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Saturday 18 November 7.30pm
A Bouquet Of Songs by James D'Angelo

October Gallery  £10/£6 concessions

Hannah Francis, soprano; Louise Gibbs, voice; Der-Shin Hwang, mezzo soprano; James D'Angelo, piano; Stephen Bennett, clarinet; Maxine Willis, alto flute; Tim Wells, bass

Programme

James D'Angelo When God Lets My Body Be (e e cummings); Sweet Spring (e e cummings); The One (Jessica Boles)*; My Sound (Jessica Boles)*; Stranger (Thomas Merton); Hymns from the Rig Veda: The Hymn of Dawn, The Hymn of Purification

I nterval

James D'Angelo Six Songs on Poems of ee cummings**: The Balloon Man, Little Kittens, A Keen City, These Children Singing in Stone, Same Was a Man; Song of the Reed (Rumi); Whitsun Mukabeleh (Patricia Crampton); Pantoum for a Dancer (William Anderson); The Fragile Silence (Jean Robinson)
* World premiere
** UK premiere

Performers/Composer

James D'Angelo is a multi-faceted American musician living in England whose professional life encompasses that of a composer, pianist, organist, teacher, sound therapist and author. In fluenced by the music of the Medieval and Renaissance eras, the works of Hindemith, the structure and theory of Indian music and his experiences as a jazz musician, his music has its own pantonal, stylistic unity in which flowing and joyous melody and intriguing harmonic progressions are its chief features. His vocal music, including over 40 songs and a number of choral works, are especially appealing. Three of his extended, partially improvised keyboard works have been recorded on his own label. His Portraits of Krishna pieces have appeared recently on a Virgin Classics CD that includes works by Copland, Bernstein and Barber. An authority on the therapeutic application of music and sound, he has established workshops entitled Healing Vibrations: The Power of the Resonating Voice for the purpose of integrating body, mind and spirit. He is the author of the forthcoming book Healing with the Voice: Creating Harmony through the Power of Sound published by Thorsons.

Der-Shin Hwang was born in Taiwan, did her graduate studies in music at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and then received an exchange fellowship to the Royal College of Music. She spent three years playing major roles at the RCM Opera School including Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Isolier (Le Comte Ory), Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia) and Olga (Eugene Onegin). Subsequently she took part in the masterclasses of Dame Janet Baker. Since leaving the Opera School in 1991, she has sung Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) with several companies, Despina with Clonter Opera for All, Prince Orlofsky and Siebel (Faust) with Singapore Lyric Theatreand Pitti-Sing (The Mikado) with Penang Arts Council. She has worked under the direction of David Freeman/Opera Factory and Graham Vick/ City of Birmingham Touring Opera. A recipient of many lieder recital and recording prizes including the Young musician Recording Trust Award and the Ted Mass Lieder prize, she is noted both for her oratorio and concert performances and solo recitals. These have included London appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the Gothenburg SO. Hugh Canning in Opera Magazine wrote of her performance in The Rape of Lucretia: '...Der-Shin Hwang, whose beautiful low mezzo, musical nobility of expression and wonderful diction drew the listener into Lucretia's dreadful plight. The orchid aria was extremely moving in its expressive simplicity...'

Louise Gibbs, the highly-regarded London based jazz vocalist, (occasional pianist-singer) improviser and composer, has sung with Kirk Lightsey, Mark Levine, Chico Freeman, Mike Nock, Lynne Arriale, Ron McClure, Tony Coe, Phil de Greg, Dan Haerle, Butch Lacy, Brian Preistley, the late Lionel Grigson, Ian Carr, Jeff Clyne, Trevor Tomkins, Steve Davis and Guitarists John Scofield, Phil Lee and Deidre Cartwright among others. Having paid her dues with some of the jazz greats, it has been said of her bebop-inspired style: 'She takes musical risks ...as expressive as any horn player whether the tune's by Kenny Wheeler or Rodgers and Hart. Her debut CD "INVITATION" (22Jazz040)has cropped reviews noting: '...Louise Gibbs deserves to be far more widely known.' (Dave Gelly, Observer) '...whether singing songs of yearning and regret or irony and hope, Ms Gibbs is a singer of much discernment..' (Musician Magazine) '...singer Louise Gibbs has a strong, clear voice and excellent diction, used to striking effect on the intelligent mix of originals and modern standards ...it is the assurance with which they are approached that contributes most to this ...characteristically classy 33 product. (Jazzwise Magazine) A second CD, "I LOVE YOU MADLY" (33Jazz048) features the songs of the celebrated Duke Ellington. Here Louise's vocals are teamed in an unusal jazz trio-format with the Jazzpar Prize-winning Tony Coe on saxophones and clarinet, and Brian Priestley on piano. '...Louise Gibbs has complete command of her range and her intonation is enviable. In addition she has a timbre, a worldiness of expression which is ideally suited to the programme.' To earn a respectable living, Louise teaches jazz vocal techniques and music aesthetics at Goldsmith College, London University, is a Research Associate at the Royal College of Music and teaches vocals for the visiting US Jamey Aebersold summer Jazz School.

Hannah Francis was born in London and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music at the age of fifteen. She began her professional life as a harpist but soon turned her attention to singing. Her career as a singer has included three years as a principal soprano with the Englidh National Opera. Her roles included Pamina in The Magic Flute, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte, Jitka in Smetana's Dalibor and Kristina in Janacek's The Macropoulos Case. She has traveled widely in this country and abroad, giving recitals and singing for many of the major festivals. She sang the role of Amenaide in a highly acclaimed French production of Rossini's Tancredi and this was subsequently made into a CD recording. She has also recorded for Decca. Recently she has sung the principal roles of Frqancesca in Francesca da Rimini by Zandonai and Iris in Mascagni's opera Iris in concert versions at the South Bank. In 1995 she was highly acclaimed for her performances of Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (No.3) in America. In 1996 she gave a rare performance with James D'Angelo of the complete song cycle Das Marienleben in Hindemith's revised version which she expects to record in the near future.

Stephen Bennett was born in San Francisco and took up the clarinet at an early age. In the USA he played with numerous orchestras including the San Jose Symphony, the Robert Joffrey ballet orchestra and the Mozart Festival Orchestra, launched his solo concerto career with the daunting Carl Nielson concerto and founded the successful woodwind quintet Westwind. Emigrating to Europe the mid-70s, he studied with the well-known clarinet soloists Karl Leister, Gervase de Peyer and Jack Brymer and played with such orchestras London Festival ballet orchestra, the Orchestre Chambre de Paris (France) and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonic (Germany). In London he formed the Alban and Philomela Trios (soprano, clarinet, piano) and the Philomela Quartet (violin, cello, clarinet, piano). In 1996 he formed the Heritage Ensemble to augment the Clarinet Heritage Society projects. His discovery of an undisputed clarinet masterpiece by the Danish composer August Heinrik Winding helped to inspire his first solo recording. He has given first performances of works by such composers as Carter, Reger, Mendelssohn Horovitz , Cherubini and Crussel. The well-known British composer Arnold Cooke wrote a concerto especially for him and this was broadcast and recorded by the BBC. A new concerto for Basset horn is currently being written for him by David Hoyland. He has recently been appointed the artistic director of the Clapham Festival of Music and the Arts.

Maxine Willis was a woodwind finalist in the 1992 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. After reading English at Brasenose College Oxford, she pursued a postgraduate course at the Royal College of Music. A virtuoso player on the flute, alto flute and the piccolo she performs regularly with the Continuum Ensemble, the Balthasar Consort and the Bournmouth Symphony Orchestra. She is involved in very varied recital and chamber music work which has included the premiere of James D'Angelo's three-movement work for flute and percussion entitled Fools in 1997.

Tim Wells was born in Baltimore, USA and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After performing in various jazz ensembles and orchestras in the USA, he moved to Cologne to start a European career. There he had numerous engagements with the WDR and the WDR Big Band. He toured extensively throughout Europe with various groups with various groups including bands led by Sam Rivers, David Friedman, Stephan Bauer and Charles McPherson and appeared at many major jazz festivals. During this period he also taught bass and jazz ensemble at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, and co-founded the London Underground Free Jazz Collective. In 1989 he moved to London while retaining his continental work - jazz festivals in Prague, Umbria, Lyon, Bremen, Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich. He led his own quartet from 1990 to1996 and is currently a member of the John Law Trio. the Ben Davis Group, the Stan Sulzmann Big Band, and the John Critchenson Quartet and several other London-based jazz groups. Recently he appear with the CBSO and Sir Simon Rattle in a series of performances of Mark-anthony Turnage's 'Blood on the Floor' and toured with Abacus, John Law's quartet featuring Gerry Hemingway. His discography consists of around twenty CDs recorded with groups in Germany and in London, several of which have achieved international critical acclaim.