WOOLER ARTS SUMMER CONCERTS 2025
All concerts in St Mary's Church, Wooler
SATURDAY 10 MAY, 7.30PM
After Lindisfarne
Ben Goldscheider French Horn
Richard Uttley Piano
Robert Schumann Drei Romanzen Op.94
New work Winning work from Wooler Arts Composers' Competition
Johannes Brahms Sonata in E Minor Op.38
Interval
John Casken Serpents of Wisdom
Felix Mendelssohn Songs without words Op.109
Nicola Lefanu After Lindisfarne
Franz Strauss Nocturno Op.7
Eugene Bozza En Forêt
This programme by former BBC Radio 3 New Generation artist Ben Goldscheider is designed to show both the lyrical beauty and the agility of the French horn in 19th century as well as contemporary repertoire. A special feature of this concert will be the premiere of a new work arising out of the new Wooler Arts’ Composers’ Competition (SEE BELOW FOR FULL DETAILS)
SUNDAY 11 MAY, 3.00PM
Shetland Traditional Music
Jenna Reid Shetland fiddle
Harris Playfair Piano
Jenna Reid and Harris Playfair are from Shetland, neighbours from the small village of Quarff in the south mainland of Shetland. They have played music together for decades and have recently recorded a brand new duo album, entitled One Day.
Tonight's concert will be a showcase of Shetland traditional music with some of Jenna and Harris' own compositions.
They are widely regarded as one of Scotland's most exquisite duos, known for their incredible drive, energy and sumptuous slow pieces.
SATURDAY 7 JUNE, 7.30PM
Scottish Jazz
Fergus McCreadie Trio
Fergus McCreadie Piano
Fergus McCreadie is one of the most exciting jazz pianists on the world stage today. With a unique blend of Jazz and Scottish folk music inspired by his country’s sublime landscape, his original music captures the hearts and minds of audiences worldwide, with an appeal that extends far beyond the constraints of genre. Built on the folk traditions with which he grew up, the versatility of rhythm and colour, and textures from the most delicate to those of the highest energy characterise his music. Fergus has been a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist in 2022-2024.
SUNDAY 8 JUNE, 3.00PM
Shakespeare's Music
Roderick Williams Baritone
Julius Drake Piano
Actor tbc
A beguiling programme bringing Shakespeare and music together sung by one of our greatest baritone/pianist duos with an actor adding a sense of theatre to the occasion
Purcell If music be the food of love
Schumann Schlusslied des Narren: Op 127 No 5
Sibelius Hållilå, uti storm och I regn
Joseph Haydn She never told her love
Sibelius Kom nu hit, Död.
Schubert An Silvia
Madeine Dring Take, oh take those lips away
Finzi Fear no more the heat of the sun
Franz Schubert Horch, horch, die Lerch ( Ständchen D899)
Vaughan Williams Orpheus and his lute (Henry VIII)
Poulenc Fancie
Britten Fancie
Britten I know a bank
Hugo Wolf Lied des transferierten Zettel 1
I N T E R V A L
Roderick Williams Sigh no more ladies
Ivor Gurney Under the Greenwood Tree
Korngold Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Debussy The Little Shepherd (Children’s Corner)
Korngold The Willow Song
Berlioz La Mort d’Orphelie
Tippett Songs for Ariel (The Tempest)
Come unto these yellow sands.
Full fathom five
Where the bee sucks
Cole Porter Brush up your Shakespeare (Kiss Me Kate)
SUNDAY 29 JUNE, 3.00PM
The Four Seasons
Royal Northern Sinfonia
directed by Maria Włoszczowska
Sándor Veress Four Transylvanian Dances
Edvard Grieg Holberg Suite
Nikos Skalkottas Five Greek Dances
INTERVAL
Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons
WOOLER ARTS SUMMER CONCERTS
COMPOSERS’ COMPETITION
SATURDAY 10 MAY 2025
new works invited for
HORN AND PIANO
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts (www.woolerarts.org.uk) take place in St Mary’s Church, Wooler, Northumberland. The series has established itself as one of the major cultural events in the North-East of England. Wooler is a small market town on the edge of some remarkable landscape and within easy reach of historic coastline that includes Lindisfarne and Bamburgh.
The Artistic Director of the Summer Concerts, John Casken, is pleased to announce a national Composers’ Competition. Three scores will be selected for a public Workshop in St Mary’s Church on Saturday 10 May 2025 and one work will be selected for performance in the evening concert to be given by former BBC Young Generation Artist Ben Goldscheider (horn) and pianist Richard Uttley.
The Selection Panel will consist of the composers Nicola LeFanu and John Casken, and Ben Goldscheider.
The Rules and Conditions of the Competition are as follows:
Instrumentation, score and parts:
Horn in F and Piano
Performance score for Horn in F with relevant cues of piano part
Performance score for piano to include full horn part (in C)
Requirement:
The piece should be capable of being rehearsed so that the players can make an efficient use of the limited time that will be available.
The submitted piece must not have had a professional performance.
Duration: 5 minutes maximum.
Eligibility: composers must be resident in, or studying in, the UK.
Deadline: completed score (piano and horn) marked with a pseudonym must be submitted in pdf format by Friday 21 March 2025 together with a sound file where possible. Three shortlisted composers will be informed shortly after this and asked to prepare performance material which should arrive by Friday 4 April. All pdfs and sound files should be submitted with the composer’s pseudonym.
Workshop: the three shortlisted pieces will be performed and discussed in a public Workshop at 2.00pm on 10 May with the performers and Selection Panel members who will then decided on the winning piece.
If composers are not able to be present, their work will not be performed.
Prize: the three shortlisted composers will be awarded £50 as a contribution towards expenses.
The winning composer will receive a cheque for £100, a premiere performance in the evening concert, the possibility of future performances and a non-commercial recording from the concert.
The judges reserve the right not to award a prize.
Email address: send scores and parts to
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts 2024
Presenting five concerts this year for the first time proved popular. Audiences were very good and in some cases larger and better than ever. But, the true successes of the season were the concerts themselves. The quality of musicianship and levels of performance were outstanding and the audience responses and appreciation of the range of music were extremely rewarding and encouraging. You can see some of the reactions below next to the individual concerts and for the season as a whole, here are a few comments:
The series has been excellent, a wonderful range of music and musicians
I love the variety of programming
Wonderful music all season
A most enjoyable series of concerts and we very much look forward to next year. Keep up the good work.
Joyful Company of Singers who began this year's series gave a second impressive concert the following evening at St Paul's Church in Alnwick. St Mary's, Wooler proved a perfect venue for this 35-strong London choir and the church's fine acoustic responded well to their rich choral sound.
Once again we were able to collaborate with Glendale Community Middle School and the involvement of the children playing our new Wooler Arts Junk Orchestra alongside the trombone quartet Slide Action in a new composition by the children received an especially favourable response from the audience. This was an unforgettable concert with the four young musicians obviously enjoying the virtuosic challenges of their fascinating programme.
It was very good to be able to announce to the audience for Quatuor Danel that the following evening they were performing at Wigmore Hall, London, a true mark of the quality of musicians accepting invitations to play in Wooler. Their concert here was truly remarkable and I felt very privileged that they should include my own string quintet Inevitable Rifts with guest cellist Petr Prause. After their transported interpretation of Schubert's great Quintet the audience response was rapturous with a total standing ovation.
The final two concerts in the same weekend were excellent and very different. Nigel Clayton & Imma Setiadi were the first piano duettists we have had and their dazzling performances of arrangements of orchestral music were quite revelatory, especially Holst's The Planets.
Matt Carmichael, with Fergus McCreadie and Charlie Stewart rounded off the season the next day to a huge audience with Matt's own beautiful and engaging Scottish folk, coast and landscape-inspired pieces. Fabulous playing.
And now for next year. Concerts for 2025 are all planned and an announcement will be posted very soon with details of artists and dates.
Thank you to all who have come along to support Wooler Arts Summer Concerts and I look forward to seeing you in 2025.
John Casken
Artistic Director
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts
Some comments following our opening concert by Joyful Company of Singers
Great singing and extraordinary choir tone and timbre.
I think we are immensely fortunate to have such quality music so locally. I greatly approve of the variety.
Really marvellous! We are so lucky - wonderful selections.
Absolutely fabulous concert. Great programme brilliantly delivered.
Fabulous! I'm a singer but would struggle to sing some of those tricky things! Lovely Northumbrian sea theme.
SATURDAY 4 MAY 7.30PM
Joyful Company of Singers
Far from Land
Vaughan Williams
The Dark-Eyed Sailor
The Springtime of the Year
Just as the Tide Was Flowing
The Lover's Ghost
Judith Bingham
The Drowned Lovers
Charles Villiers Stanford
The Blue Bird
Paul Reade
St Brendan and the Fishes
John Casken
Uncertain Sea
Jaako Mantyjarvi
Canticum Calamatis Maritimae
John Casken
Caedmon's Hymn
Floore of Allegories (first performance)
Charles Villiers Stanford
Chillingham
Trad. arr. W.G.Whittaker
The Water of Tyne
Bonny at Morn
Dolli-A
Bobby Shaftoe
Trad. arr. Derek Hobbs
Maa Bonny Lad
Dance ti thy Daddy
This highly-regarded London choir brings an imaginative programme of pieces relating to the sea and with a particular North-East theme. They will include music by Vaughan Williams, Stanford, Judith Bingham, John Casken, Paul Reade, Jaako Mantyjarvi, and arrangements of North-East folksongs by W.G. Whittaker and Derek Hobbs.
The Joyful Company will also be singing the following evening, Sunday 5th May in St Paul's RC Church, Alnwick, at 7.00pm where they will be joined by local poet Katrina Porteous in a complementary programme that features life's transitions and voyages of many kinds.
For further details and booking links: www.jcos.co.uk/performances
SATURDAY 18 MAY 7.30PM
Slide Action - trombone quartet
Benny Vernon, Huw Evans, Jamie Tweed, Josh Cirtina
New Trombone Voices
| Benjamin Britten arr. Cirtina | Prelude from Owen Wingrave |
| Ryan Latimer (b.1990) | C. Exigua |
| Mikolaj Zieliński (1550-1615) | Vox in Rama |
| Laura Jurd (b.1990) | Swamped |
| Matthew Locke (1622-1677) | Flatt Consort |
| Emily Hall (b.1978) | Close Palms |
| Francis Poulenc arr. Cirtina | Quatre Prieres de St. F. d'Assise |
| Zoltan Kodaly | Esti Dal |
| Claude Debussy | Trois Chansona |
| Saskia Apon (b.1957) | First Quartet |
| Piazzola arrangement (tbc) |
The multi-award winning quartet of young trombonists, Slide Action, comes with an exciting programme of early music, their own arrangements of Britten, Kodaly, Poulenc and Debussy, together with brand new pieces that they have commissioned.
What an outstanding concert this was. Slide Action's workshops at Glendale Middle School the day before were really exciting. In the Saturday evening concert a number of children played Wooler Arts' new Junk Orchestra alongside the trombonists in a new piece they had created together. It was mesmerising.
Some comments from members of the audience:
Wandering journey for the senses
It is a privilege to hear music of such quality and variety in Wooler.
Very creative concert, stretched my mind!
Absolutely blown away by 'Ting' (the new piece created by the children) -well done those young people and their teachers. The trombone quartet were excellent.
Loved the experience of being inside the group when they were spread around the church - felt immersive.
Good rapport between the band members.....Loved the 'Ting' piece and so good to see community involvement. Loved the second half - all great choices and the 4-part Kodaly!
A real treat to hear concert brass in this fabulous acoustic. MORE PLEASE. The Junk Orchestra (in Ting) was fantastic - well received and brilliantly executed. Kodaly was wonderful. It was ALL great. Loved it.
SUNDAY 2 JUNE 3.00PM
Quatuor Danel
Schubert's Greatest Masterpiece
| Marc Danel, Gilles Millet | violins |
| Vlad Bogdanos | viola |
| Yovan Markovitch | cello |
| with | |
| Petr Prause | cello |
| Janáček | String Quartet No.1 ('Kreutzer Sonata') |
| Casken | Inevitable Rifts I/II |
| Schubert | String Quintet in C, D.956 |
An internationally renowned string quartet based in Paris, the Danels are joined by Petr Prause to bring us Schubert's greatest masterpiece, his String Quintet in C, D. 956. Their concert also includes John Casken's string quintet Inevitable Rifts (now with a new, additional second movement). Passion and drama run throughout this concert and the Danels open with Janáček's wonderful First String Quartet 'Kreutzer Sonata' based on Tolstoy's novella of the same name.
Praised for their beauty of sound as well as their unique interpretations of the classics, the Danel's concert is certainly a date for your diary.
We were all immensely privileged to be able to listen to playing of such refined quality. It was a performance worthy of any international stage and in the acoustic of St Mary's Church it sounded glorious. The musicianship of all the players, their technical brilliance and communication of the emotional worlds of all the works was truly astonishing. Rarely has an audience been so spell-bound. The eruption of applause at the end of the Schubert and the immediate and spontaneous standing ovation were more than deserved.
Here are some comments from members of the audience:
The Schubert was magnificent!
Brilliant - Thank you!
Just Great - excellent! Thank you for bringing such high-quality musicians to Wooler.
Marvellous - great to hear new composition...performed by a marvellous group of musicians.
What an absolute JOY! Thank you!!
A wonderful performance. The series so far has been varied and altogether enjoyable.
SATURDAY 22 JUNE 7.30PM
Nigel Clayton and Imma Setiadi
Piano Four Hands
Sea, Sky and Spain
| España | Chabrier |
| Debussy arr. Ravel | Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune |
| Debussy | La Mer |
| Holst | The Planets |
This is a truly unique programme of orchestral music arranged for four hands on one piano giving us the opportunity to hear popular masterpieces by Debussy and Holst in a completely new way. How the orchestral textures translate to the medium of piano duet will be fascinating as well as revealing new aspects of textural details through the sonority of the piano.
It was amazing! Especially the Planets!!!
Another excellent concert
Outstanding! Please invite these pianists back. Thank you so much.
SUNDAY 23 June 3.00 PM
Matt Carmichael
Scottish Jazz, Folk Roots and Landscape
| Matt Carmichael | saxophone |
| Fergus McCreadie | piano |
| Charlie Stewart | fiddle |
Matt Carmichael, Scottish saxophonist and composer, is reaching a wide global audience with his powerful blend of jazz and folk music. Matt was a finalist in the BBC's Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2020 and he brings award-winning collaborators, Fergus McCreadie and Charlie Stewart to Wooler. Influenced by Scottish landscape and coastlines as well as its vernacular folk music, Matt's innovative voice in Glasgow's burgeoning jazz scene promise a special conclusion to our 2024 series.
SPONSORED BY RAILTONS
This has been the highlight of the year - a privilege to see such quality close to home
Stunningly engaging music and performers. Mesmerising!
Brilliant - more jazz please
An excellent event - we came a long way but we shall again, particularly if you continue to mine young Scottish jazz talent, which is a particularly rich seam at the moment
Lovely to hear new music by young artists, not just the usual
Another amazing concert - thank you!
Mesmerising. Beautiful acoustic
Our Previous Summer Concerts
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts 2023
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts 2023
After a very successful 2022 season we can now look forward to our 2023 concerts.
What is it about the power of music and the experience of hearing it live that never ceases to move us? Music is about expressing feeling through sound, through musical sound: it can echo human emotions, embody dreams, be visionary or spiritual, or physically exciting and dramatic. And, we all have our favourite songs and tunes which, with great chords and accompaniment, become unforgettable companions. After the Solem Quartet’s concert, one member of the audience said……”Well, it was quite serious, but I was moved elsewhere.” What a fantastic reaction, summing up the power of music to transport us to another place.
It is my intention to bring you the best musicians in programmes that are interesting and a little out of the ordinary. The level of performance of our 2022 artists was truly international and their concerts would not have been unusual in venues in major cities across the world. And here they were, playing for us in Wooler!
The 2023 season of Summer Concerts promises four more exciting concerts of the same high standard. The range of music is wide, from the Baroque period to contemporary music and taking in a range of styles that include jazz, gypsy and folk along the way. All concerts take place in St Mary’s Church, Wooler.
TICKETS WILL GO ON SALE ON 27 FEBRUARY 2023
John Casken
Artistic Director
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts
Full 2023 Concert Programme
SATURDAY 20 MAY 7.30PM
Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano)
| Beethoven | Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No.2 |
| (Moonlight Sonata) | |
| Brett Dean | Prelude and Chorale |
| Bach | Preludes and Fugues: C major; B flat minor |
| (Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1); F major (Book 2) | |
| Rameau | Les tendres plaints; Les Cyclopes (Suite in D) |
| Le rappel des oiseaux; Rigaudons I, II and Double; | |
| La villageoise (Suite in E) | |
| Ravel | Prelude; Forlane (Le Tombeau de Couperin) |
| Oiseaux tristes; Alborada del gracioso (Miroirs) | |
| Interval | |
| Schubert | Sonata in D major, D.850 |
This is a welcome return of a remarkable young pianist who created a sensation when she played in Wooler in September 2021. Her programme is an interesting set of pairings. Mishka begins with Beethoven’s famous Moonlight Sonata and ends her recital with Schubert’s late, great D major Sonata D.850. In between she pairs Preludes and Fugues by JS Bach with Brett Dean’s Bach-inspired Prelude and Chorale, and follows Rameau’s Suites in D major and E minor with music from Ravel’s Miroirs and Le Tombeau de Couperin.
Mishka Rushdie Momen was the Times Arts Critics’ chosen nominee in the field of classical music for their 2021 Breakthrough Award, given by Sky Arts and the South Bank Show, who profiled her for an episode of the programme broadcast in July that year. She appears in recitals and concerto performances worldwide, and Sir András Schiff has presented her in recitals in Zurich Tonhalle, 92Y in New York City, deSingel Antwerp, and other venues across Europe.
“Mishka Rushdie Momen plays the piano extraordinarily well, but it is the purity and depth of musical feeling that impress me most. She has the rare ability to communicate the essential meaning of whatever she plays.”
Richard Goode
SUNDAY 28 MAY 3.00PM
Tim Kliphuis Trio
| Tim Kliphuis | violin |
| Nigel Clark | guitar |
| Roy Percy | double-bass |
The Dutch virtuoso violinist Tim Kliphuis brings an infectious and uplifting concert with fellow members of his trio, Nigel Clark, guitar, and Roy Percy, double-bass, to perform a delicious cocktail of jazz, gypsy, folk and classical music. It will be a perfect afternoon of foot-tapping music, so come along and expect some familiar tunes to welcome the arrival of summer.
An invitation to the Richard Strauss Festival in Germany marked the start of the Tim Kliphuis Trio whose mission is a ‘total music’ without stylistic barriers. They performed for the Dutch King at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, curated the world fiddle night at Celtic Connections Glasgow, celebrated Stéphane Grappelli at the Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine and have shared the stage with Les Paul, Richard Galliano, Frankie Gavin, Martin Hayes and Daniel Hope. The Trio have collaborated with the Netherlands and Tallinn Chamber Orchestras, The Hague and Cape Town Philharmonic and Sinfonietta Amsterdam and toured America, South Africa and Russia.
“Impressive and moving”
The Strad Magazine
“Playfully inventive and technically brilliant”
Time Out
SATURDAY 10 JUNE 7.30PM
Aglica Trio
| Carys Gittins | flute |
| Agnieszka Żyniewicz | viola |
| Lise Vandersmissen | harp |
| Arnold Bax | Elegiac Trio |
| William Mathias | Zodiac Trio: Pisces, Aries, Taurus |
| Debussy | Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe |
| Interval | |
| Hilary Tann | From the Song of Amergin |
| Toru Takemitsu | And Then I Knew 'twas Wind |
| Miguel del Aguila | SUBMERGED |
Of all trios of musical instruments, that of flute, viola and harp is perhaps the most exotic and unusual. The major work in this repertoire is Debussy’s late Sonata, and its soundworld is complemented perfectly by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu whose dreamy and beautiful sonorities will sound completely magical in the acoustic of St Mary’s Church. It is also a great pleasure to be able to programme music by the Welsh composer William Mathias and the English composer Arnold Bax. Hilary Tan is also Welsh, and now based in the USA, and Miguel del Aguila is a Uruguayan-born American composer whose energetic music reflects his South American heritage.
The Aglica Trio’s name derives from the Christian names of its three performers, the Polish viola player Agnieszka Żyniewicz, the Belgian harpist Lise Vandermissen, and Welsh flautist Carys Gittins. This young trio came together while studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and have performed in concert halls across the UK and in Europe.
SATURDAY 17 JUNE 7.30PM
Gould Piano Trio
| Lucy Gould | violin |
| Richard Lester | cello |
| Benjamin Frith | piano |
| Schumann | Piano Trio in F major Op.80 |
| John Casken | Lust of Roots |
| Interval | |
| Ravel | Piano Trio |
The Gould Piano Trio is one of the very best piano trios working in the UK today and also one with a strong international reputation. They have given many broadcasts and recorded a significant number of CDs, and are well-known locally as artistic directors of the Corbridge Chamber Music Festival. Their concert opens with one of the most ravishing works ever written, Schumann’s Piano Trio No.2, whose slow movement is heart-stoppingly expressive.
John Casken was privileged to have his first Piano Trio recorded by the Gould Piano Trio and when he offered them a new one, this relationship continued and developed. They will premiere Lust of Roots at the Buxton International Festival in July 2022. The title draws on a comment by DH Lawrence but relates specifically to the poet Kathleen Raine’s ‘Northumbrian Sequence’.
We could not have a better end to the series than Ravel’s glittering and energetic Piano Trio, with its joyful waterfalls of notes, hypnotic and haunting melodies, and music that fizzes with sheer energy.
"The only comparison that comes to mind is the old Beaux Arts Trio; the combination of jeweller-like precision and a musical fire that ignites from the first bar.”
The Washington Post
2023 Summer Concerts Leaflet
Click the above leaflet image to enlarge
Click the above leaflet image to enlarge
Summer Concerts 2022 Programme
The Summer Concerts in 2022 once again featured major international artists in another wide-ranging programme.
We opened with the world-class piano playing of Steven Osborne, then the irresistible and brilliant duo of Chris Stout and Catriona McKay in their own distinctive and original take on traditional folk music. Another duo, O Duo made the walls of St Mary’s reverberate with exciting percussion music and they also held a popular Family Percussion Workshop in the afternoon of the concert. We closed with a young, prize-winning British string quartet, the Solem Quartet, who have already made a big impression on audiences.
Summer Concerts 2022 Audience Feedback & Comments
- Steven Osborne (all-Debussy concert)
"Excellent to have top musicians on our doorstep – thank you!"
"Very beautiful pieces – please have him back"
"Relaxed atmosphere"
"Excellent – thank you and congrats! Particularly appreciated Steven Osborne talking about the pieces. What a treat….lucky us!"
"Wonderful concert – lovely to see a variety of ages"
- Chris Stout and Catriona McKay
"Fabulous evening of really interesting music. Great venue and acoustic"
"Loved it – so much energy and passion"
"These guys are real stars"
- O Duo
Workshop:
"Brilliant"
"Amazing, so well done"
"Huge fun!"
Concert:
"So lucky to have such a wonderful series in Wooler. Thank you!"
"Beautiful!"
"Very enjoyable. Very pleased to find a local concert whilst on hols"
"Absolutely fantastic! One of the best things we’ve seen in a very long time. Bring them back!"
- Solem Quartet
"Excellent"
"Very much enjoyed the concert"
"Excellent value"
"Surprised how much I enjoyed their challenging programme"
"They knock other quartets into the long grass"