Programme

OPENING NIGHT

7.30pm Thursday 27th April 2017
St Mary’s Parish Church, Church Chare, Whickham NE16 4SH

CHOPIN Selection of Nocturnes
RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit
SCHUBERT Notturno
FAURE Nocturne
LISZT Nuage Gris ‘Grey Clouds’

Ashley Fripp piano
Benjamin Baker violin
Jonathan Bloxham cello

Tickets (Unreserved): £12.50 / £10 seniors / £5 students, unwaged, under 16s

Tickets available in advance from St Mary’s Parish Church office 9am-12noon Monday-Friday (cash only) and on the door on the night.

Tickets available in advance online, by phone and in person from Sage Gateshead ticket office: 0191 443 4661 · sagegateshead.com/event/northern-chords-opening-night

This year the Northern Chords Festival explores the theme of ‘Night’. Many composers have been inspired by the night, either by writing pieces that evoke feelings of this special time of day or by composing works such as Serenades that are intended for performance at night. Chopin’s Nocturnes, perhaps among his most famous works, are beautiful single movement character pieces. Tonight the ECHO Rising Star pianist Ashley Fripp will perform some of these exquisite works along with a few other composers’ depictions of night. Our Artistic Director, Jonathan Bloxham, and festival regular violinist Benjamin Baker will also making guest appearances!  

FROM BACH TO TANGO

7.30pm Friday 28th April 2017
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Riverside Terrace, Gateshead NE8 3BA

BACH Sonata No 3 in C for solo violin
WORLD PREMIERE new commission
DE FALLA Siete Canciones
VILLA LOBOS Five Preludes for guitar
PIAZZOLLA Histoire du Tango

Sean Shibe guitar
Benjamin Baker violin

Tickets (Unreserved): £12.50 / £10 seniors / £5 students, unwaged, under 16s

Tickets available in advance online, by phone and in person from Sage Gateshead ticket office: 0191 443 4661 · sagegateshead.com/event/northern-chords-bach-to-tango. Tickets also available on the door on the night.

Tonight Northern Chords Festival visits the beautiful BALTIC for the first time. Whilst enjoying views of the Quayside you can be taken on a unique journey through music from Germany to Argentina, as violinist Benjamin Baker and BBC New Generation Artist guitarist Sean Shibe present an intimate set of pieces. The concert ends with a work from the most famous and exciting classical Tango composer, Piazzolla.

SERENADE

8pm Saturday 29th April 2017
Sage Two, Sage Gateshead, St Mary’s Square, Gateshead Quays NE8 2JR

DOWLAND Songs for tenor & guitar
ARNOLD Serenade for guitar & strings
WALTON Pieces from Henry V
ELGAR Serenade for strings
BRITTEN Nocturnal
BRITTEN Serenade for tenor, horn & strings

Sean Shibe guitar
Ben Johnson tenor
Northern Chords Festival Ensemble
Benjamin Baker leader
Jonathan Bloxham conductor

Tickets (Reserved Seating): £12.50 / £10 seniors / £5 students, unwaged, under 16s

Tickets available online, by phone and in person from Sage Gateshead ticket office: 0191 443 4661 · sagegateshead.com/event/northern-chords-serenade

The final concert of the 9th Northern Chords Festival welcomes back festival favourite, tenor Ben Johnson. In a programme that explores English composers’ takes on this years theme of Night, we bring together all the festival artists from solo guitar to string ensemble. This year’s festival concludes with a performance of the Britten’s incredible Serenade conducted by the Festival’s Artistic Director and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Jonathan Bloxham.

“A genuine virtuoso, an astoundingly brilliant and masterly pianist, and his total grasp of the music is a joy to hear” Thomas Adès

“Ashley Fripp is a pianist of formidable intelligence. Add to that a fearless, loose-limbed technique and a prodigious memory… and you have a young talent which needs to be taken very seriously indeed.” Birmingham Post

“Disarmingly precocious” New York Times (of Ashley Fripp)