Great Women Composers

Tuesday 17 September, 7.30pm

St Thomas Church, Lymington

Programme

Hollis Taylor Absolute Bird
Louise Farrenc Trio in Eb, Op. 44
Agnes Zimmermann Violin Sonata No. 3 in G minor, Op. 23
Agnes Zimmermann Sarabande and Gigue
Maria Theresia von Paradis Sicilienne
Alma Deutscher Cinderella Suite
Phyllis Tate Duo for Clarinet and Cello

Interval

Alice Mary Smith Andante
Fanny Hensel Prelude
Germaine Tailleferre Impromptu
Clara Schumann Violin Romance Op. 21 No 1
Robert Schumann Romance Op. 94/2
Agathe Backer Grøndahl Scherzo in G minor
Agathe Backer Grøndahl Nocturne in E flat
Fanny Hensel Fantasia
Fanny Hensel Piano Trio in D minor Op. 11

Mathilde Milwidsky, violin
Joely Koos, cello
Katherine Spencer, clarinet
Sam Haywood, piano

Mathilde Milwidsky

Born in London in 1994, 24 year old violinist Mathilde Milwidsky has been praised by The Strad (2017) for her “perfect intonation and beautiful shaping and colouring…comprehensively nailing each new stylistic and emotional universe as she went.”as well as by the Ostfriesen Zeitung (2018) – “Milwidsky showed in the interplay with the pianist Thomas Hoppe a unique, rarely heard musical experience… that was sensational.” She has performed as a soloist at venues in the UK such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall and the Royal Albert Hall as well as across Europe in Finland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Ireland and Sweden. Recent live broadcasts include BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’, BBC Radio 4, Radio Swiss Classic, Classic FM and the BBC One Show. Mathilde’s debut CD for Toccata Classics, comprising the world premiere of the three Sonatas for Violin and Piano by 19th Century composer and pianist Agnes Zimmermann, will be launched at Kings Place in October as part of the Venus Unwrapped Series alongside pianist Sam Haywood.

She is regularly invited to festivals such as Prussia Cove, East Neuk, Fraenkische Musiktage, Musikdorf Ernen, Musique à Marsac, Lichfield, Presteigne, Peasmarsh, Aurora, Kings Lynn, Plush and Roman River, collaborating with musicians such as Anthony Marwood, Thomas Hoppe, Avi Avital, Huw Watkins, Christian Poltéra, Hariolf Schlichtig, Christoph Richter and Ksenija Sidorova, as well as woodwind principals of the Philharmonia and die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Additionally, Mathilde has performed as guest violinist with the Aronowitz Ensemble (Leicester International Festival) and with the London Bridge Trio.

Mathilde recently won 3rd Prize at the Windsor Festival International String Competition 2019 (UK), First Prize and Audience Prize at the inaugural Aurora Music Competition 2018 (Sweden) and was a semi-finalist laureate of the 2018 International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition Hanover. She has also won the String Section of the 2017 Royal Overseas League Music Competition (UK) and became a St John’s Smith Square Young Artist for the 2017/18 season, for which she gave the world premiere of a piece written for her by the acclaimed composer Sally Beamish. She has also won the 2011 Madeira International Violin Competition and was a finalist in Orchid Classics’ Young British Soloist Competition (2015), Royal Academy of Music’s prestigious ‘Patron’s Award’ (2015) and the Karl Jenkins Classic FM Music Competition (2017). She is very grateful for scholarships awarded by the Hattori Foundation, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Martin Musical Scholarship, the Drake Calleja Foundation, the Tillett Trust and the Sir John Cass Foundation.

Mathilde’s studies began at the Royal College of Music Junior Department where she was a Tsukanov Scholar taught by Viktoria Grigoreva and David Takeno. Mathilde subsequently studied at the Royal Academy of Music as a full scholarship student under György Pauk, graduating in July 2017 with First Class Honours and the Regency Award for notable achievement, the Louise Child Memorial Prize for highest-achieving graduate and the Marjorie Heyward Fund for the highest violin mark of the year. She is currently studying under Professor Mi-kyung Lee at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, generously funded by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

Additional inspiration has come from masterclases with violinists such as Leonidas Kavakos, Maxim Vengerov, Mihaela Martin, Gerhard Schulz, Miriam Fried and Igor Ozim at festivals such as IMS Prussia Cove, Salzburg Mozarteum Sommerakademie, International Holland Music Sessions and the Lac Leman Masterclasses. Mathilde also receives invaluable mentorship and advice from Pierre Amoyal, members of the London Haydn Quartet and Alina Ibragimova.

Joely Koos

Joely Koos leads an active freelance musical life alongside her teaching, in orchestral, solo and chamber work. She is a member of the City of London Sinfonia and regularly plays with the London Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. She has been invited as guest principal for various major orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Joely was educated at Chethams School of Music and won scholarships to the University of Cambridge and then the Royal Academy of Music. During this time she studied with William Pleeth, Liza Wilson, Christopher Bunting and David Strange. In 1994 she won the EMI Jaqueline du Pré cello and piano duo competition.

Katherine Spencer

Clarinettist Katherine Spencer made her concerto debut at the age of fourteen at the Royal Festival Hall and has since performed there as concerto soloist a further three times. She has also appeared as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields Orchestra at the Barbican Centre and at the Birmingham Symphony Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, made many live Radio 3 solo broadcasts, and performs regularly on Classic FM and European radio stations.

She has recorded the Brahms Sonata and Beethoven Trio for the Oxford Classic label with Sam Haywood and Martin Storey and many of her discs with the Galliard Ensemble, of which she is a founder member are highly acclaimed in the press and Gramophone magazine.

Katherine is passionate about trying to recreate the actual clarinet sound intended by composers and is thus an active member of the period performance scene in Europe particularly as a member of The Age of Enlightenment Orchestra. She is also a busy freelance modern clarinet player with the major orchestras in Britain.

As a chamber musician Katherine was invited to participate in the BBC Radio 3 Young Generation Artists Scheme. She has also had the honour to perform the Mozart Clarinet Quintet with the remaining members of the Amadeus Quartet in the presence of HRH the Emperor of Japan. She continues to perform internationally with her many chamber ensembles regularly in international Festivals such as the BBC Proms and the Barbican’s “Mostly Mozart Festival”.

Sam Haywood

Sam Haywood regularly appears in many of the world’s major concert halls. He is equally at home with solo and chamber music repertoire, both on modern and period instruments. He has had a duo partnership with Joshua Bell since 2010.

After his early success in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, he studied in Vienna with Paul Badura-Skoda and in London with Maria Curcio. His recordings include two critically-acclaimed solo albums for Hyperion Records and an album of Chopin’s music performed on the composer’s own Pleyel instrument. He is the Artistic Director of the UK’s annual Solent Music Festival and this year curated a series of concerts, broadcast on BBC radio, for the Leeds International Chamber Music Season. He is also a composer and the inventor of memorystars®, an aid for memorising music