Sam and Friends
Friday 23 September, 7.30pm
St Thomas Church, Lymington
Programme
HAYDN Piano Trio in E major H. XV/28
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Six Studies in English Folk Song
POULENC Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
Interval
Gianluca CASTELLI Atemkristall (world premiere)
BRITTEN Metamorphosen for solo oboe (selection)
DVOŘAK Sonatina for Violin and Piano Op. 100 in G major
SARASATE Introduction and Tarantella
Helen Storey, basson
Owen Dennis, oboe
Aleksey Semenenko, violin
Joely Koos, cello
Joe Howson, piano
Sam Haywood, piano
Helen Storey
Helen studied at the Purcell School of Music before continuing her studies with scholarships to the Royal Academy of Music and the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, studying with John Orford, Rachel Gough, Milan Turkovic, and David Chatterton. After several years of freelancing Helen took a position in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where she has been a member for 16 years, and also enjoys working with the education team ‘Resound’ which takes RPO musicians into schools, hospitals, day centres and youth clubs. She continues to freelance with groups such as the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra alongside her positions in the RPO and the Galliard Ensemble. Helen became a member of the professorial staff at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 2010 where she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as coaching chamber music. Helen plays on a 10000 series Heckel bassoon.
Owen Dennis
Owen Dennis read Mathematics at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and graduated with a first class honours degree in 1995. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Douglas Boyd and at the Rotterdam Conservatoire with Emanuel Abbuhl, winning the Leila Bull prize for oboe as well as the 1999 Royal Overseas League Wind Final. With the Galliard Ensemble, Owen has released many CD’s including the first recording of Birtwistle’s ‘An Interrupted Endless Melody’ for oboe and piano. As a BBC Radio 3 New Generation artist, Owen has performed the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and numerous live broadcasts, in particular Britten’s ‘Metamorphoses after Ovid’ for solo oboe in the BBC Proms. In addition to his chamber music, he freelances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the London Sinfonietta and held the Principal Oboe seat with English Touring Opera. Owen continues to develop his mathematics and has recently completed his MSc in Intelligent and Adaptive Systems at Sussex University.
Aleksey Semenenko
…a powerful technique, rich tone and passionate approach. There was a fluidity and warmth
to his playing throughout the program.
The New York Times
The refined, impassioned and commanding playing of Ukrainian violinist Aleksey Semenenko identify him as inheritor of the great Odessa violin tradition and earnt him places on both the BBC New Generation Artists scheme and Young Concert Artists in New York, bringing him to the attention of audiences across Europe and the US.
He has given recitals at Snape Maltings, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and Alice Tully Hall, and performed concertos with orchestras including BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Seattle Symphony, Orchestra of St Luke’s, National Orchestra of Belgium, Ulster Orchestra, Kyiv Symphony and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His festival performances include invitations at the Hay, Cheltenham and Edinburgh festivals.
The most recent addition to Semenenko’s discography is his new album ‘Crossroads’ on BIS, with pianist Artem Belogurov, featuring sonatas by Previn, Schemmer and Gay. The launch of the album was marked by a Wigmore Hall recital in which the duo performed a selection of American works.
Semenenko began his violin studies at the age of six with Zoya Mertsalova at the Stolyarsky School, making his solo debut with orchestra only a year later with the Odessa Philharmonic. He completed his studies with Zakhar Bron and Harald Schoneweg at Cologne’s Hochschule für Musik and was a prize winner in the 2015 Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition. Alongside his performing career, Semenenko is Violin Professor at the Folkwang Universität der Künste. He is kindly supported by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
Joely Koos
As well as being professor of cello and chamber music coach at Trinity College of Music, Joely leads an active freelance musical life dividing her time between orchestral, solo and chamber work.
She has been a regular guest principal with the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestras and is a member of the City of London Sinfonia and the London Chamber Orchestra directed by Christopher Warren-Green.
In 1994 Joely was a prizewinner in the EMI Jacqueline du Pre Cello and Piano duo competition. Since then she has given recitals and played concertos with various orchestras round Britain; she most recently performed the ‘Rococo Variations’ at St. Johns, Smith Square.
From 1993 to 1996 Joely was a member of the Archaeus string quartet: they gave concerts throughout the British Isles and were the resident Quartet at Dartington International Music School. The quartet recorded Minna Keal’s String Quartet to critical acclaim. More recently Joely visited Bombay as guest artist in the Sangat chamber music festival. She regularly gives masterclasses and has adjudicated for the Chamber Music for Schools Competition.
Having started the cello at the age of nine with her father, Joseph Koos (then principal cellist of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra), Joely was educated at Chetham’s School of Music studying with William Pleeth and Liza Wilson. She was awarded scholarships to Cambridge University and then The Royal Academy of Music where she studied with David Strange and Lynn Harrell. There she won many music prizes including the much coveted Recital Diploma. Further scholarships from the Countess of Munster and Fleming Trusts resulted in Joely spending a year at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts in Canada where she received tuition from Janos Starker and Lluis Claret.
Joe Howson
Joe Howson is a pianist based in London, specializing in contemporary music and collaborative playing. He has just finished his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music, where he has been awarded prizes for Lieder and English Song accompaniment, contemporary music, and has performed concertos with the New Perspectives Ensemble and RCM Wind Orchestra. Prior to his time at RCM, he was an undergraduate at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, where he now works as a staff pianist for the vocal and wind departments.
Sam Haywood
Sam Haywood has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus and the Wigmore Hall. The New York Times hailed his ‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’. He has a special fondness for Indonesia, where he has performed and taught for many years.
He embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire and is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician or working with singers. He has toured extensively as a duo with American violinist Joshua Bell and also with cellist Steven Isserlis.
He has composed several instrumental miniatures, including ‘The Other Side’, first performed at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano, dedicated to Roger Birnstingl, is published by Emerson Editions. He is currently working on a commission for piano and string quartet.
Passionate about early instruments, Haywood recorded a Chopin album on the composer’s own Pleyel piano, part of the Cobbe Collection, to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010. Other recordings include Stanford’s Preludes and the piano works of Julius Isserlis for Hyperion Records. For Sony he has recorded a selection of works by the child prodigy Alma Deutscher and he also features on Joshua Bell’s ‘Musical Gifts’ album.
This season he will be performing concerti, solo recitals and chamber music in UK, South America, Germany, Greece and Korea. Recording projects will include albums for Warner Classics and Deux-Elles, as well as a live broadcast for BBC Radio.
Haywood is also Artistic Director and co-founder of the Solent Music Festival, which takes place annually in the beautiful sailing town of Lymington, UK. 2022 will mark the festival’s tenth anniversary.
