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Our lunchtime concerts often feature musicians making their St John's début, but in this concert it's not the performers but one of the instruments that we'll be hearing from for the first time. Katharine Parsons (viola and viola d'amore), Leon King (viola d'amore) and Fergus Black (organ), will bring us a programme featuring music by three composers of the baroque period (J. S. Bach, Georg Muffat, and Heinrich Biber).As ever St John’s will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks. All profits from the café go towards funding our programme of events.
The concert will begin promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but those who are able to afford it are asked to make a donation. The suggested amount is £6.
Programme:
Sonata in D major BWV 1028 for viola da gamba and keyboard (played on viola and organ) - J.S. Bach
Passacaglia in G minor for organ - Georg Muffat
Partita VII in C minor for 2 violas d'amore and continuo, from Harmonia Artificioso-ariosa - Heinrich Biber
About Katharine Parsons
Katharine Parsons grew up in Leicestershire. She studied viola with Graeme Scott and piano with Marion Roper at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, before going on to do a degree in English Literature at Cambridge University. After graduation, she established herself as a viola player and upper strings teacher in Oxfordshire where she did many recitals with the Courtenay Quartet as well as other freelance work.
Subsequently, she studied viola with Roger Bigley at the Royal Northern College of Music as part of a PGCE in Specialist String Teaching. She moved to Peterborough in 2003 to teach for Cambridgeshire Music. She set up the Hereward Ensemble, a chamber group based in Peterborough, in 2007, and more recently she has played with the Hesperides Quartet. Katharine currently teaches upper strings and piano for Northamptonshire Music and Performance Arts Trust. As well as teaching individuals and small groups, she enjoys conducting and directing young ensembles.
Katharine is a keen writer, has published an article in Faith and Freedom magazine, and is presently working on a book about the value of arts education.
About Leon King:
Leon King studied viola with Rudolph Botta in Manchester and Roger Best of the Alberni Quartet in London before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he continued his studies with Stephen Shingles, the principal violist of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. At the RAM he also studied chamber music under the renowned quartet leader Sidney Griller and composition with Paul Patterson and Edward Gregson.
Leon has worked as a freelance player with many British orchestras including the Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields, BBC orchestras, the Philharmonia and RPO. He also studied baroque viola with Jan Schlapp and is an experienced specialist in period performance practice having worked with a number of period instrument orchestras including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
Leon has a special interest in the viola d’amore and has edited editions of a number of eighteenth century pieces for viola d’amore, some never published before, including an Urtext edition of Vivaldi’s complete works for viola d’amore.
About Fergus Black:
Fergus Black was born in Scotland. After taking his degree at St. Andrews University, he studied music in the USA at the University of Pennsylvania and at UCLA, before returning to the UK. He works as a freelance musician: performing and teaching – piano, organ and singing, both privately and in schools. He is a past-President of the Peterborough and District Organists’ Association, and conducts a number of local choirs. He has worked as the organist and Director of Music at a number of local churches, and he gives regular recitals in the area, including for the Stamford Georgian Festival and the IAO. He lives in Peterborough with his wife, Helen, and his web site is at www.fergusblackmusic.uk
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Events at St John's, 4 Church Street, Peterborough, PE1 1XB, United Kingdom,Peterborough