This year the opening concert of the 2016 Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra season will also mark the opening of this year’s Royal Tunbridge Wells International Music Festival. Festival chairman Michael Waggett said: “Our town’s Symphony Orchestra is a wonderful example of an enduring community initiative that delivers significant cultural benefit for the people of Tunbridge Wells and the towns and villages of our region. Its continuing success, and the enjoyment of magical music that the RTWSO provides for people of all ages, is to be applauded”.
The RTW International Music Festival was started in 2003 by local musicians who felt that RTW should have a classical music festival in the way of other spa towns, such as Cheltenham, Bath and Buxton. After a decade of getting established, with memorable performances by an array of internationally acclaimed artists, the RTW International Music Festival is now in its 13th year and ready for a new phase of growth.
On Sunday 9th October Tunbridge Wells will welcome the City of London Sinfonia and three distinguished soloists for a glorious Celebration of Mozart at the Assembly Hall Theatre at 7pm. After the Overture to Marriage of Figaro and the concert aria Parto, Parto sung by Opera North’s Jeni Bern, Mozart’s much-loved Clarinet Concerto will be performed by one of the world’s great clarinettists, Michael Collins. Then, after the motet Exsultate Jubilate, there will be a thrilling finale when a rising star of the world’s major concert halls, pianist Michael McHale, will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21.
Before the evening Gala Concert there will be a special concert at 12 noon for children (aged 3-8 years), Crash Bang Wallop! which is a fun introduction to classical music based on a “Mad Professor” theme! The children’s concert is followed by an opportunity to try musical instruments, enjoy conducting a small ensemble (“Minute Maestro”!), visit Percussion Zoo and make craft objects.
The Festival continues with the Schubert Ensemble at King Charles the Martyr on Thu 13th October (7.30pm) with Piano Quintets by Schumann and Bruch together with a short Piano Quartet by Piers Hellewell to celebrate his 60th birthday: an opportunity to hear this internationally renowned ensemble, with its “special soft edged precision”, at their peak.
And the same venue hosts a Flute Masterclass for grade 7/8 students by Karen Jones, much admired by the late Leonard Bernstein when, as a young Juilliard student, she played at the Tanglewood Festival and now a leading flute soloist and Professor of Flute at the Royal Academy of Music (Sat 29th Oct, 11.00 am at KCM).
Please check www.tunbridgewellsfestival.co.uk for full details and then enjoy what the Festival has to offer, starting with these two special concerts on Sunday 9th October!
Crash Bang Wallop! – a Concert for Children (Ages 3-8 years) is on Sunday 9th October at 12 noon. Tickets for adults are £9, children £7 and there is a family ticket (4 people) for £28
The Festival Gala Concert: A Celebration of Mozart is also on Sunday 9th October at 7pm. Tickets are £24, £22, £20 (£9.50 U16/studentsGO!) and can be purchased on www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01892 530613.
