Christmas Bells (Chosen charity, Shelter) 7pm Thursday 14th December (St Martin’s)
Cromwell Brass
Comprised of graduates of the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music, Cromwell Brass are a professional Brass quintet based in London, and formed in 2018.
Individually they have performed with professional orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and English National Ballet; and have appeared at a number of world-famous venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, London Palladium, Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican and the London Coliseum.
As an ensemble, they regularly perform a wide variety of musical genres, catering to any occasion, including recitals, functions and weddings….and, of course – Christmas concerts!
Our local connection to Cromwell Brass is through trumpet player Louis Barclay, who’s family home is just off Worlds End Lane. Louis played for Worlds End Music in our very first series of concerts, back in September 21. His mother, flautist Karen Jones, has played for several WEM concerts now – to complete the hatrick, we’re hoping very much to add Louis’ Dad, Andy, Princpal percussionist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, to the Worlds End Music family at some point in the near future!
The Snowman (Charitable recipient, Shelter) 2pm, Sunday 17th December, (St Mary’s)
Worlds End Music was delighted to invite back our friends Tom and Ellie from enSEmble26 bringing back their fabulous Christmas show, The Snowman, narrated by Susie Riddell of The Archers.
Susie Riddell trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Susie has read many audiobooks, is an AudioFile Earphones Award Winner, and also narrated BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week. Susie plays Tracy Horrobin in The Archers and she has twice been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company. Her extensive radio work includes major roles in Ulysses, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby and 1984. Theatre includes roles at The Old Vic, Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory, Birmingham Rep and the Arcola Theatre. TV includes Gavin & Stacey, Doctors, Emmerdale and Saxondale. Susie is co-Artistic Director of the theatre company, Idiot Child, and sings with the City of London Choir.
Violins
Described by the Strad magazine as playing ‘with a sense of enchantment’, Ellie Fagg enjoys a varied career performing around the world as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Her love of chamber music began at the age of seven at Pro Corda and she went on to lead the National Youth Orchestra in 2001. She studied at the Royal College of Music as an Associated Board Scholar and won coveted awards from MBF and Countess of Munster. She has appeared regularly at the Wigmore Hall with the Scottish Ensemble and Aurora Orchestra and at Kings Place with her Jazz-Classical fusion group, Living Room in London. Ellie has toured extensively with the LSO and with European Camerata. With the Puertas Quartet she has made three tours of New Zealand and recorded two CDs on Atoll records to critical acclaim.
Tom Norris graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1994, and went on to study in Banff, Canada before joining the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as Principal 2nd Violin. Since returning to London, Tom has been a principal violinist of the London Symphony Orchestra performing regularly in festivals and concerts across the globe. Alongside life in the orchestra, Tom has collaborated with countless musicians, ranging from the Schubert Ensemble to Roger Daltrey and The Who. He has recorded with Nanci Griffith, Elvis Costello and Andrea Bocelli, and formed the Puertas Quartet, who’s debut CD was critics choice in the Strad Magazine. He collaborated with Manu Delago and Living Room in London, and released his own album as a singer/songwriter in 2010. Tom has been a member of the LSO since 1997 and is Co-Principal Second Violin in the Orchestra. He is also a member of the Puertas Quartet, formed in 2009, which was critics choice in this month’s Strad magazine, for its recording of music by Ravel and Tchaikovsky.
Tom and Ellie form part of Ensemble26, a group formed to promote local music over in Sydenham. Their example was a huge inspiration for WorldsEnd Music and we are delighted to have them join us for Christmas again this year. Do check out their link for great concerts over in SE26 – https://www.ensemble26.com/
Malcolm Johnston – our viola player from Beckenham who was with us last Christmas. He had such a blast that when I asked him to play for this concert, he agreed without a moments hestitation! Malcolm is in the enviable position of having vast experience in all forms of viola playing whether that be as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player or teacher.He currently holds the Sub-Principal viola chair in the London Symphony Orchestra working with the world’s greatest conductors including Claudio Abbado, Sir Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta and Seiji Ozawa to name a few. He is also Principal Viola with the European Camerata and has appeared as Guest Principal Viola with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Malcolm has recently been appointed Professor of Viola at London’s Trinity College of Music.
Cello
Rebecca Gilliver – Cello and founder, Worlds End Music.
Rebecca was born in Farnborough but has to admit to considering herself as coming from Dorset. She moved back to the Orpington area in 2012 and now lives in Green Street Green with her husband and two large, hairy dogs. She is the Principal cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra. Early success in national and international competitions led to critically acclaimed debut recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall, New York. Rebecca has appeared in major music festivals both as a soloist and as a chamber musician and has recorded in many guises, from classical CDs with the Nash Ensemble to movie soundtracks such as Star Wars and Harry Potter. As a soloist, she has played concertos with orchestras such as the Halle, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the London Symphony Orchestra. Rebecca is also committed to teaching and is a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as running the Dorset Cello Classes, a course embracing both conservatory level and amateur cellists. (www.thedorsetcelloclasses.co.uk.) Rebecca is fairly obsessed with her dogs, enjoys kayaking, and harbours a guilty love of Formula One racing!
Recent performances (A Walk with the Woodwinds, charitable donation, Bromley Brighter Beginnings, a Healthy Home for Every Child £200)
Karen Jones – flute
Karen Jones is equally well known as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, teacher and orchestral player, and is in constant demand by composers and conductors alike. She is the fifth generation of a family of professional musicians and was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra by the age of 15. Subsequent successes include winning the woodwind section of the BBC TV competition Young Musician of the Year, and later the Gold Medal for the Shell/London Symphony Orchestra prize.
Karen has played as guest principal flute with all of London’s top orchestras and ensembles, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia and London Sinfonietta. She has also played with the World Orchestra for Peace and was thrilled to be invited to play at the royal weddings of both Prince William and Prince Harry. She is the principal flute of the London Chamber Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia. However, you are most likely to have heard Karen on film soundtrack as she has recorded over 500 movies, many at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios. Karen lives just up the hill on one of the tree roads
Sarah Thurlow – clarinet
Originally from Bromley and still living there, Sarah Thurlow has been working as a freelance clarinettist since 1998. She studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM) with Robert Hill, Michael Harris and Andrew Marriner. An English-Speaking Union scholarship enabled her to attend the Aspen Music School in Colorado as a pupil of Theodore Oien, and the RCM Mills Williams Junior Fellowship led to further study with Hans Deinzer in Italy and masterclasses with Sabine Meyer in Weimar.
She has performed concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra and has given recitals at the Purcell Room, The Bridgewater Hall and St John’s Smith Square. She has appeared in the clarinet sections of the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She founded the ensemble Contemporary Consort in 1998 and is a founder member of London Serenata.
Jo Stark – bassoon
Joanna’s main enthusiasm is for orchestral playing, which began during her time as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Whilst enjoying a busy schedule freelancing with ensembles including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Joanna also enjoys her work teaching at the Junior Royal Academy of Music and coaching the bassoons in the National Children’s Orchestra.
Currently, she is working as an active solo, chamber and orchestral musician, making regular performances with her bassoon quartet ‘Bassoonatics’ and her duo partner Lynn Carter.
Gary Ryan – classical guitar. (Charitable recipient, Peanut Ward £825)
After graduating in music from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Joanna completed her MA at the Royal Academy of Music in 2010 with distinction.
The British guitarist Gary Ryan made his London recital debut for the Park Lane Group Young Artists Series on London’s South Bank in 1994 and has since pursued a highly varied career as a performer, composer, teacher and examiner.
Gary studied as a junior at the Guildhall School of Music, later winning a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in 1987. In 1991 he graduated with first class honours and many awards including the Julian Bream Prize and the John Mundy String Prize and was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 1997.
In 2013 he became the first guitarist since John Williams in 1983 to be awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music, where he has been Assistant Head of Strings since 2009.
He is also well known for his many guitar compositions, arrangements and examination pieces, which include his acclaimed solo work Benga Beat, Play Piazzolla for Boosey & Hawkes, Scenes from the Wild West for Camden Music London and Guitar Star for the ABRSM.
In 2016 Gary Ryan was invited by John Williams to form 6 Hands, a collaborative guitar trio with the jazz guitarist John Etheridge which has toured the UK extensively, including performances at Kings Place, Bridgewater Hall, Snape Maltings and St. George’s Bristol. Gary’s Concert raised over £825 for Peanut Ward, East Grinstead Hospital.
www.garyryan.co.uk
Viola
Young Artist
We are delighted to welcome Martha Norris, daughter of Ellie and Tom, to sing with us as our Young Artist this Christmas. 10 year old Martha has watched the Snowman from the sides for several years over in Sydenham and this time she gets to make her debut singing the traditionally male role of the boy and his famous song ‘I’m walking in the Air’. (Over in Chelsfield we seem to delight in smashing traditions – last year we had a Mother Christmas!) We’re so looking forward to hearing Martha sing in both The Snowman and hopefully also the evening concert
Past Events – Concert for Ukraine. (Charitable donation to DEC, £2108)
Carmine Laurie – Violin
“I listen to music all the time. If I don’t listen to music it is playing in my head, I can’t stop it! The only time I don’t listen to music is when I’m asleep (if I’m lucky)!”
Carmine is the Co-Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, joining the orchestra during his final year of study at the Royal Academy of Music. From Malta, Carmine is guest concertmaster of the Malta Philharmonic, where he often returns to play concertos, and leader of the Oxford Philharmonic. He has also appeared as guest leader with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, among many others. Carmine has played concertos with many international orchestras including the LSO, LPO, Czech Philharmonic and the Guanajuato Symphony in Mexico.
He is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and was made an Associate and Fellow of the Academy for his achievements in his career. Carmine’s talents were acknowledged by his country of Malta, which bestowed upon him the National Order of Merit.
Naoko Keatley – Violin
Naoko is also a member of the London Symphony Orchestra. Originally from Australia (she has just returned from her first visit in 3 years, surviving the journey with her young child!), Naoko moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music – and never left! She now lives in Orpington with her husband (a trumpet player) and three year old. Previously a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Naoko was appointed to the LSO 9 years ago. As a soloist, she has played in venues around the world, including the Sydney Opera House, London’s Wigmore Hall and Esbjerg Musikhuset, Denmark. She has also appeared as a member of the Australian World Orchestra. Despite moving to the UK, Naoko doesn’t feel the cold and never stops smiling!
Gillianne Haddow – Viola
Gillianne is originally from Scotland and now lives in Beckenham with her husband (also a viola player and Worlds End Music alumni!) and extended family. She is the Co-Principal violist of the London Symphony Orchestra, joining just in time to record the soundtrack to Star Wars the Phantom Menace. For several years she combined her position within the orchestra with that of principal viola in the acclaimed Scottish Ensemble. Gillianne has attracted solo commissions from composers such as Sally Beamish and Edward Maguire and has appeared as guest principal with the Hebrides Ensemble and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She enjoys the flexibility of combining her LSO work with studio work, recording movies, and small chamber music concerts. Gillianne plays on an 1812 Rivolta viola, lent to her by the LSO. Her talented sons include Scott Storey, who has appeared at Worlds End Music in our The Seasons concert and Samuel, who is studying composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. (photo to follow.)
Andy Harper – Clarinet
Orpington resident Andy Harper leads a varied career as a freelance musician. Having left Australia at age 21, he has previously held positions in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He is now seen regularly with many of the UK’s leading ensembles such as the LSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
At home in a variety of musical styles, Andy’s musical experience away from classical music includes performing with artists such as Kool and the Gang, Joe Cocker, Harry Connick Junior, Nat Adderley and DJ Pete Tong. When not performing, Andy is often found teaching Clarinet and Saxophone at multiple local schools or watching his beloved Australian Cricket team.
Nina Kiva – cello, WEM Young Artist.
Ukrainian British cellist Nina Kiva is currently studying at the Royal College of Music towards an Artist Diploma Degree, with Melissa Phelps. She is supported by a Jag & Linda Arora Scholarship and the Tillett Trust, including a generous legacy from the Bill Barclay fund, and the Colin Keer Trust.
As an orchestral player, Nina has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bath Festival Orchestra, English National Opera and the Royal Opera House. She is a current trialist with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Nina was selected for the apprenticeship scheme with the Budapest Festival Orchestra by Ivan Fischer.
She is an experienced chamber musician, and has performed in many concert halls across the UK and internationally. She recently performed alongside Steven Isserlis at the Stauffer Centre for Strings in Italy. Nina has been invited to the 2022 Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, which takes part in Vermont, USA.