Some of West Cornwall’s finest young classical musicians will be joined by top national names for Penzance’s first-ever chamber music festival, taking place from Friday, 23 July to Sunday, 25 July at Chapel Street Methodist Church
Opening the festival on Friday, 23 July will be The Chapel Street Ensemble and one of the UK’s most talented young tenors, Ted Black, who was a recent finalist in the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Awards. They’ll be presenting an evocative programme of English chamber music and song, including works by Frank Bridge, Judith Weir, Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
The Chapel Street Ensemble, formed in 2020, brings together young professional players from West Cornwall under the guidance of Timothy Dean, who is also the Ensemble’s pianist.
On Saturday, 24 July, one of Britain’s leading pianists, William Howard, will give a recital of music by Scarlatti, Schubert, Chopin and Schumann. This solo concert also marks the formal launch of the Steinway B Concert Piano which has been loaned to the performing arts scheme Carn to Cove by Falmouth University Academy of Music and Theatre Arts. The piano will be used by for touring around Cornwall and for concerts in Penzance.
The new piano will take centre stage again on Sunday, 25 July for an afternoon solo recital by the Penzance-based pianist Stella Pendrous, featuring music by Bach and Chopin. Well-known to local audiences, Stella has also given solo and concerto performances throughout the British Isles.
Rounding off the festival on the evening of Sunday, 25 July, The Chapel Street Ensemble will return with a programme that includes rarely performed jewels by Prokofiev and Vaughan Williams together with one of Mozart’s timeless masterpieces, the Clarinet Quintet in A Major.
Timothy Dean, Director of The Chapel Street Ensemble, said: “Bringing musicians and audiences together to experience the thrill of live performance is what this Festival is all about. We’re very fortunate to have some exceptional young performers in this part of Cornwall, many of whom live and work here year-round.
“Live performance opportunities are a vital part of the career development of professional musicians, and they’ve been in very short supply during the pandemic. So we’re especially pleased to be putting on these concerts and sharing some fantastic music with local audiences.”
Chapel Street Music is grateful to Penzance Council for a grant from its small grants programme for community groups and to FEAST, making great art happen across Cornwall, for their financial support to enable the streaming and recording of concerts to bring them to a wider audience.
Tickets
Tickets for all four concerts are on sale now by phone on 01736 810181 and online:
Ticket numbers are limited to allow for social distancing. Under-18s get in free but must book in advance.
