Celebration Organ Concert

Saturday 7 September 7:30pm
Past and present Organists from the church celebate the exact 75th anniversary of the dedication of the magnificent Walker organ.
Michael Bacon, Robin Hepburn, Paul Jeffery, David Maw and Jonathan Roberts will play some of the music played in some of the 'opening concerts' in the history of the organ - 1862, 1909, 1938 and 1987. Leon Boellmann's Gothic Suite and Cesar Franck's 3rd Chorale sit alongside music by Handel, Whitlock and Walton.

This concert launches a major fund-raising campaign to prepare for essential repair work to the organ. Further information about the campaign and the work required is available from the Parish Office and enquiries are very welcome.
Admission free: retiring collection for the organ fund.

Autumn series 2013 - advance notice

Here are some dates for your diaries. These are some of the concerts being planned for this Autumn. Plenty to look forward to, and more to come!

Saturday 7 September, 7:30pm Organ concert to celebrate the church organ’s 75th anniversary, with Michael Bacon

Sunday 15 September, 3:30pm Poulenc’s Babar The Elephant BBC Radio presenters Peter Barker (narrator) and Paul Guinery (piano) team up for an afternoon of musical stories.

Saturday 26 October, 7:30pm Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for piano duet, played by Anthony Zerpa-Falcon and Jong-Gyung Park Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time played by Thomas Bowes (violin), Tim Lines (clarinet), Eleanor Alberga (piano) and Tim Gill (cello).  (Tim Gill plays an extract from the Messiaen in this BBC clip.)

Sunday 24 November, 5:30pm Organ recital, by Michael Bacon.

Email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk to be placed on our mailing list for further notifications.

A Night at the Opera

Saturday 18 May, 7:30pm

The Magic of Mozart

Songs and scenes from Mozart’s most celebrated operas will guarantee a night to remember. Music at King Charles offers sequences and complete scenes from Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and The Magic of Figaro, brought to life by the vocal talents of Kate Semmens and Giles Davies with the piano accompaniment of Anthony Zerpa-Falcon: All for less than the price of a train ticket to London.

Soprano Kate Semmens from Marden is a soloist with many leading groups and opera companies, and sings with some of the UK's finest choirs. "The clarity and charm of Kate Semmens' soprano was disarming," said Opera Magazine.

Giles Davies studied at the Purcell School of Music and has since performed and recorded a huge variety of leading roles in choral and operatic works to critical acclaim. Much in demand on stage and screen for his characterful performances, beautiful tone and diction, Giles relishes any opportunity to perform Mozart’s operas.

International prize-winning Pianist Anthony Zerpa-Falcon has performed with, among others, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Liverpool Philharmonic, and has played venues from the Wigmore Hall in London to the Accademia Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, and even the Concert Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing. He is accompanist for the Tunbridge Wells Choral Society.

Tickets: £10 in advance (£12.50 on the door) from Hall's Bookshop or email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk

Spring Organ Recital Series

The King Charles organ is 75 years old in 2013, and one of the most exciting instruments to play and listen to in Tunbridge Wells. Hear it put through its paces in three short concerts on Sunday afternoons. Each performance is around 40 minutes, and takes place before the evening service. There is no admission fee, just a retiring collection.

Sunday 28 April, 17:30
Michael Bacon

Sunday 26 May, 17:30
Christopher Joyce

Sunday 30 June, 17:30
James Orford

Two concerts for Spring

Saturday 13 April, 7:30pm
The Pentagon String Ensemble is a group of musicians who have held Principal positions in some of the country's leading orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Northern Sinfonia. They have performed chamber music together for many years at venues and festivals around the UK and abroad. The programme includes music by Schubert, Mozart, Sibelius, Howard Blake and Beethoven. More information.
Tickets: £10 in advance (£12 on the door) from Hall's Bookshop or email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk

Saturday 18 May, 7:30pm
A Night at the Opera. Soprano Kate Semmens and baritone Giles Davies present “The Magic of Mozart”, with accompanist Anthony Zerpa-Falcon. This imaginative programme includes a sequences and complete scenes from Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro.
Tickets: £10 in advance (£12.50 on the door) from Hall's Bookshop or email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk

The Sound and Fury

Anyone who is enjoying the current BBC Four programmes about 20th Century music might be interested to know that plans afoot for a significant series of concerts in Autumn 2013 at King Charles.

We are hoping to present the music of Poulenc, Britten, Stravinsky and Messiaen in three concerts, starting in September. Keep an eye on this site for more news! In the meantime, sit back and enjoy three minutes of eternity with this extract from Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time.

Pentagon String Ensemble

Saturday 13 April, 7:30pm

Announcing details of the next concert in 2013.

The Pentagon String Ensemble are a group of musicians who have held Principal positions in some of the country's leading orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Northern Sinfonia. They have performed chamber music together for many years at venues and festivals around the UK and abroad.

Patrick Savage - violin

Martin Bloor - viola

Rachel Threlfall - cello

Programme

F. Schubert String Trio in Bb D.471 (Trio in One Movement)
W.A. Mozart Preludes & Fugues after J.S. Bach K404a
Sibelius Suite in A Major (1889)
Howard Blake String Trio
Beethoven String Trio Op.9 No1 in G

Tickets will be available from kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk

King Charles Festival Concert

Wed Your Divine Sounds

Songs to the lute from the time of the Stuarts

3pm on Sunday 27th January

As part of the King Charles Festival - a weekend commemorating the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1647 - we are delighted to host a programme of songs and lute music by William and Henry Lawes, John Jenkins, Nicholas Lanier, Claudio Monteverdi and Henry Purcell, featuring Giovanni Carissimi's passionate cantata "The Lament of Mary Stuart". 

The concert is presented by Etrusca: Alessandra Testai, soprano, and Robin Jeffrey, lutes.

Tickets: £12 on the door, or £10 in advance. Email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk or visit Hall's bookshop after 5th January. Under-18s are FREE.

"Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of heaven's joy,
Sphere-born harmonious Sisters, Voice and Verse,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixed power employ,
Dead things with inbreathed sense abe to pierce..."
John Milton, At a Solemn Musick

Third Annual Youth Music Showcase

Saturday 10 November sees Music at King Charles' third annual Youth Music Showcase, in which talented youngsters from the area have an opportunity to perform in the concert series. It's especially for those who might be considering taking their studies further than school, or those who are just moving on to university or music college. The event has proved most rewarding for all concerned, and inevitably involves an entertainingly diverse programme.

The concert starts at 7:30pm, tickets costing just £10 on the door.

Our final concert of the season is then the organ recital given by Jonathan Hagger, on 25 November at 5:30pm (free, with a retiring collection).