Wooler Arts Summer Concerts 2023

What a fascinating season this has been. Every concert was very special and it was encouraging to see our audience numbers growing. St Mary’s Church is proving a very good music venue with its superb acoustics and open space. I wish I could do something to improve the comfort of the pews!

Mishka Rushdie Momen is a remarkable young pianist with a growing international reputation. Her command of the keyboard and her interpretations of the music are impressive to say the very least. Her programme pairing themes (preludes and fugues – Brett Dean and Bach; Ravel and Rameau) and framing the concert with sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert was fascinating. This was Mishka’s second appearance in Wooler and I hope we can invite her again.

Tim Kliphuis came with his Trio and their Sunday afternoon concert was a perfect summer cocktail of jazz, gypsy and folk, as well as some classical. Stefan Grapelli and Django Rheinhardt were not far away in this heady mix and Tim’s playing, and that of his colleagues, was thrilling. The feet were certainly tapping that afternoon.

The appearance in Wooler of the young Aglica Trio (flute, viola and harp) made a huge impact. On the Friday they gave an outstanding Workshop with children of the Middle School who had prepared graphic musical compositions. It was the best of such events I have ever seen. Three pieces collectively created by the children were included in the Saturday evening concert, with photos of their scores projected onto the church walls. The concert itself, with Debussy’ great Sonata as the earliest piece, and everything else from the modern and contemporary periods, was both exciting and compelling.

Our season ended with the great Gould Piano Trio in a programme of Schumann (his glorious Trio No.2), Ravel’s scintillating Trio, and my recent Lust of Roots which I wrote for the Goulds. It is always nice to end on a high note and the Ravel was a fitting celebration of the season played by truly outstanding performers.

John Casken

Artistic Director
Wooler Arts Summer Concerts