The finest account yet of the Rhapsody
Trio….rarefied and plangent by turns, the present performance can be
expected to serve as the benchmark for some time to come …… the
Bridge’s excellent series should extend to at least one more disc.
BRIDGE CHAMBER MUSIC SOMM International record review 2009
Recent Projects fulfilled through subsidy from Bridge Quartet
Initiative Trust:-
RECORDING - match
funding towards Toccata Classics CD of contemporary music by a living composer
- 21st February 2016 “one of the most fearlessly enterprising labels on earth”
—Fanfare
CD of Chamber Music compositions by Colin Twigg. (b. 1960)
recorded at the Menuhin School June 2016
Colin Twigg entered the Menuhin
School at the age of ten. On gaining the Royal Society of Arts Jubilee award
in 1978 he travelled to Yale, where he studied violin with Oscar Shumsky and
chamber music with Szymon Goldberg, amongst others. Awards from Juilliard
enabled him to work there with Tossy Spivakovsky, at the same time as
developing his compositional skills. Highlights of his performing career
around this time included broadcast recitals on Radio WQXR New York and the
Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Manchester Camerata.
His notable
successes as a composer have included Echoes of Eternity for string orchestra
and solo cello, which was featured at the Deal festival in 2007. Performances
of his chamber music have generally been well received, both in Britain and
abroad, including France and Switzerland, and a Bridge Quartet performance of
his Phantasy Variations – commissioned by Gloucester Music Society – was given
an enthusiastic reception in Kenya. Having recently completed his Symphonic
Reflections for symphony orchestra, he is looking forward to the opportunity
of hearing it in live performance.
DIDO AND AENEAS March 6 2016 Community Opera in 2016
Richmond Arts Festival
Feedback from Organisers:-
"On behalf of everyone at The Helen Astrid
Singing Academy, I would like to thank you for your generous donation
towards our production of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ on 6thMarch 2016 at the
Waldegrave Drawing Room.This event would not have been such a success
without the generosity you kindly provided.
There were many
encouraging comments from audience members afterwards, such as “Fantastic
music, singing and dancing in a wonderful setting” and several enquiries as
to “What’s next? We can’t wait!”
Your gift gave us the
opportunity to bring together top quality artists excellent musicians, local
school children and ballerinas from Russia; I know some friendships have
already been formed between the children from the two countries"
Penrith School workshops and schools concert OCTOBER 8th
2015
The Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith QEGS
Penrith hosted the Bridge Quartet on October 8th, courtesy of funding from
their Initiative Trust. This visit incorporated an initial open "academic"
session introducing and crucially "illustrating" techniques for writing for
string quartet, aimed at the school's GCSE and A level sets. Following this
the members of the quartet taught violin viola and cello pupils at the
school in private lessons or open classes. The very rewarding and much
appreciated day concluded in the afternoon with a concert in which both
pupils and Bridge Quartet were able to perform to more of a cross section of
the school's age groups.
Amongst the feedback from the project was a
card from the pupil's Mum, who thanked the Quartet for providing her son
with a stimulating and positive musical experience in his first term at high
school- "It is a beautiful part of the world up here but there are all the
usual cuts (and more) within the State sector and Music is becoming less of
a priority-- almost an optional subject in fact. When I was growing up there
were Local Authority run music centres and free music lessons. All that has
gone now ...my son has only just started secondary school and your trip was
so well-timed as I continue to persuade him that playing the violin is
COOL!"
ACMP World Music Day 8th March
2015
The Bridge Quartet Initiative Trust supports
ACMP World Play-In.
Local West London players taking part with the Bridge
Quartet on ACMP’s Worldwide Play-In Weekend, 8th March 2015 at All Saints
Church, Isleworth included experienced local amateurs, teachers and
semi-professional musicians, alongside school pupils from West London.
Mendelssohn’s Octet and Tchaikovsky’s Quartet No 1 provided a lively and
educational community session - organised in partnership with and to raise
awareness for ACMP
“The ACMP Worldwide Play-In Weekend, occurring the
first weekend of March each year, is a celebration of the joy of chamber
music. This grassroots campaign encourages people of all ages and abilities
to come together and play chamber music for pleasure…”(Associated Chamber
Music Players - www.acmp.net )
EALING AUTUMN FESTIVAL 2013
COMMUNITY OPERA PERFORMANCES "NOYE'S FLUDDE" by BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Philip Hesketh, Kit Thacker, The Bridge String Quartet and many others.
In his opera Noye’s Fludde Britten retells the story of Noah and the Ark and
the great flood that destroyed the world.
Noye’s Fludde brings every
detail of the story to life, simply and vividly. It is an unforgettable
experience set in a musical world of bells and bugles, percussion, strings,
recorders and joyously singing voices. This event is in collaboration with
St John’s Church, Southall, the Drama Studio London, The Bridge Quartet,
Dairy Meadow School and Stanhope School and many other individuals whose
contributions are making this production possible.
"CamBRIDGE
CONNECTIONS" CONCERTS for Cambridge Summer Recitals 2013
The
concert marked the final of three recitals covering Cambridge and also the
less populated surrounding rural locality, given by the Bridge Quartet
entitled the "Cambridge Connection Series". Each concert provided a high
standard performance opportunity with extra rehearsal time included, for a
promising instrumentalist studying at the University. The three concerts
featured the three major Quintets by Dvorak. The Bridge Quartet were joined
by second-year student Patrick Milne on this occasion for a performance of
Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A Opus 81.
Charitable objectives of the BRIDGE QUARTET INITIATIVE TRUST:-
TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN GENERAL BY PROMOTING,
SUSTAINING AND INCREASING INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND
UNDERSTANDING IN THE FIELD OF MUSIC OF ALL KINDS INCLUDING CLASSICAL MUSIC,
CHAMBER MUSIC AND ETHNIC MUSIC.
These are our four trustees:-
CHRISTOPHER THOMAS EYLES Chairman
ANTHONY DAVID BRAMLEY Secretary
JANE ELIZABETH SPENCER-DAVIS Treasurer
MICHAEL JOHN SCHOFIELD
(non-executive)
There are various levels of donation Friend £20, Silver Friend £50
and Gold Friend £100.
If you wish to become a friend please email
info@bridgequartet.com