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The last of our Sunday afternoon concerts takes place on 18th February (in March the lighter days will allow us to return to Friday evenings) when we welcome the Barbican String Quartet.

Founded in 2015 the quartet’s first concert was at the Barbican Centre, London (where else?) and they have since gone from strength to strength, making their Wigmore Hall debut two years later. In 2018 they won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Albert and Eugenie Frost prize, also winning in that same year the St. Martin in the Fields Chamber music competition. Selected as the St. John Smith Square Young Artists in 2020, they released their first CD last year, when they also toured in Europe, Canada and the USA. Read more of their competition and broadcasting successes at their website https://www.barbicanquartet.com/new-page-2 where you can also see and hear them play.

Spanning four nationalities the members are Amarins Wierdsma and Kate Maloney (violins), Christoph Slenczka (viola), and Yoanna Prodanova (cello). This is an original voice in the world of chamber ensembles, delighting audiences with their intimately powerful performances and virtuosic ensemble playing. For us, they bring a Viennese programme setting the classical music of Haydn’s String Quartet in B Flat Major, Op 50 No 1 and Beethoven’s String Quartet No 15 in A minor, Op 132, beside Alban Berg’s early-modern String Quartet, Op 3.

Praised for their unique sound and character, the Barbican Quartet captivates from the first note to the last, delighting audiences and leaving a lasting impression. This unforgettable performance is kindly sponsored by The C & M Pike Trust; hurry along now to book your tickets at https://nadsa.co.uk/event/barbican-string-quartet/

What else is happening locally on the classical music scene? Not a great deal this month; you’ll have to go to Exeter where the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra present their ‘London Town’ concert of Vaughan Williams and Brahms (maybe someone can explain his link to London?) on 23rd, and again on 29th when the film music of Hans Zimmer and John Williams takes centre stage. More information and rickets at https://bsolive.com/events/london-town-exeter/ and https://bsolive.com/events/williams-and-zimmer-exeter/.

At the Cathedral on March 16th, Exeter Philharmonic Choir are singing the Verdi Requiem with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and international soloists; there are only a few tickets left, available from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/exeterphilchoir/verdi-requiem/e-zqqqel

If you’d like to sing this masterpiece, Shaldon Singers are workshopping it on a Come-and-Sing day on 27th April; details at www.shaldonsingers.co.uk

That’s it for now, happy listening…
John R