Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2014 11:45:01 GMT -5
Here is tonight's programme at Leighton House: BACH-BUSONI Chaconne in D minor BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 30 Op.109 SCHUMANN-LISZT Widmung & Frühlingsnacht BRAHMS Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 5 Tom Hicks is a 20-year-old pianist from Guernsey. He has been awarded first prize in the Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias Under-22 Piano Competition, the Croydon Advanced Piano Concerto Competition and the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Junior Intercollegiate Competition. He was also selected as one of 32 finalists in the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition in 2012. Alongside competition successes,Tom has won awards for performance from Chetham's School and Manchester University and enjoys performing a wide range of repertoire in solo recital, having played at venues such as The Bridgewater Hall (Manchester),The Pump Rooms (Bath) and St James' Piccadilly (London). Tom HicksAfter lessons in Guernsey with Mervyn Grand,Tom gained a place at Chetham's School of Music in 2009, studying with Murray McLachlan, with whom he is continuing on the prestigious joint course at The Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester University. Tom also plays regularly to musicians such as Christopher Elton and has enjoyed many master classes from pianists including Joseph Banowetz, Michel Beroff, Philippe Cassard, Stefano Fiuzzi, Ronan O'Hora, Stephen Hough, Leslie Howard, John Lill, Hamish Milne, Steven Osborne, Martin Roscoe,Vladimir Tropp, Simon Trpcezici, Nelita True and Catherine Vickers. As a concerto soloist,Tom is currently undertaking a cycle of the complete Rachmaninov concerti with orchestras from Guernsey. He is also active as accompanist, chamber musician and conductor. KCMS- HicksTom was at Leighton House last year (in March), and so successful was his performance that the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society (KCMS) has invited him back!
|
|
|
Post by Gerard on Feb 11, 2014 18:33:49 GMT -5
. . . Tom was at Leighton House last year (in March), and so successful was his performance that the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society (KCMS) has invited him back! I thought I had seen the name before! Out of interest kleines c, what is the sexual distribution of the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society, i.e. what proportion are ladies and what proportion are gentlemen?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 9:00:01 GMT -5
I should perhaps confess that I was not at Leighton House last night, Gerard, events got in the way, but Big Cassandra has informed me that everyone enjoyed the evening very much indeed. The female:male ratio is generally about 2:1 at the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society (KCMS), although I should perhaps point out that amongst Promenaders at the Royal Albert Hall, that ratio is reversed. When I went to see 'Billy Budd' at the Proms last summer, the ratio was probably closer to 1:4 in the arena, although curiously, women probably outnumbered men in the stalls. Some commentators called it a 'gay' opera, which may have attracted the homosexual community, although the plot could be interpreted in many different ways. My own impression of the BBC Radio 3 blogs, fora and message boards over the past decade is that they tend to be male dominated. As for ladies and gentlemen, I suppose that KCMS is dominated by ladies, although some feminists occasionally object to being called ladies rather than women. In fact, during the interval, I tend to stand in the far corner of the reception room, sipping a glass of wine, being totally dominated by Holland Park's formidable ladies. I am not sure that this is a position in which you would feel comfortable, Gerard, but I suppose that on such occasions, I tend to prefer the company of the fairer sex!
|
|
|
Post by Gerard on Feb 13, 2014 0:30:07 GMT -5
How about the age distribution at the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society kleines c? And as well as that would it be correct to suppose that a good many ladies attended Mr. Hicks's recital for indescribable frissons and emotional thrills?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 9:31:01 GMT -5
Lauriane is Secretary of the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society, Gerard, and I discussed the age distribution with her in considerable detail. She argued that KCMS was dying on its feet, and as women tend to live rather longer than men, this might also help explain the sexual distribution, too! I should perhaps clarify that although I gave my birth date here in ' The Third' as 1 January 1900, it is simply as old as the software currently allows us to be, and I did indeed try and attract a younger membership from the BBC Proms to Leighton House. BBC Proms - How to PromThis marketing push was unexpectedly successful, as everyone I invited decided to turn up at the 75th birthday celebration of local composer Howard Blake. KCMS - Concert ProgrammeHoward BlakeSo I would add that there are now two distinct age profiles, one relatively old and the other relatively young (including a few children). As you point out, Gerard, a good many ladies did attend Tom Hicks's recital for indescribable frissons and emotional thrills, including Big Cassandra herself, although I am not sure that she was entirely satisfied!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 19:25:05 GMT -5
Your Mervyn Grand is something of a mystery man kleines c. One can say with certainty can one not that in real life he does not look like a clothes-peg; so the one piece of information he gives us is false: plus.google.com/112063849446849525933Secondary sources indicate though that he conducts the Guernsey Camerata, whose concert dress is all black for the ladies and black shirts for the gentlemen, with optional "space accessories"! What are space accessories? All that calls to mind are hoop-petticoats - but surely not? www.guernseycamerata.com/camPlayers.htmlThe terminology the Camerata uses is "we regularly bring in players and conductors from the UK" - so would it be correct to say that Her Majesty does not hold sway in Guernsey? Further reports indicate that Mr. Grand is Head of the Schools Music Service as well as a member of the Channel Islands Music Council, and he once according to those same reports said that "It is really important that youngsters have the chance to experience music from different cultures as it not only provides them with the opportunity to appreciate different styles of music but different life styles too." I suppose that latter point indicates why he has sent young Tom off on a visit to the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society. But actually if one follows the "links" section one may unpeel all sorts of layers. For example there is Sebastian ("Seb") Grand, also from Guernsey, and also a prominent piano-ist - but his special turn is Gherkschwein's "Porky and Blue" so that is going to be his undoing if it has not already been. "Seb" tells us he was the "founder and principal conductor of the Guernsey Sinfonietta" - could it be that he was revolting against his father's Guernsey Camerata in some way? "Let us have modern Amercians in abundance!" perhaps he cried? Many mysteries. Anyway, imagine "Seb" thirty years older and there you will probably have the countenance of Mervyn.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 12:10:48 GMT -5
I have never been to Guernsey, Sydney, so I cannot enlighten you on the countenance of Mervyn, although you may actually have published a distant photograph of him fronting the Guernsey Camerata above. As for culture, I do not share your distaste of American culture and jazz, but it strikes me that just as American culture came to the fore over the course of the twentieth century, Asian cultures will come to dominate the world in the twenty-first century. I was wondering whether Europe blew its cultural dominance with the First World War? The Third - The First World War
|
|