UK’s major opera companies.

Since 2004 he has also been Associate Conductor of the St Endellion Summer Festival in Cornwall.

James Boyd

2011-10-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

We welcome back James for the second time to Roman River Festival, playing the greatest piece of the chamber music repertoire - the Schubert Quintet on Thursday 4th October.

James Boyd is widely recognised as one of Britain's finest chamber musicians. He has been a member of some of the country's foremost ensembles and is in demand as a guest artist with many others.

He was a member of the Raphael Ensemble for five years and a founder member of the Vellinger String Quartet. In 2001 he formed the London Haydn Quartet which has been acclaimed for its highly individual stylistic approach, making a particular speciality of the works of Haydn. They have made two recordings on Hyperion.

James has appeared as a regular guest with many ensembles including the Endellion and Wihan Quartets, the Barbican and Florestan Piano Trios, and mixed ensembles such as the Nash Ensemble, Spectrum Ensemble Berlin and the London Sinfonietta.

Gramophone Magazine described his CD of the viola music of York Bowen, with the pianist Bengt Forsberg, as "a gem of a disc!" He teaches chamber music at Cambridge University, the Royal Northern College of Music, Domaine Forget in Quebec, and has co-founded MusicWorks, a chamber music course for young string players.

Recently he has appeared as soloist and conductor of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, in concerts of Beethoven string trios with Peter Cropper and Paul Watkins, and can be heard playing the viola solos on the film, 'Cheri'.

Mozart Requiem

2011-10-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

6pm Saturday 6th October St Mary's Stoke by Nayland

In association with the Pimlott Foundation

Britten Serenade for tenor, horn and strings

The splendour falls on castle walls
From Tennyson's Nocturne, set by Britten

Mozart / Sussmeyer Requiem KV 626

The Roman River Festival Choir and Orchestra

Orlando Jopling conductor

Soloists

£22.50 / £12.50 / £7.50

Tom Hankey

2011-10-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

You can hear Tom playing the Schubert Quintet on Thursday 4th October, piano trios on Friday 5th October, and leading the Festival Orchestra on Saturday 6th Octobert in Stoke-by-Nayland.

As a member of the Aronowitz Ensemble, Tom took part in the Radio 3 New Generation Artist Scheme which involved frequent performances on the radio – live and pre-recorded from venues throughout the UK, including the Wigmore Hall, the Sage Gateshead, the Bridgewater Hall and the Bath, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh and City of London Fesivals. In 2009 the Ensemble won an award from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust which enabled them to release their debut CD on the Sonimage label.

Tom was a founding member of Ensemble Na Mara – a piano quartet/string trio. The group won the 2006 Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Prize, a Tunnell Trust Award and a Kirckman Concert Society Prize.

As a soloist he has given recitals and concerto performances including Beethoven Triple, Prokofiev 1, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and McCabe.

Tom studied the violin with David Takeno, Krzyzstof Smietana, Levon Chilingirian and Yossi Zivoni. He studied at the Purcell School, the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music.

MENDELSSOHN & TCHAIKOWSKY PIANO TRIOS

2011-10-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

Friday 5 October 8pm, St Andrew's Church, Fingringhoe

MENDELSSOHN &TCHAIKOWSKY PIANO TRIOS

Tom Hankey vioin

Richard Lester cello

Tom Poster piano

Mendelssohn Piano trio in D minor Op 49

Huw Watkins Piano trio

Tchaikowsky Piano trio in A minor Op. 50

Radio 3 New Generation Artist Tom Hankey joins Richardlester and Tom Poster in three of the great piano trios; two from familiarcomposers, and one from a young composer who I have long wanted to programme atthe festival.

8pm St Andrew’s Church, Fingringhoe

£17.50 / £7.50

St Mary's, Stoke by Nayland

2011-09-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Church Street

Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk CO6 4QU

01787 210 049

Excellent village website

One of Suffolk's fine 'Wool' churches, its tower dominates the surrounding area for many miles. Decorated outside, its interior has an austere grandeur.

From its Saxon-Norman origins the present perpendicular building dates mainly from the 1300's and late 1500's. Entrance is through a well preserved oak door covered with a Tree of Jesse.

Its fine long nave has an oak arch braced tie beam roof. There is an octagonal font, numerous brasses and two major Memorials dating from the 1600's to Sir Francis Mannock and Lady Helen Windsor.

Photo: Peter French at www.flyingtigers.co.uk

Where to eat

The Angel Inn, Polstead Street

01206 263 245

The Crown, Polstead Street

01206 262 00

Fingringhoe Church

2011-09-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

St Andrew's Church

Fingringhoe

CO5 7BN

MAP

The church is around 5 miles / 15 minutes by car south of Colchester.

Where to eat: The Whalebone 01206 729 307, just opposite the church.

Open from midday at weekends. Food served 6.30-9.30pm, so you can eat before the 8pm concert during the week, and after the weekend 6pm concerts. Closed Sunday evenings.

DESCRIPTION OF CHURCH

Roman River Festival's home church, where the first concert took place. A beautiful, light space with whitewashed walls, the original stone floor and chairs instead of pews.

The most important aspect of the church from Roman River's point of view is the perfect acoustics for chamber music and recitals, but the modern heating system, space in the side aisle, room for a grand piano and easy parking along the road just outside the church also help make St Andrew's one of our favourite festival venues.

The church dates back to the 12th century and the evocative remains of medieval murals can be seen on many walls.

Capacity: 110

Abberton Church

2011-09-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

Rectory Lane

Abberton

CO5 7NJ

MAP

A beautiful, intimate, atmospheric church in a great setting with a fantastic view over the Abberton Reservoir.

Capacity 60.

Need lunch? The Langenhoe Lion is a few minutes drive away.

A free house serving local ales and seasonal food.

12-2.30pm 01206 735 263 Mersea Road Colchester CO5 7LF

The Fat Goose, Tendring, is worth a detour. Fantastic food 5 miles the other side of the Colne valley.

St Mary's, Dedham

2011-09-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

High Street, Dedham

Colchester

Essex CO7 6DE

We are delighted to be performing in the stunning church at Dedham for the first time. The church is hosting the Philharmonia Voices concert on Tuesday 2nd October 2012.

History of the church

The present parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Dedham was built in the 15th century. Building work started in 1492, the year that Columbus discovered America, and St Mary's was completed 30 years later, before King Henry VIII made himself head of the Church in England.

The tower, completed in 1519, is actually an independent structure and is particularly imposing for a church of this size. It is said that Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, paid for the tower to be built. The tower is 131 feet high and is the most striking feature in this part of the Stour Valley.

Panoramic view from the tower (opens in a new window)

Capacity: 350

Food, drink and accommodation:

The Sun Inn, High Street, Dedham, CO7 6DF 01206 323351

The Marlborough Head Hotel, Mill Lane, Dedham, CO7 6DH 01206 323250

The Sun Inn has rooms and this website also has some suggestions on places to stay.

Simon Crawford-Phillips

2011-09-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

We welcome Simon back to the Roman River Festival for the third time, in recital with Katharine Gowers on Sunday 29th September 2012

Simon has played concertos with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, BBC Scottish Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra on Radio 3, Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival, Trondheim Symphony, and NHK Symphony.

Simon is a founding member of the Kungsbacka Trio, which has appeared at the Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Cologne Philharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, Schwetzinger Festspiele, and tour to Australia and New Zealand. The trio hold an annual chamber music festival in Kungsbacka, Sweden.

Simon has a piano duo with Philip Moore. Prizes and awards culminated in their BBC Proms debut in 2001 and in 2004 the Duo received a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship and were appointed Steinway Artists. Highlights in 2005 included debut concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Edinburgh Festival, along with return visits to the South Bank, Bridgewater Hall and Wigmore Hall. A new Concerto for two pianos composed by Detlev Glanert and commissioned by the Duo was premièred in 2008 with the BBCSSO. In 2009 they returned to the BBC Proms for performances with the Britten Sinfonia and London Sinfonietta.

Simon frequently works with Emma Bell, Alice Coote, Sarah Fox, James Gilchrist, Andrew Kennedy, Robert Murray, James Rutherford, Liz Watts and instrumentalists Emily Beynon, Natalie Clein, Colin Currie, Janine Jansen, Pekka Kuusisto, Sergei Krylov, Krysia Osostowicz and Lawrence Power.

He also appears regularly as a guest with the Nash Ensemble, ECO chamber ensemble, Philharmonia soloists, Leopold String Trio and the Barbirolli, Cremona, Dante and Royal String Quartets.

A perfomer at many of the European festivals (Bath, City of London, Cheltenham, Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Lockenhaus, Mecklenburg, Montpelier, Obertsdorf, Oslo, Schwetzinger, Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein and Verbier).

In addition to radio and television broadcasts in Europe, Australia and Japan he has recorded for the Dex-Elles, Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Naxos, Signum and Spex CD labels.

Simon is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and holds teaching positions at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne were followed by a Masters Degree and a Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He studied subsequently with Ferenc Rados.

Simon's website

Solo Bach & Barber

2011-09-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sunday 30 September 11.30am

SOLO BACH AT ABBERTON

Orlando Jopling cello

Bach Suite no. 3 in C major for solo cello

John Barber World premier of new piece for solo cello

John Barber is one of our mostexciting young composers. Sculptor John Doubleday has commissioned him to writea piece.

11.30am Abberton Church

£7.50

Festival Artist - James Dodds

2011-09-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled that James Dodds has allowed us to use images of his work in our festival publicity.

James Dodds was born in the east coast fishing town of Brightlingsea, and trained as a shipwright in Maldon. He then studied painting at Chelsea and the Royal College of Art, London. He has also conceived, illustrated and hand-produced a series of artists books.

James regularly exhibits at Messum's Fine Art, Cork St, London, Hayletts Gallery Maldon, Northouse Gallery, and Bircham Contemporary Arts.

He had a major retrospective show, "Shipshape", at firstsite at The Minories in Colchester in November 2001. This show subsequently toured at Whitstable, Herne Bay, Frome, the Isle of Wight, Barnard Castle, the National Maritime Museum of Cornwall, the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. Great Yarmouth and Hartlepool.

His work has been purchased by Britten-Pears Library, Aldeburgh; Victoria and Albert Museum; Clacton & Rochford Hospitals; Chelmsford and Essex Museums; Ipswich Borough Council, Museums and Galleries; Colchester Borough Council; Horniman Museum, London and many private collectors.

In July 2007 James was very pleased to accept the offer of an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex in recognition of his "distinguished contribution to the local community as an artist and defender of our community and natural heritage."

James has his own press the Jardine Press, where he creates beautiful books and prints.

James Dodds' website

St Mary's Lawford

2011-09-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Church Hill, Lawford
Manningtree CO11 2JX

You can hear Katharine Gowers and Simon Crawford-Phillips give a violin and piano recital here on Sunday 30th September 2012.

We are thrilled to be performing in Lawford Church for the first time. The Church is a real inspiration - beautifully renovated, with underfloor heating and comfortable seating which we will arrange in a semi-circle round the performers.

Church Hill Lawford Manningtree Essex CO11 2JX

www.lawfordchurch.co.uk

MAP

View Larger Map

Violin & piano recital

2011-09-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday 30 September 6pm Lawford Church

ROMANTIC VIOLIN

Katharine Gowers violin

Simon Crawford-Philips piano

Enescu Sonata in A minor, Op 25

Schumann Sonata no. 2 in D Op 121

Katharine Gowers is a star ofthe violin world, with a flawless technique, wonderful sound and a bigpersonality. Here she performs two romantic and moving masterpieces of the duorepertoire.

the tonal splendour andcontrolled passion of a Kyung Wha Chung
The Sunday Times

£17.50 / £7.50

Dominic Harlan

2011-09-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

Dominic is Roman River's Music Days Director, and will lead the music days in various schools, the family concerts, and the schools showcase on Saturday 29th September.

Dominic's website.

Biography

Dominic Harlan is one of the UK's leading music animateurs and is artistic director of Glyndebourne's 'Opera Experience' programme. With his high-octane approach, musicality and powerful gift as a communicator, Dominic has devised and lead projects for English National Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, Netherlands Opera, Wigmore Hall, Deal Festival, Brighton Festival, in Europe and in the Middle East.

Following studies at London's Royal Academy of Music, he has performed as a pianist throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, India, The Gulf and North America, recorded for Warner Sunset, Naxos, Avie and broadcast for TV and radio. In concert Dominic has appeared with international artists that include Alexander Baillie, Matthew Sharp, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Errolyn Wallen, Sophie Daneman, Sarah Gabriel and Narimichi Kawabata.

His work as musical director includes, among many others, three productions for Streetwise Opera (Canticles in Westminster Abbey, the Ceremony of Carols at New College, Oxford and Mahler's Ruckert Lieder) and his own arrangement of The Magic Flute for Glyndebourne Education/Brighton Festival.

All Saints, Fordham

2011-09-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

Church Road, Fordham, CO6 3NL

You can hear the Schubert String Quintet played by some of the UK's finest chamber musicians in Fordham at 8pm on Thursday 4th October.

We are delighted to be performing in Fordham Church for the first time. The church is warm, well kept, and sightlines are excellent thanks to a beautiful new balcony designed by Quinlan Terry, a member of the congregation.

Patricia Lewis has done some research into the history of the building. The nave is believed to date from the 11th century. The earliest known mention of the church was in 1087, when it was given by William the Conqueror to the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. A major reconstruction took place in the 14th century, and the tower was rebuilt in 1796 after the spire fell down. In common with most churches in the UK, there were restorations in the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

The immediate surroundings of the church are idyllic and there is car parking. According to the church's website, a private trust has given the PCC the use of Fordham Hall, a lovely house next door to the church, and they also own a beautiful barn which has been named after John Owen, a distinguised theologian who became Rector of the church after writing a spirited defence of Calvinism in 1743. He later became preacher to Parliament, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell and Vice Chancellor of Oxford university.

Fordham PCC is in the evangelical tradition, and we are happy to be able to programme one of the masterpieces of Franz Schubert, a deeply religious composer who grew up singing in the choir of the imperial court chapel in Vienna and who by the age of 19 had already composed four complete settings of the Mass text.

If you are interested in spiritual music you might also like the Philharmonia Voices concert in Dedham and the performance of Mozart's Requiem in Stoke by Nayland church.

Food

There are two pubs in Fordham, The Three Horseshoes (click to go through to their website) and The Shoulder of Mutton (Halstead Road, Colchester, Essex CO6 3LL 01206 240464 - no website).

Schools showcase

2011-09-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday 29 September 4pm

Massed choirs of primary schools who have taken part in the Roman River schools project.

The audience of the family concerts

Dominic Harlan

Various songs

Colchester

£5 / £5 Doorsopen at 3.30pm

Family concerts

2011-09-01T03:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday 29 September 11am and 1pm

Family concerts

Dominic Harlan and friends

Various songs

A thrilling up-close encounterwith two top classical singers. For everyone aged 8-88.

11am Nayland Village Hall, Nayland CO6 4JH

1pm Abberton & Langenhoe Village Hall Edwards Marks Drive, Abberton CO5 7LP

All tickets £2.50

Richard Lester plays solo Bach

2011-09-01T03:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday 6 October 11am

SOLO BACH

Richard Lester cello

Bach Suite for solo cello no. 1 in G major and 5 in Cminor

The dramatic 5th Suite in C minor requires the cellist to tune the A string down to a G, darkening the tone of the cello and providing a new resonance to the lower G string. It is the only cello Suite of the six neverto have been played at the festival. The well-known first Suite in G major is intimate and playful by contrast.

the playing and interpretation areperfection; every note, every phrase, every balance is beyond criticism.

Fanfare magazine on Richard Lester and the Florestan Trio.

£7.50 / £2.50

Schubert Quintet

2011-09-01T03:12:00.000-07:00

Thursday 4 October 8pm, All Saints Church, Fordham

SCHUBERT QUINTET

Katharine Gowers and Tom Hankey violins

James Boyd violin

Richard Lester and Orlando Jopling cellos

First half to be confirmed

interval

Schubert Quintet in C major D956

The great masterpiece of the chamber music repertoire,played by some of the top chamber musicians in the country.

lovely,delicate, enthralling performances. Gramophone on Katharine Gowers

£17.50 / £7.50

Tom Poster

2011-07-01T03:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 3 October 8pm

TOM POSTER

Tom Poster piano

Beethoven Sonata in E major Op. 109
Grieg Lyric Pieces Op. 43
Chopin Sonata in Bb minor Op.35

Tom Poster has been described as “an unparalleledsound-magician” (General-Anzeiger) and a “young lion” (The Guardian). He wonFirst Prize at the Scottish International Piano Competition 2007 and thekeyboard sections of the Royal Over-Seas League and BBC Young Musician of theYear.

a marvel who can play anything in any style (The Herald)

6pm St Andrew’s Church, Fingringhoe

£17.50 / £7.50

St Edmund King and Martyr, East Mersea

2011-06-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Church Lane, East Mersea, CO5 8TJ

MAP

A wonderfully light and airy church, warm and welcoming, where Ruth and Martin Dence and their team prepare the most delicious eats after the concert.

East Mersea Parish church, dedicated to St Edmund, was where the Rev. Sabine Baring Gould (author of hymns including 'Onward Christian Soldiers' and 'Now the day is over' as well as 'Mehalah' a local story of violence and tragedy) was Rector from 1870-1881.

St. Edmunds church is built of local flint and is situated in Church Lane. It is 600 years old and it took 200 years to build. During the Catholic period a tower was built with 5 bells but now only one remains. The door to the tower is unusual in having three locks. It is thought locally that it was used for smuggling in the 17th century as the three keys were held by different people. The family box-pews have been replaced by chairs made by a local craftsman which can seat up to 80 people.

Become a friend or supporter of Roman River Music

2011-06-10T03:37:00.000-07:00

For priority booking, please help Roman River Music put on great concerts and bring music to children in deprived areas of north-east Essex. There are four levels of support; £25, £75, £150 and £250.

The easiest way to pay is by paypal.

Or you can print out and send the below form to us and the standing order authority to your bank.

If you would like to sponsor a whole concert, which cost between £700 and £4,000 to put on, your generous gift will be acknowledged in all our promotional material and programmes. Please get in touch using the address at the bottom of the webpage.

Thank you.

Name …………………………………………………………………………………..

Contact details ………………………………………………………………………………………………....

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(please circle below)

Supporter from £25 per year

Friend from £75 per year

Patron from £150 per year

Benefactor from £250 per year

□ I have completed the Standing Order Authority and sent it to my bank.

□ GIFT AID - I am a UK taxpayer and would be happy for you to reclaim the tax I have paid. Roman River Music is registered charity no. 1126395

Please make cheque payable to Roman River Music and send to:

Zélie Jopling, Director of Roman River Music, South Green Farmhouse, Fingringhoe, CO5 7DP. Thank you.

□ Please contact me by email rather than post.

Email address ……………………………………………………………..

...……………………………(tear here)………………………………………

Standing Order Authority

To: The Manager, ……………………………………………..(name of your bank)

Address of bank: …………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Post Code …………………………………………….

Account Number………………………………… Branch Sort Code ………/………../……….

Account Name …………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please pay the sum of £……………… (words)

……………… from the account detailed above, on the same day each year, commencing: date………, month………, year……… until further notice.

To: Roman River Music. Account no: 25 37 20 83. Sort Code: 09 01 55

Santander UK plc, Bridle Road, Bootle, Merseyside L30 4GB

Signed………………………………………………………………….Date………………………………………………….

Please send the completed form to your bank. Thank you.

Roman River Festival choir

2011-06-10T03:23:00.000-07:00

The monastery at Maria-Schutz
where the first performance of Mozart's Requiem
probably took place.

In association with the Pimlott Foundation

During the 2012 festival, the Festival Choir will rehearse Mozart's Requiem for a performance in Stoke by Nayland church on Saturday 6th October, with a professional orchestra and soloists and conducted by the festival's artistic director Orlando Jopling.

If you would like to join the choir, please write the rehearsals below into your diary and print out, fill in and send us the form below as soon as possible, as places are limited to 25 per part and some sections are already almost full. You will be required to prepare your part so that it will be possible to achieve an excellent performance in just three rehearsals plus a general rehearsal on the day.

Rehearsals will be as follows in a beautiful warm barn in Great Horkesley with a grand piano, generously donated Daniela Bechly on behalf of the Pimlott Foundation. We are very lucky to have Leslie Olive, himself a top class conductor and choral trainer, as our rehearsal pianist. Attendance at rehearsals will be compulsory unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Thursday 27th September 1900-2130
Saturday 29th September 1000-1230
Friday 5nd October 1900-2130

On Saturday 6th October the choir will join the orchestra to rehearse 2-4pm. The concert starts at 6pm with Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, with the Mozart Requiem in the second half, followed by a reception to which the whole choir is invited.

The cost for taking part is £12.50.

We will perform the Sussmeyer version (the most well-known and most-performed version). Nearer the time we will confirm the edition to be used in rehearsals and which editions are compatible.

This is a major event for the festival to organise, and we are depending on a team of volunteers to make it run smoothly. If you could help, or a friend, partner or relative would like to be involved but does not want to sing, we would be very grateful. We need someone to organise staging for the choir, set up the orchestra chairs and stands, provide tea & coffee etc during the rehearsals, and most importantly organise the party afterwards! We’ll also need many hands to make light work of publicising the concert by putting up a few posters

NAME ........................................................

Please circle the part you would like to sing Soprano, alto, tenor, bass

Please list your choral experience (it does not need to be exhaustive, just to give us an idea of your level of experience)

Have you sung the Mozart Requiem before? YES / NO

Are you familiar with the work as a listener? YES / NO

Please confirm you happy to prepare your part so to make the best use of the limited rehearsal time available. Thank you.

YES

I am / my friend, partner or relative …………………………. is happy to help with:

staging/risers/music stands putting up five posters tea / coffee party

Thank you very much indeed for your help.

I enclose a cheque for £12.50 made payable to Roman River Music. Places are limited to 25 per part and your cheque will only be cashed if you are accepted.

Address

Email Phone number

We would like to keep your details so we can keep in touch. We write to everyone each January with details of the festival and in May with the brochure. Please let us know if you would not like this! Please return to

Mrs Jill Hill
Roman River Festival Choir Manager
Elm Tree House
104 Coast Rd
West Mersea CO5 8NA
01206 382 934

Orlando Jopling

2011-06-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

Orlando Jopling is the Artistic Director of Roman River Music.

Orlando will be playing solo Bach and Barber on Sunday 30th September, Schubert's Quintet on Thursday 4th October and conducting Mozart's Requiem on Saturday 6th October.

Orlando's website

Orlando Jopling regularly conducts the English Chamber Orchestra both in the recording studio and on the concert platform, and has also conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, the Schönbrunn Orchestra in Vienna, and Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, as well as many amateur orchestras in the UK.

He is Musical Director of the 140-year-old Royal Orchestral Society in London with whom he has conducted Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's 9th Symphony. In St John's, Smith Square next season he will conduct the Sea Symphony, Mahler's 4th Symphony, The Planets, Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky and concertos with Piers Lane and Emma Johnson.

After graduating from the National Opera Studio in London where he won the first Leonard Hancock scholarship, Orlando Jopling co-founded the modern opera company Tête à Tête and conducted over a dozen commissioned operas and the modern world première of Vivaldi's lost opera Orlando finto pazzo as well as Die Fledermaus and other standard repertoire. He worked with Diego Masson on the three Mozart / Da Ponte operas at Dartington and went on to conduct Figaro for Savoy Opera, The Merry Widow for Carl Rosa, La Scala di Seta for Independent Opera, Albert Herring for British Youth Opera and Don Giovanni, Figaro and Idomeneo in Vienna with the Schönbrunn Orchestra. More recently he co-founded Stanley Hall Opera with Christopher Stewart-Smith and developed it into an established annual festival, conducting Falstaff, Così fan tutte, Figaro, Don Pasquale and Cenerentola. Among other repertoire he has conducted La Traviata, Don Carlos, Cav & Pag, The Pearlfishers, Paul Bunyan, A Streetcar named Desire and most recently Don Giovanni in Bahrain.

Orlando Jopling has assisted André Previn, Sir Colin Davis, Paul McGrath and Wyn Davies at some of the major UK opera companies including Scottish Opera. He has accompanied a wide range of soloists including Sinéad O'Connor and Martha Wainwright. His music for TV has been heard on all the major UK channels.

Orlando went to the Royal Grammar School in Colchester, read music at Trinity College Cambridge, and then studied conducting at the Royal Academy in London. He also studied cello with the legendary William Pleeth, Alexander Baillie and Raphael Wallfisch, and has recorded all six Bach suites for solo cello. In the last three years he has given over 70 recitals and occasional concerto performances.

Book tickets

2011-06-10T03:08:00.000-07:00

Here you will be able to book tickets for the 2012 festival using paypal. This is fast becoming the most popular method of buying tickets, as the immediate payment ensures your seat and the process is easier than printing off the booking form and sending a cheque. It also relieves some of the workload of our wonderful team of volunteers who keep the running costs of the festival to almost zero.

However you are also very welcome to click here for a booking form which you can print out and send back to us with a cheque.

Book tickets by cheque

2011-06-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Here you will find the booking form which you will be able to print out and send us with your cheque.

Philharmonia Voices

2011-06-05T02:54:00.000-07:00

Dedham Church

8pm Tuesday 2nd October 2012, St Mary's, Dedham

Philharmonia Voices Aidan Oliver Director

The Bluebird and other masterpieces of the choral repertoire.

Weelkes Gloria in excelsis Dering Factum est silentium Palestrina O rex gloriae
Byrd Viri Galilaei Victoria Duo seraphim Lassus Sanctus (Missa in te Domine)
Victoria O quam gloriosum Philips Gaudent in coelis (Plainsong) In paradisum
Byrd Justorum animae

Poston Jesus Christ the apple tree
Parry My soul, there is a country & Never weather-beaten sail
Barber Heaven-haven & Let down the bars, o death
Clemens Ego flos campi
Stanford The bluebird
Macmillan Christus vincit

Renaissance motets for Ascension, All Souls and All Saints, including ravishing music by Byrd and Weelkes which might have been heard in this very church in the first century of its existence. During the second half the great giants of English choral music Parry and Stanford are framed by moving music by Samuel Barber and James Macmillan, conjuring up visions of paradise on earth, from a nun contemplating the appeal of the cloistered life, to a depiction of perfect stillness by a tranquil lake.

£22.50 / £12.50 side aisles / £7.50

Festival team

2011-05-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

Each year a wonderful team of volunteers help put up posters, look after our audience at the concerts, have our musicians to stay, have their living rooms taken over with rehearsals, ferry people between stations, airports and concert venues, and help in a myriad of other ways. We have a lot of fun and we love being part of this week of beautiful music.

If you would like to join the team, please get in touch via the contact details below. Most people do it for the love of music and the social time we have, but we also offer free tickets.

Salthouse Alterpiece by James Dodds, Festival Artist 2012

Support us

2011-05-10T03:49:00.000-07:00

Roman River Festival presents world-class musicians in beautiful and charismatic venues in North-East Essex. Please help us by sponsoring one of our wonderful soloists or a whole concert.

If you would like your company or business to be associated with this kind of quality, please get in touch about sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Each year our brochure is studied by over 5,000 people, our website gets over 5,000 hits, our posters are seen by over 10,000 people, we advertise in the Aldeburgh brochure which reaches over 100,000 people, we receive good coverage in local press and arts websites, and our beautifully designed festival programme book is read by well over 1,000 keen and receptive festival-goers.

Although we receive recognition and support from local funding bodies, we are dependent on the steady support of our friends and benefactors to continue our music days project, the only one of its kind in the area, and bringing outstanding musicians to our lovely corner of Essex. Roman River Music is registered charity no. 1126395.

Please consider leaving a bequest in your Will, or donating a sum in memory of someone, to enable us to continue bringing music into the lives of children who otherwise have no access to it. Because we are a charity your bequest will help minimise your tax liability.

If you would like to help us with the 2012 Festival please get in touch via the contact details below.