Opening night of the Professional Concert Series

The Nephele Ensemble of flute and strings opened the 2010 annual Professional Concert Series at Queen Anne's on Friday 15 January. The evening's programme included pieces by Haydn, Ries and Tournier, with Celine Saout playing harp.

The Nephele Ensemble is formed of soloists and chamber musicians who have appeared at many prestigious venues throughout the UK and abroad: Nicola Smedley, flute; Samantha Wickramasinghe, violin; Jessica Beeston, viola and Rebecca Hewes, cello.  Formed in 2007, they have established a reputation for fine performances, with engagements taking them to prestigious venues and concert series, such as St. David's Hall, Cardiff and the Leeds International Concert Season.  In 2009 they commissioned Aerial, a stunning new work by the distinguished British composer Timothy Salter. The premiere took place in January, with further performances at Rhyl, Carlisle, London and Chichester.

Although essentially a flute quartet, they regularly perform with guest artists, recently collaborating with William Vann (piano), Timothy Orpen (clarinet), Cressida Wislocki (viola) and Emily Steinitz (violin).

Prior to the evening concert, the Nephele Ensemble ran a masterclass for young musicians studying flute and strings at Queen Anne's, with harpist, Celine Saout. They were joined by pupils from The Oratory Preparatory School.

John Padley, Director of Music, said: 'We were delighted to welcome the Nephele Ensemble to Queen Anne's for the first in this year's series of professional concerts. Their performance was outstanding and the pupils benefited greatly from the afternoon's masterclass, commenting that it was "extremely informative" and "made ideas and musical concepts very clear"'.

 

The Professional Concert Series continues with performances and student workshops by cellist, Anup Kumar, Friday 29 January; percussionists, O Duo, Friday 19 February and VOCES 8, a vocal ensemble, Friday 23 April. For details of these events contact 0118 918 7303 or email jill.carter@qas.org.uk.

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