A Selection of English Song

John Ireland: Sea Fever

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon

Peter Warlock: My own country

Gerald Finzi: There was a lover and his lass

Benjamin Britten: On this Island, op. 11 (excerpts)

Nathan Williamson: Crystal for Piano Quartet - 2008
(commissioned by concert series sponsors, Spring, world premiere)

--Interval--

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, op. 47.

A selection of arias and duets from the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Performers:

Composer-pianist Nathan Williamson (Artistic Director) has established a reputation as one of the UK's most versatile and individual young artists. He is now in consistent demand for new compositions from artists and festivals around the world. As a pianist he has performed with some of the leading artists of his generation in many of Europe's leading venues.

Elinor Jane Moran (soprano) was educated at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she held several scholarships. She has sung with such companies as Garsington Opera, Opera Holland Park, ENO Baylis and Glyndebourne Youth Opera. She will be returning to the Shannon International Music Festival as resident artist in July and later this summer she will debut as Susanna in Le Nozze Di Figaro with Opera Loki in France and will tour with Mid-Wales Opera this autumn.

James Robinson (baritone) graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2001 and is currently a member of the Chorus of Welsh National Opera. Other operatic experience includes chorus with Glyndebourne Festival, Touring Opera and the Royal Opera House, and various roles with British Youth Opera and Savoy opera. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2000.

Arisa Fujita (violin) has performed in most major concert venues in the UK, including Barbican, Queen Elizabeth, and Wigmore Halls, and extensively around the world, both as soloist and as a member of the Fujita Piano Trio, formed with her two sisters. She has made several highly acclaimed recordings and has frequently broadcast on Radio 3. She currently teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

From the Wigmore Hall to Glastonbury Festival, Max Baillie leads a diverse life in a range of musical fields. He is principal viola in London's Aurora Orchestra, has run his own summer chamber music school, Es Muss Sein!, since 2005, and appears regularly on the UK scene and festival circuit with his band the WORM, a mix of African and modern dance music.

Dutch cellist Matthijs Broersma is quickly emerging as one of the finest young cellists of his generation. Future engagements include a Barbican Hall recital with his piano trio, the Elgar concerto with the New English Concert Orchestra and a debut solo recital at the Royal Festival Hall in 2009. He is currently studying with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.