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020 7593 2288
Open 9 - 6 Mon to Thu, 9 - 5:30 Fri & 9 - 1 Sat
Speak to an expert
020 7593 2288
Open 9 - 6 Mon to Thu, 9 - 5:30 Fri & 9 - 1 Sat
Speak to an expert
020 7593 2288
Open 9 - 6 Mon to Thu, 9 - 5:30 Fri & 9 - 1 Sat
This picturesque corner of Suffolk, with its rivers and marshes, is closely associated with the artists Constable and Gainsborough, as well as the composer Benjamin Britten, who was born in Lowestoft and lived and worked in nearby Aldeburgh for many years. Based at the elegant Hintlesham Hall, in a charming village just outside Ipswich, we will explore the legacy of these former Suffolk residents as well as enjoying a series of private concerts with the Doric String Quartet and composer Simon Rowland-Jones (2023 departure) or the Castalian String Quartet (2024 departure).
...when you travel with Kirker
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
Alex Redington, violin; Ying Xue, violin; Helene Clement, viola; John Myerscough, cello. The Doric String Quartet was introduced to Kirker audiences back in 2005. Since then they have performed on many of our exclusive Festivals both on land and at sea. They memorably played Walton’s String Quartet at the Kirker Ischia Music Festival at La Mortella in Ischia with Susana Walton being visibly moved sitting in the front row.
Today, they are amongst the most sought after quartets in the world playing at concert halls and in festivals around the world so it has been hugely rewarding for everyone at Kirker to witness their rise to stardom. They play at every major festival around the world, have a series of several concerts at Wigmore Hall each season and continue to add to their already extensive discography. They have performed at the North Norfolk Music Festival every summer since the first festival in 2005 and play regularly in the USA – on 27 February 2017 they make their debut at Carnegie Hall.
With a British violinist and cellist, a Finnish violinist and a French viola player, the Castalian String Quartet is well placed for an international career after being accepted by the Young Concert Artist Trust. They have an impressive number of engagements throughout the UK and Europe.
They have enjoyed a residency at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and have been chosen by Wigmore Hall to take a prominent role in its forthcoming Haydn quartet cycle. Early in 2018 the quartet were presented with the inaugural Merito String Quartet Award/Valentin Erben Prize and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award in recognition of their achievements. In April 2019 they gave a five-concert tour of the USA and Canada ending at Lincoln Center for a concert in the Great Performers Series.
"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."
2023 Music Programme with The Doric String Quartet
19 September 2023
Haydn: String Quartet in D, Op.50 No.6
Schumann: String Quartet in A , Op. 41 No 3
20 September 2023
Beethoven: String Quartet in G, Op.18 No.2
Bartok: String Quartet No. 2, Sz,67
21 September 2023
Haydn: String Quartet in C, Op. 5 No.2
Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83
Britten: String Quartet No.3 in G major, Op.94
This was Britten's last major work composed in September and October 1975. The first four movements were written at The Red House in Aldeburgh and the fifth during his stay at the Hotel Danieli in Venice. Britten worked on the quartet in September 1976 with the Amadeus String Quartet just weeks before the composer died on 4 December 1976. The quartet gave the first public performance place at The Maltings, Snape on 19 December. This poignant work, despite being written during an extended period of ill health, ends on an optimistic note.
2024 Music Programme with The Castalian String Quartet
Alongside the three giants of string quartet composers, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, the Castalian Quartet will include a work by the British composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
17 September 2024
Schubert: Quartettsatz in C minor, D703
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Five Fantasiestücke Op.5
Schubert: String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’
18 September 2024
Schubert: String Quartet in A minor, No.13 D804 'Rosamunde’
Beethoven: Quartet in C major, Op.59 No.3
19 September 2024
Haydn: String Quartet in G minor, Op.20 No.3
Schubert: String Quartet in G major, D887
Cultural Tours Senior Executive
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
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