Nadsa news – March 2025
Hello again and welcome to news of our March concert when, with the longer days we return to our Friday evening time of 7.30pm at the Courtenay Centre. On 14th we’re delighted to have a Piano Trio with us this time: no, not a trio of pianos (although surprisingly they exist – Mozart wrote a lovely one!), but a piano with half a string quartet.
Robin Green is the pianist, Daniel Auner plays violin, and Ben Tarlton plays Cello, and their programme for us will include
Three very different pieces, each with its own mood and colour.
Who are the players? Daniel and Robin have played together as a violin-piano duo for many years having studied together in Salzburg. The two musicians have played many concerts together and also recorded a Mozart CD. Daniel, one of the most sought-after Viennese violinists of his generation, has worked as a soloist with many of Europe’s most prestigious orchestras, taking him to the largest concert halls and music festivals in the world. He has been teaching violin at the renowned Prayner Conservatory in Vienna since 2018, and since 2020 he has also been on the board of the Fritz Kreisler Society, organizing among other things the Fritz Kreisler competition which takes place every four years. Also in 2020 he took over as general music director of the Mödling Symphony Orchestra. As a conductor and violinist, Daniel also performs worldwide with the Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna, the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra and the Vienna Residence Orchestra.
Award winning British pianist Robin Green enjoys a busy career as a performer and pedagogue, being also a solo piano professor and chamber music lecturer at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. A regular at major festivals and concert halls, he performs a wide solo and chamber music repertoire from the Renaissance to ambitious contemporary repertoire including ‘Lieux Retrouvés’ by Thomas Adès, Ligeti’s Horn trio, Mantra by Stockhausen and Rzewski’s ‘The People United Will Never Be Defeated!’ Highlights for the current season include recitals with Mayumi Seiler, Aurora orchestra’s Stravinsky Firebird (from memory) and a tour of the complete Beethoven works for cello and piano with the cellist Christian Elliott.
Born in Wales, Ben Tarlton studied with Sharon McKinley and Alexander Baillie before attending the Yehudi Menuhin School to study with Thomas Carroll. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Louise Hopkins, supported by Help Musicians UK and The Countess of Munster Trust. He is now a London based cellist enjoying a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher and festival director. Last September he performed in Bern and Basel with the Basler Madrigalisten, giving the world premiere of ‘Stone Mountain’ for cello and choir by Christian Henking, after premiering his work ‘How do I love thee?’ with them in April 2023 in Schwarzenburg, Switzerland. Other concert highlights include recitals at Wigmore Hall, St James’s Church Piccadilly, St Martin-in-the-Fields and numerous concerto performances. In 2022, he performed in Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” in the Barbican Hall, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and reviewed by The Guardian as “sensationally played”.
With three such talented and renowned musicians coming together this promises to be an exciting and uplifting concert: book your tickets now at Piano Trio: Robin Green – Daniel Auner – Ben Tarlton | nadsa Concerts If you’re not sure, read more about them and listen to them individually at
Oh yes – don’t forget to bring a tenner or two because you’re sure to want to take home at least one CD!
This concert is sponsored by Rathbones Investment Management, Rathbones | Wealth and Investment Management and we are grateful for their generous support.
What else is happening musically in and around South Devon?
We don’t often have the opportunity in the south-west to see live opera so Red Earth Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Anne Boleyn sung in English will be a rarity. On Saturday 29th March at St Mary’s Church here in Abbotsbury, Newton Abbot, and again at Chudleigh Parish Church on Sunday 30th , this local company has been delighting audiences since 2014.
Their aim is to present affordable opera which approachable and enjoyable for those who are not already keen on opera, and to give performers opportunities at all levels More information and tickets at RED EARTH OPERA - Home
On Saturday 5th April Devon Philharmonic Orchestra, in collaboration with the University Chapel Choir and Choral Society, and Exodus Ensemble are at Exeter Cathedral. They present for us
Walton: Suite from Henry V
Martin: Mass for Double Choir
Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast
Forget what you’ve heard about the ‘English cowpat school’; this is seriously good stuff! Tickets and more information at Devon Philharmonic Orchestra | Exeter
If that’s too far, on the same evening at St Mary’s Church here in Abbotsbury, there’s another feast of English choral music with the Torbay Singers programme ‘Mystery and Light’ featuring
Howells – Requiem
Vaughan Williams – Five Mystical Songs
Elgar – Lux Aeterna
Music by Parry and Stanford.
Tickets and more information here: Torbay Singers - 05/04/2025 7:00pm - Mystery and Light: a programme of English choral music including works by Howells and Vaughan Williams
In Totnes (Bridgetown, actually!) the Devon Telemann Ensemble are giving a 3pm afternoon concert on Sunday March 23rd at St John’s Church. With strings, recorders and harpsichord this will be a lively and beautiful programme of Baroque trio sonatas and concerti grossi, and Mary Eade will be playing a violin concerto. Tickets are £15 on the door, with free refreshments included, and under 18s also go free.
The Wylde Thyme Trio are a sub-set of the Devon Telemann Ensemble and they too have a concert, on Sunday April 27th, same time, same place, also with free refreshments! It will have an eclectic mix of Baroque, Classical, Folk and more! Instrumentation will include violin, recorder, double bass, piano accordion and piano. No more information at present, but watch this space…
If you’re a singer, then Shaldon is the place to be on Saturday 5th April when the Shaldon Singers are holding an all-day workshop. Come and Sing Mendelssohn's Elijah with musical director Brian Kay, and accompanist Peter Adcock, in St Peter's Church, Shaldon. We will be using the Old Novello edition. Workshop tickets are £22, which includes score hire. See Shaldon Singers - Shaldon Singers, a choral society in south Devon for more information.
That's all for now; happy listening,
John R