Category: Music

Jen Carter and Ishani Bhoola – 21 May

We look forward to hosting Jen Carter and Ishani Bhoola on Sunday 21 May at 4:00 for their recital.

Programme

  • Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat major, K.454
  • Beethoven Violin Sonata No.1, Op.12
  • Elgar Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82

Ishani Bhoola

Ishani is an acclaimed violinist, in demand as performer and educator in both the UK and the USA.

Born and raised in Bristol, UK, Ishani studied at the Purcell School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music, winning numerous prizes and awards, including first prize in the 5th Sascha Lasserson Competition.

Jennifer Carter

Jennifer was born in Bristol in 1985. She studied first at Colston’s Girls’ School, where she was awarded the Merchant Venturer’s Vocational Scholarship. She then won a full scholarship to the Junior Department of the Royal Welsh College of Music, where Jennifer received the Elgar Recital Prize, concurrently receiving a scholarship to study at the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama.

Download and print a poster for sharing or a community noticeboard

Tickets

Register on Eventbrite

Homage to ‘Under Milk Wood’: Stan Tracey’s ‘Jazz Suite’ 29 April

Stan Tracey was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. He sadly died in 2013.

Tracey’s best known recording is the 1965 album Jazz Suite, inspired by “Under Milk Wood”, the famous BBC radio drama written by Dylan Thomas first heard in 1954. It features the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional small Welsh fishing village, Llareggub.

Our performers

Using scores produced and transcribed by Clark Tracey, a quartet consisting of Steve Kershaw (bass), Martin Pickett (piano), Ewen Baird (saxophone) and Mike Goff (drums) will be performing Stan Tracey’s musical interpretation of Dylan Thomas’ famous work Under Milk Wood. In addition to the Jazz Quartet the narrative passages will be performed by Tom Neil and Sian Goff. Tom is a multi-disciplinary artist and producer working throughout the UK as a composer, actor and theatre director. He is a founder member of Prime Studios Creation Space in Windsor and an associate artist of internationally touring Blackeyed Theatre. Siân studied acting at The Oxford School of Drama. Recent credits include: ‘In the Long Run’ Sky TV, and ‘To Be Continued’, Freemantle Entertainment.

‘Under Milk Wood’ promises to be a fascinating evening for us, something new to discover at JASG, mixing voices and sounds in an evening that you will look back on fondly.

>>Tickets from Eventbrite (£15 standard/£10 student/£5 under 18. <<

>>Download and display a poster for us!<<

Trio Amici: Piano Trio 23 April 2023

Jacqui Miles violin, Trevor Burley cello, Bethe Levvy piano

Haydn: Trio No. 39 (Hob. XV:25)

Haydn’s Trio was written in 1795, during the final few weeks of Haydn’s second trip to London, and one of a set of three (H. XV:24–26) dedicated to Rebecca Schroeter. It is perhaps his best-known piano trio and sometimes nicknamed the “Gypsy” or “Gypsy Rondo” trio because of its Rondo finale in ‘Hungarian’ style.

Schubert: Piano Trio No.1 in Bb (D.898)

The Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, D. 898, was written by Franz Schubert in 1827. The composer finished the work in 1828, in the last year of his life. It was published in 1836 as Opus 99, eight years after the composer’s death. Like the E-flat major trio, it is an unusually large scale work for piano trio, taking around 40 minutes in total to perform.

Trio Amici

Trio Amici is an exciting and energetic group formed by three successful professional musicians from various branches of the musical world, whose paths have converged in the Oxford area.

Their individual expertise and experience, combined with their passion and enjoyment for performing chamber music, is establishing their prestigious reputation with local audiences. Performing an eclectic repertoire, spanning the Classicism of Beethoven and Schubert, the Romanticism of Brahms and Mendelssohn, through to the French Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel.

Tickets available here:

Register on Eventbrite

Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola and harp (1915) 12 March

Debussy’s 1915 sonata was ground breaking; there are only a few pieces composed for this combination of instruments in the classical repertoire.

(Scroll to foot of page for tickets)

“The Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp floats into a magical dreamscape which feels emotionally detached and ambiguous. Simultaneously melancholy and joyful, it seems to exist in a world beyond emotion. The music just is. In attempting to describe the piece in a letter, Debussy touched on this strange quality when he wrote, “I can’t say whether one should laugh or cry. Perhaps both at the same time?”

(The Listeners’ Club)

Trio Farben

Heather Brooks (harp), Imogen Davey (flute), and Georgia Russell (viola) created Trio Farben in 2018 at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. All three performers are experienced chamber and solo players, each taking a keen interest in many genres of music, from contemporary to jazz, classical, pop, experimental and improv. The group has been coached by Jane Atkins, Garfield Jackson, Imogen Barford, Philippa Davies, Gary Pomeroy and Matthew Jones.

Trio Farben are passionate about performing and commissioning new music. ‘Pinpricks in the Sky’ was written for them by Adam Possener and recorded in collaboration with Orchestra For the Earth, poet Milli Dubin and the Big Blue Blueprint. The video was viewed thousands of times all over the world and shared by numerous high profile environmental activists. Since then, the group regularly perform together in concerts and competitions; most recently, the trio made their Cadogan Hall debut, and were awarded Highly Commended in the St. James chamber music prize.

Programme

  • Arnold Bax – Elegiac Trio
  • Tōru Takemitsu – And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind
  • Claude Debussy – Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (1. Pastorale 2. Interlude 3. Final)

Join us for what we know will be a rare and accomplished performance of this ethereal and remarkable work.

Tickets

Register on Eventbrite

Freddy Chelsom: Vocal recital 5 February raises £600

Freddy Chelsom, a St Giles’ chorister for the last 10 years, has been awarded a choral scholarship at Merton College Oxford.

The recital was on 5 February after the morning service and raised £600. There was a retiring collection for the St Giles Organ Fund.

Programme

  • J.S. Bach BWV 86 ‘Wahrlich, wahrlich ich sage euch’
  • J.S. Bach BWV 59 ’Die Welt mit allen Königreichen’
  • Francesco Durante ‘Danza, danza, fanciulla gentile’
  • Gabriel Fauré ‘Au bord de l’eau’
  • Franz Schubert ‘An die Musik’
  • César Franck ‘Panis Angelicus’
  • J.S. Bach BWV 232 ‘Et in Spiritum Sanctum’
Register on Eventbrite

St Giles’ young musicians recitals – 19/20 December

Concert on 19 December, 13:00

(Admission is free of charge – with retiring collection – at St Giles’ Church Oxford)

Alex Shen (Piano/Violin)

  • Programme
  • Brahms, Intermezzo in A, op 118
  • Wieniawski, Mazurka – Obertas op 19. No. 1
  • J.S. Bach, Sarabande from Partita no. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 –
  • Kabalevsky, Concerto in C 1st Mvt 1 op 48 –

Mia Xie (Flute/piano)

  • Programme
  • Faure, Sicilienne
  • Mouquet, La flûte de pan
  • Rutter, Ostinato
  • Edwin York Bowen, Flute sonata op 120 2nd mvt
  • Chopin, Mazurka in A minor op 17 no. 4-
  • Khachaturian, Toccata op 11

Concert on December 20th, 13:00

Programme details to follow

10 December: join us for a song, mince pie and a drink!

5:30pm: 10 December

An event to get us all into the spirit of Christmas and enjoy some festive warmth in this cold season! We’re inviting everyone to put on a Santa hat and round off the Christmas shopping on Saturday 10th December (5.30pm) with a bang.

We are supporting the fund for a new organ to inspire our 30 organ and keyboard students at St Giles’ (you can hear one of them on 4 December!)

Join us for a drink, a mince pie and a hour’s festive singalong (or dancing in the aisles) to some traditional and not-so-traditional seasonal music – all to the accompaniment of the St Giles’ organ! Tickets are £5 per adult (over 16) or £8 for a family including two adults, and include a drink and a mince pie. Further refreshments will also be on sale.

Cash or cards accepted or buy online via Eventbrite or below

Buy Tickets Here!

Register on Eventbrite

Zihan Wang Piano Recital: 4 December raises nearly £900 for Project 900

Long-standing St Giles’ chorister, 11 year old Zihan Wang, gave a programme of piano music at St Giles on 4 December at 4:30 p.m. The concert raised nearly £900.

Zihan holds an ABRSM Diploma and is a recipient of a Young Organ Scholars’ Trust bursary. He won the organ competition and the Chopin competition in the Oxford Music Festival.

All proceeds from this concert will go towards the construction of a new pipe organ in the church, which will be used to train the next generation of young musicians in Oxfordshire as part of the St Giles’ Music Academy.

Preview:

Schubert, Improvviso

Recording at concert:

N.B. Original recording setting is not high- you will need to adjust your volume (control)

Live recording from concert on 4 December
  • Faure, Romances sans paroles
  • Chopin, Nocturne in c# minor
  • Chaminade, Pierrette air de ballet
  • Copland, The cat and the mouse
  • Schubert, Improvviso
  • Haydn, Piano Sonata No 3 in Eflat major
  • J S Bach, Prelude and Fugue in G minor