Past events from 2013
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Sunday 22 December 2013 at 12.00PM
Private Passions: Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Listen, Listen, O My Child
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, talked to Michael Berkeley about his favourite music and the meaning of Christmas. His choices included 'Listen, Listen, O My Child' by Michael, Christmas music from Bach and Britten, and music Justin loves from the late medieval period. He talked about his career in the oil industry, his relatively late ordination, and his meteoric rise to the top of the Anglican Church, and the music that has accompanied him on that journey. Michael asked him how he finds time for prayer and contemplation amid the pressure of heading the Anglican community, and what role music plays in his relationship with God.
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Saturday 30 November 2013
Britten in Oxford Festival
Concerto for Oboe performed by the Oxford Chamber Orchestra
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford
Concert featured third movement from the Concerto for Oboe, 'Elegy'.
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Thursday 21 November 2013
Benjamin Britten Centenary Concert
Listen, Listen, O My Child
As part of the Benjamin Britten Centenary Concert, Ardingly College welcomed Michael, Britten's Godson, to open the concert with a short talk about the composer.
PROGRAMME
Benjamin Britten: Sinfonietta op. 1
Britten: A Hymn to the Virgin
Michael Berkeley: Seven
Britten: Friday Afternoons selection
INTERVAL
Britten: Jubilate in C
Berkeley: Listen, listen, O My Child
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols selection
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb -
Friday 08 November 2013
Evensong
Listen, Listen, O My Child performed by the Choir of Queen's College
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Saturday 05 October 2013
Touch Light in Holstebro, Denmark
Touch Light performed by Janne Thomsen (flute) & Michala Petri (recorder)
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Saturday 28 September 2013
ABC radio's Andrew Ford talks to Michael at House of Lords
Houses of Lords, Houses of Parliament, Parliament Square, London, SW1A 0PW
Newly appointed to the Lords, Michael sat down with Australian radio host Andrew Ford in the House of Lords to speak of the enduring importance of the arts and music in public life, finding his own unique musical voice among the holy cacophony of his household companions, and the nature of great artistic brains. You can download and listen from the ABC website at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/musicshow/michael-berkeley-2/4980474
The programme included performances from Michael's Baa Baa Black Sheep (Overture) and Concerto for Oboe (Elergy). -
Friday 20 September 2013
Meditations with the Southbank Sinfonia
Meditations performed by the Southbank Sinfonia & Nicholas Cleobury (conductor)
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Thursday 19 September 2013
Meditations with the Southbank Sinfonia
Meditations performed by the Southbank Sinfonia & Nicholas Cleobury (conductor)
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Sunday 15 September 2013
Touch Light in Rundetaarn, Copenhagen, Denmark
Touch Light
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Wednesday 04 September 2013
Wessex Graves at Gregynog
Wessex Graves (for tenor and harp) performed by Hannah Stone (harp) & Nicky Spence (tenor)
Royal harpist Hannah Stone and superb young tenor Nicky Spence performed a recital including extracts from that historic Pears/Ossian Ellis performance at Gregynog, as well as Wessex Graves (for tenor and harp) written for Pears and Ellis.
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Tuesday 27 August 2013
Cello In The Afternoon
Ode - In Memoriam
St. Michael's Church, Discoed, Wales
Part of Presteigne Festival. Also on the programme was:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Suite in D minor, BWV1008 (Huw Watkins Prelude)
Jon Opstad - Distant Places (World premiere of a Presteigne Festival commission)
Johann Sebastian Bach - Suite in E flat, BWV1010 -
Saturday 10 August 2013
Lake District Summer International Festival
Abstract Mirror performed by the Chilingirian Quartet
Ambleside Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Vicarage Road, Ambleside, Cumbria
Also performed was the Beethoven Quartet in F minor and Brahms Sextet in B flat.
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Friday 12 July 2013 at 7.00PM
Felicity Lott & The Royal Holloway Choir
Echo & Wessex Graves (for mezzo-soprano and piano) performed by Felicity Lott (soprano) & Joseph Middleton (piano)
Dame Felicity Lott sang two of Michael Berkeley's most popular songs, Her Secret from Wessex Graves (for mezzo-soprano and piano) and Echo: Homage a Francis Poulenc at the Cheltenham Festival. Before the concert Michael gave a talk on Benjamin Britten's French Connections.
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Wednesday 03 July 2013 at 9.15PM
Trasimeno Festival: Words and Music with Julian Barnes
Three Cabaret Songs performed by Angela Hewitt (piano) & Barbara Hannigan (soprano)
Castle of the Knights of Malta, Magione, Italy
An evening of words and music presented by Booker Prizewinning author Julian Barnes. Angela Hewitt and other festival artists performs alongside readings from his own works and those of others on musical themes. The world premiere of three Cabaret Songs is set to new poems by Ian McEwan.
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Sunday 26 May 2013
Britten talk at Charleston Festival
Michael appeared at the Charleston Festival with Ronald Blythe, Sir Nicholas Kenyon and Alex Jennings to talk about Britten.
Other talks in 2013 included Cheltenham Science and Music Festivals, the Lake District Summer Music Festival, The Oxford Britten Festival and the Presteigne Festival. -
Saturday 25 May 2013
Oboe Quintet 'Into the Ravine'
Oboe Quintet 'Into the Ravine' performed by the Carducci String Quartet & Nicholas Daniel (oboe)
The concert was preceded by a pre-concert talk.
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Friday 29 March 2013
Michael and Catherine Wyn-Rogers discuss English music
On Good Friday 29 March, Michael and Catherine Wyn-Rogers met as part of the Easter at King's College Cambridge Festival. They discussed the concert that followed later in an evening of extraordinary 20th century English gems: Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Lennox Berkeley's Four Poems of St Teresa of Avila and Howells' Stabat Mater. The concert was performed by Catherine along with John Daszak (tenor), the Philharmonia Chorus, BBC Concert Orchestra and Stephen Cleobury (conductor).
Britten's moving Sinfonia looks ahead to his monumental War Requiem. Berkeley's work centres on the love between Man and God in amatory style. Howells' masterpiece, inspired by the Pietà of Michelangelo is his last and arguably finest choral work, contrasting desolation of the spirit with supreme choral glory. -
Thursday 21 March 2013
Enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Listen, Listen, O My Child performed by the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral, David Flood (conductor) & David Newsholme (organ)
Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury
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Tuesday 19 March 2013 at 6.00PM
Nash Inventions - David Matthews 70th Birthday Concert
Three Rilke Sonnets performed by Claire Booth (soprano) & Philippa Davies (flute)
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP
The evening began at 6.00pm with the pre-concert event Composers in Focus. The concert programme followed at 7.30pm and also included:
David Matthews: Clarinet Quartet
James Francis Brown: A Dream and a Dance for flute, clarinet, harp & string quartet (Nash commission premiere)
David Matthews: A Blackbird Sang (flute, violin, viola and cello — Nash commission premiere)
Julian Anderson: Prayer for solo viola
David Matthews: The Sleeping Lord
Performed by Claire Booth (soprano), Lawrence Power (viola), Philippa Davies (flute) and Richard Hosford (clarinet)Photo: Wigmore Hall, London
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Monday 18 March 2013
Fierce Tears II at Luton Music Club
Fierce Tears II performed by James Turnbull (oboe)
Roger Wright talked to Petroc Trelawny about British Music, with music provided by The Berkeley Ensemble. James Turnbull has also recorded Three Moods for unaccompanied oboe on the Champs Hill Records Label (CHRCD051). These were originally written for Janet Craxton who gave the first performance in Knighton in 1978.
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Sunday 10 February 2013 at 11.00AM
Michael works with young composers on new string quartets
The Forge, 3-7 Delancey Street, London, NW1 7NL
Michael and members of the Berkeley Ensemble were joined by young composers as they worked on new works for string quartet. The event followed the Ensemble's concert. Composers were invited to submit works for string quartet of up to eight minutes, preferably accompanied by a recording of either a live performance or electronic realisation.