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Our Kirker Music Festival in the pretty village of Banyalbufar on the glorious and dramatic north coast of Mallorca places Frédéric Chopin centre stage. Chopin and his lover, George Sand, stayed on the island for three months during the winter of 1838/39, at the monastery of Valldemossa. We stay at the family-owned 3 star Hotel Mar I Vent which has been in the ownership of the Vives family for more than 80 years. We are given a very warm welcome each year by the family and their friends and neighbours in the village. Many of the concerts are given in the village church, just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel. A further concert is given in the elegant villa of San Marroig, once the home of the Hapsburg Archduke Luís Salvador.
Five varied excursions are included. We visit the elegant patrician hacienda of La Granja in a lovely valley setting. One day is spent visiting the port of Soller. From Palma we take the historic train that races through the mountainous heart of the island. We will spend an afternoon in the pretty village of Valldemossa, visit the famous monastery and see the room where Chopin stayed. We visit the house of Robert Graves in Deia, and afterwards the villa of San Marroig where we stay on for a concert. One day will be spent in Palma where we visit the Palau March museum in the historic centre of the city, to see a world-class collection of paintings by Spanish artists. There will also be a visit to the cathedral.
...when you travel with Kirker
Flights with British Airways:
Depart London Heathrow at 09.50 arrive Palma 13.15
Depart Palma 14.35 arrive London Heathrow at 16.10
NB There are flights to Palma from Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, City and Southend as well as a wide range of airports throughout the country. Please tell us which is the most convenient and we will make arrangements accordingly.
This small, traditional hotel has been run by three generations of the Vives family since 1931 and is located in the delightful small village of Banyalbufar in the Sierra de Tramuntana Mountains, approximately 45 minutes from Palma.
Matthew Denton & Michelle Fleming, violins, Eoin Schmidt-Martin, viola Emma Denton, cello. The Carducci Quartet is one of the leading quartets of its generation, performing at venues thought the UK and America. They have their own recording label, Carducci Classics and present their own series of concerts each year in May at Highnam in Gloucestershire.
During 2015 they presented a number of complete cycles of the 15 quartets composed by Shostakovich – this won them the coveted Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music in May 2016. Engagements during the 2016 season include performances at the Presteigne Festival, the North Norfolk Music Festival, at the Frick Collection in New York and at Wigmore Hall. The Carducci often take part in the Kirker series of music festivals both on land and at sea.
Morgan Szymanski, classical guitar, was born in Mexico City and studied with Carlos Bonnell and Gary Ryan at the Royal College of Music.
He became the first solo guitarist to be selected by YCAT (Young Concert Artists Trust) and was the first guitarist to be awarded Junior Fellowship at the RCM, where he completed his Masters. Renowned for his exquisitely lyrical playing, Morgan divides his life equally between Mexico and London, travelling far and wide for his busy concert schedule.
"Performer, editor, composer and teacher, Simon Rowland-Jones has always led a very busy, all-embracing musical life. He was founder violist of the Chilingirian Quartet, in which he played for a total of ten years, and subsequently performed with many other leading chamber groups.
His solo CDs, on the Meridian and Etcetera labels, include the first-ever complete version of the Bach Cello Suites on viola. Peters Edition published his viola transcription of the suites shortly after the recording was made and he then went on to make a new critical/performing edition of the Haydn String Quartets. His many works include pieces for viola, four string quartets, a string trio, a piano quartet, songs and ‘A Turn Outside’, a musical adaptation of a play by Stevie Smith commissioned by Dame Josephine Barstow. He teaches viola and chamber music at the Royal College of Music and is co-director of the North Norfolk Music Festival."
Martin Roscoe, piano, is one of the best-known and most popular British musicians and has performed in every major venue and with all the leading orchestras over his long career. He is the director of both the Ribble Valley Piano Week and the Beverley Chamber Music Festival and is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Andrew Biggs read Music and the History of Art at Leeds University. He has led cultural tours throughout the world for over twenty years.
Recent tours include The Metropolitan Opera & the Art Galleries of New York as well as tours to many summer music festivals in the UK including Cheltenham and Buxton Festivals. A teacher and performer, Andrew is currently Head of Prep Music at Berkhamsted School.
barry.cheeseman@kirkerholidays.com
Barry Cheeseman has been the Manager of the Kirker Cultural Tours & Music Holidays programme for over 10 years.
Barry has been an opera lover for more than 40 years and has seen and heard every major singer during this period. He loves the challenges of organising complex arts events and working closely with the musicians. Out of the office, Barry manages to fit in time to organise his own Chamber Music Festival in North Norfolk where he lives
30 September: Morgan Szymanski, guitar; Simon Rowland-Jones, viola.
The programme will include works by composers from Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil together with a work composed by Simon Rowland-Jones for viola and guitar and named in honour of Banyalbufar.
1 October: Carducci String Quartet; Morgan Szymanski, guitar;
Haydn: String Quartet Op.33 No. 2 ‘The Joke’; Beethoven: String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4; Boccherini: String Quartet for Guitar and Strings in D, G448
2 October: Martin Roscoe, piano;
A programme of works by Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp Op.1;
Mazurka in A minor, Op.17 No.4;
Etude in C sharp minor, Op.25 No.7;
Polonaise in A flat Op.53;
Nocturne in D flat Op.27, No. 2
3 October: Carducci String Quartet; Simon Rowland-Jones, viola;
Chopin: Movements from the cello sonata;
Beethoven: String Quartet in F minor, Op.95 ‘Serioso’;
Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K515
4 October: Carducci String Quartet; Martin Roscoe, piano;
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op.21;
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat,Op.44
Quartet
Matthew Denton & Michelle Fleming, violins, Eoin Schmidt-Martin, viola Emma Denton, cello. The Carducci Quartet is one of the leading quartets of its generation, performing at venues thought the UK and America. They have their own recording label, Carducci Classics and present their own series of concerts each year in May at Highnam in Gloucestershire.
During 2015 they presented a number of complete cycles of the 15 quartets composed by Shostakovich – this won them the coveted Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music in May 2016. Engagements during the 2016 season include performances at the Presteigne Festival, the North Norfolk Music Festival, at the Frick Collection in New York and at Wigmore Hall. The Carducci often take part in the Kirker series of music festivals both on land and at sea.
Our expert reservations team regularly travel to a wide range of destinations to explore new cities, visit hotels and to research museums, galleries and restaurants so that we can offer the most up-to-date advice and recommendations.
