Rosenkavalier waltzes at King Charles

In a change to the programme for tomorrow night's concert, Nathaniel Vallois and Charles Wiffen will now perform the following:

Sonata in G for violin and piano, op. 96 - Beethoven
Sonata in E flat, op. 81a, Les Adieux - Beethoven
Sonata in G minor - Claude Debussy
Walzer from Der Rosenkavalier - Richard Strauss (arr. Vasa Prihoda)
Spanish Songs - Joaquin Nin

This is a reprise of a recent concert they have staged, and it promises to be great fun!

7:30pm at King Charles the Martyr, TN1 1YX, Tickets £12 on the door or £10 from kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk

Organ series 2012

Three organ recitals by some of the best local players, arranged by Michael Bacon. Each concert starts at 5:30pm and lasts 30-35 minutes. (The evening service follows at 6:30, for those wishing to stay on.)
There will be a retiring collection.

Sunday 23 September, 5:30pm
Andrew Hanley
Andrew Hanley studied music at Bristol University, specializing in 17th-century English music and organ performance. As an academic his work has appeared in several publications, including Dictionary of National Biography and New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. For his MA (Mus) he specialised in the music of a rather obscure 17th-century English composer, Richard Mico. Andrew has been a church organist since the age of 14, and is currently Director of Music at All Saints, Langton Green. By profession, he is a music publisher, currently head of publishing at Edition Peters - before this he worked for the publishing division of Boosey & Hawkes.
His programme will feature baroque, and baroque-influenced music, ranging from Bach to Langlais.

Sunday 28 October, 5:30pm
Luke Navin
Luke is a very promising young player, currently organ scholar at Worth School, Sussex, where he studies both organ and piano. He began learning the piano when he was seven years old and the organ four years later. He has played various concerts at school and elsewhere on piano and organ - a recent highlight being a performance of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony in Worth Abbey. His programme will include music by Bach, Vierne and Howells.

Sunday 25 November, 5:30pm
Jonathan Hagger
Jonathan Hagger, has been playing for services at KCM for more than 20 years, gained his ARCM under Richard Popplewell (St Michael's Cornhill and Chapel Royal). He and his wife Anne met when she joined his church choir when they lived in Essex. He has played organs as far apart as Sydney Town Hall and Washington Anglican Cathedral but his favourite instrument is St Sulpice in Paris where he met the celebrated organist Marcel Dupré on several occasions.
His programme will start with a festive section, which will include the popular March from Scipio by Handel. The second half will be more meditative and feature a Mozart clock piece originally unearthed by Gillian Weir and copied by hand for Jonathan, Messiaen's timeless Banquet Céleste, one of Dupré's vespers and the Pie Jesu from the Requiem by Fauré.

Archaeus Quartet open series

Archaeus Quartet 15 September, 7:30pm

Ann Hooley, Louise Bevan - violins

Elizabeth Turnball - viola, Martin Thomas - cello

“Deeply committed performance by the Archaeus Quartet”

-         The Independent

The Archaeus Quartet will be performing as part of the “Music at King Charles” Autumn Chamber Music Series on Saturday 15^th September. This firmly established group will be playing a late work by Haydn, overflowing with melody and musical invention; a group of “Cypresses” by the youthful and impetuous Dvorak: love songs of the utmost tenderness; and the dramatic and exciting “Rasumovsky” op.59 no.2 by Beethoven. An evening’s music making not to be missed!


For booking information email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk
Tickets may also be purchased from Hall's Bookshop, Chapel Place
Details of all concerts here

Tickets from Hall's Bookshop

We're very grateful to Peter and all the staff at Hall's Bookshop for being a point of sale for tickets to Music at King Charles. You'll find Hall's right next to the church, so next time you are passing you will be able to pick up some tickets from there.

Otherwise, just email us at kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk to place your order.

The next concert is on 15 September.
See: details of all this season's concerts.

Past performers

Looking back over the past few years, we're very proud of the array of talent involved in Music at King Charles. Here is a list of people who have performed here in the last six years.

Adriano Graziani  | Aiso Quartet  | Anthony Zerpa-Falcon  | Archduke Trio | Barbirolli Quartet | Cambridge Taverner Choir | Cantabile | Cellists of the RPO | Charles Wiffen | David Campbell | Daniel Tong | David Owen-Norris | David Maw | Decimus Consort | English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble | Gilfillan family | Greg Tassell | Guy Johnstone | Jamie McVinnie | Jane Gomm | Jennifer Snapes | Karina Lucas | Kate Semmens | Katie Stillman | Konevets Quartet | Ken Aiso | London Bridge Ensemble | Michael Bacon | Owen Rees | Paul Clark | Paul Jeffrey | Paul Guinery | Raphael Wallfisch | Richard Egarr | Roselyne Martel-Bonnal | Rose Trio | Sara Lois Cunningham | Sarah Stuart-Pennink | Sasha Grynyuk | Simon Lane | Sophia Lisovskaya | Steven Devine | Temenos Chamber Choir | Teresa Caudle | Unexpected Opera

This year's concerts promise to continue the tradition!

Booking open for Autumn series

Booking is now open for the Autumn concert series, 2012.

Four top chamber music concerts for just £35.
Three organ recitals with free entry and retiring collection.
The first concert is on 15 September.
Full concert details here

After celebrating the 400th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Gabrieli earlier this year, the Autumn series at Music at King Charles features a range of highly acclaimed chamber music specialists.  In 2011, the music series was honoured by the Tunbridge Wells International Music Festival with an award for its contribution to the musical life of the area, and we continue to work with the Festival, hosting their opening concert in October.

In this short season of concerts, we feature every number of performers from one to five: solo organists, duos, a piano trio, a string quartet and a piano quintet. We are very pleased to repeat our very successful Young Musicians' Showcase, for which we welcome the very best of the region’s young talent, providing a genuine performing opportunity for gifted youngsters, especially those who may be considering music as a career.

Booking for all four concerts in advance is £14 cheaper than paying on the door. To order tickets, email us at kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk.

Autumn series 2012

Here are updated details of this autumn's series of chamber recitals. Start times are all 7:30pm.

Saturday 15 September

The Archaeus Quartet
Ann Hooley & Louise Bevan - violins
Elizabeth Turnbull - viola
Nick Roberts - cello
HAYDN Quartet op.76 no.5 in D
DVORAK Cypresses
BEETHOVEN Quartet op.59 no.2 "Razumovsky" in E minor

Formed in 1990, the Archaeus Quartet has performed in music clubs and arts centres throughout the UK, and at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall in London. The group has appeared at the Warwick, Greenwich, King’s Lynn and Wooburn Festivals as well as broadcasting live for Classic FM.

Saturday 29 September
The London Archduke Trio
Nathaniel Vallois - violin
Gabriella Swallow - cello
Charles Wiffen - piano
MUSIC BY BRAHMS, BEETHOVEN and ROBERT KAHN

The London Archduke Trio collectively made their London debut at the Royal Academy of Music in 1996 playing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and since then have toured together as far afield as Israel and Africa. They have performed in many festivals nationwide and at London’s South Bank, and the Trio regularly coaches and performes at the Dartington International Summer School.

Saturday 13 October
The Schubert Ensemble (Tunbridge Wells International Music Festival)
MUSIC includes the famous TROUT QUINTET

Acclaimed worldwide, from Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw to America’s top venues, and among the world’s most admired exponents of music for piano and strings, the Ensemble has played in over 40 different countries. It has over 80 commissions to its name, has recorded over 30 critically acclaimed CDs.

Saturday 10 November
Youth Music Showcase Facebook page for this event
Come and hear the young stars of tomorrow. We welcome enquiries from anyone of around Grade 8 standard or above who would like to take part and gain some genuine performance experience.

There will also be organ recitals (details to be published soon), and a performance of Duruflé's Requiem on Sunday 4 November.

Email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk to be kept informed, or follow us.

Photos from 12 May

Pictures of the latest concert, Dies Natalis, with Greg Tassell singing and Anthony Zerpa-Falcon at the piano.

Dies Natalis

Saturday 12 May, 7:30pm
Dies Natalis: Music of the English Springtime
Greg Tassell, tenor
Anthony Zerpa-Falcon, piano
String orchestra led by Jane Gomm

Greg Tassell is a past winner of the John Kerr Award for English Song, and is quickly coming to nationwide prominence as an expert interpreter of English music. In this concert, we are very excited to be bringing Greg together with other well-known local artists for the first time.

The main work is the secular cantata Dies Natalis by the 20th century English composer Gerald Finzi, for tenor soloist and string orchestra. This is a tremendously evocative setting of texts by Thomas Traherne about the wonder of the natural world and the innocence of youth. Writing in the seventeenth century, Traherne was one of the second generation of 'Metaphysical' poets, after the better-known George Herbert and John Donne. His most famous lines seem to strike a chord with everyone who reads them, and are given special prominence in Finzi's setting: "I was a stranger, which at my entrance into the world was saluted and surrounded with innumerable joys; my knowledge was divine. I was entertain'd like an angel with the works of God in their splendour and glory... The corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be reap'd nor was ever sown. I thought it had stood from everlasting to everlasting."

Tickets for this concert are just £12 on the door, but you can also gain a discount by booking in advance. Simply email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk or visit Hall's Bookshop, next to the church.