our latest news
The Bösendorfer will be back in action at our next concert, the final one of the season, on Sunday 9 March, when the Odyssey Piano Trio will be performing.
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Last week, our Bösendorfer grand piano was given a good overhaul by Norman Motion, doyen of piano tuners, and is now as sparkling as it was when we first bought it, almost 20 years ago! Just in time for James Willshire's superb 150th-anniversary tribute to Ravel last Sunday, which revealed the magic (and in Scarbo, the devilry!) of the piano. It was a tour de force.
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The Slideshow Trombone Quartet in action at St Mary's on Sunday 19 January. A great start to the new year! A member of the audience wrote afterwards:
The performance was brilliant, inspiring, and I personally think it's massively undervalued, the huge contribution these events make to the wellbeing of individuals and society in general. Priceless really, in my view.
We couldn't agree more. Do join us for our next concert!
The performance was brilliant, inspiring, and I personally think it's massively undervalued, the huge contribution these events make to the wellbeing of individuals and society in general. Priceless really, in my view.
We couldn't agree more. Do join us for our next concert!
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In the joyful spirit of our January concert, a virtual fanfare for Christmas! We wish you the merriest of times, and look forward to seeing you at more MUSIC CLOSE UP concerts in the new year.
There has been a late change to the published programme: our January concert now features the Slideshow Trombone Quartet. More details here.
from St Mary's to St Mary's! • 19 November 2024
We are delighted to welcome the talented pupils of Scotland's leading music school to Haddington, for a special hour-long concert of music from the Baroque era. Click here for more information.
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Return of the Bösendorfer!
At the end of July we welcomed our magnificent Bösendorfer concert-grand piano back to Haddington after several years in storage. Now housed, gloriously, at St Mary's Parish Church, Haddington, it will be at the heart of our 2024-25 Music Close Up concerts. Before then we were delighted to lend it to the Corbridge Chamber Music Festival and, once again, to the Lammermuir Festival. And there's a very special opportunity for all pianists, young or old, amateur or professional, not only to hear but also to play it during Open Doors Day at St Mary's, 28 and 29 September! |
After another terrific season of MUSIC CLOSE UP! we are taking a summer break. Our next season begins on 13 October, with our first concert in our new home. More news soon!
A TUNEFUL TREAT FOR MOTHER'S DAY!
Mother's Day is coming up, and we have a treat that is sure to delight not only mothers but also everyone else who enjoys good music well played in an inspirational setting!
On Sunday 10 March we present an afternoon of music arranged for the ravishing combination of 8 winds – 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, and 2 French horns – played by the principal wind players of Scottish Opera, who have prepared a musical party that will bring our current season of Music Close Up to a memorable close.
In a delightful programme, arranged in association with McOpera, Opera Winds will play not only arrangements of 2 well-loved operas by Mozart and an exquisite piece of Tafelmusik by Beethoven, but also music by contemporary UK composers who have taken elements of opera and transformed them into vibrant new works in their own right, including a zany rendition of a snooker game described in music (something for fathers too!).
We hope to see you there, for fun and games at the end of the season!
Sunday 10 March at 3pm, Holy Trinity Church, Haddington
tickets (£13) available from www.thebrunton.co.uk or at the door./ under-26 free
Mother's Day is coming up, and we have a treat that is sure to delight not only mothers but also everyone else who enjoys good music well played in an inspirational setting!
On Sunday 10 March we present an afternoon of music arranged for the ravishing combination of 8 winds – 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, and 2 French horns – played by the principal wind players of Scottish Opera, who have prepared a musical party that will bring our current season of Music Close Up to a memorable close.
In a delightful programme, arranged in association with McOpera, Opera Winds will play not only arrangements of 2 well-loved operas by Mozart and an exquisite piece of Tafelmusik by Beethoven, but also music by contemporary UK composers who have taken elements of opera and transformed them into vibrant new works in their own right, including a zany rendition of a snooker game described in music (something for fathers too!).
We hope to see you there, for fun and games at the end of the season!
Sunday 10 March at 3pm, Holy Trinity Church, Haddington
tickets (£13) available from www.thebrunton.co.uk or at the door./ under-26 free
2024 started for us with the Falkirk-born jazz pianist Euan Stevenson’s visit to Holy Trinity on 21 January, and what a huge success it was, with the audience spellbound from the opening notes. His unshowy, engaging presentation belied great technical skill and musical knowledge, and the entire concert – which included his own compositions as well as improvisations on All the Things You Are and Liszt’s Liebestraum, to say nothing of Take the A Train in the style of Mozart! – was an immense treat. It was the biggest turnout of the season so far, and the enthusiastic applause he received was well earned. He described the experience of playing to us as "exhilarating", a term that we would all echo! A return invitation is definitely on the cards.
This month we return to more traditional fare: string quartets by Mozart and Shostakovich, plus a little-known piece by Puccini, played by the young Scottish-based Resol Quartet. Our co-chairs heard them at a Chamber Music Scotland presentation a year or so ago and were immediately impressed. And the comment we have just received from a fellow music society, in Peebles, suggests that their concert will be memorable: “We certainly launched 2024 in great style, with a sensational concert by the Resol String Quartet who, if the audience reaction is any guide, will be back in Peebles again before very long.” We hope that brief review will whet your appetite, and we look forward to welcoming you to Holy Trinity on Sunday 18th February, 3pm.
This month we return to more traditional fare: string quartets by Mozart and Shostakovich, plus a little-known piece by Puccini, played by the young Scottish-based Resol Quartet. Our co-chairs heard them at a Chamber Music Scotland presentation a year or so ago and were immediately impressed. And the comment we have just received from a fellow music society, in Peebles, suggests that their concert will be memorable: “We certainly launched 2024 in great style, with a sensational concert by the Resol String Quartet who, if the audience reaction is any guide, will be back in Peebles again before very long.” We hope that brief review will whet your appetite, and we look forward to welcoming you to Holy Trinity on Sunday 18th February, 3pm.
The first three 2023–24 Music Close Up concerts were all memorable.
• Moray Welsh and Martin Roscoe, veterans of the concert stage and fully at ease in a partnership of many years, performed Rachmaninov’s great cello sonata with sensitivity and grace, a swansong of sorts for Moray, our Honorary President, who plans to spend less time on stage and more in his painting studio. The afternoon was made even more special by the attendance of our new Honorary Patron, John McMillan, who joined us at a reception afterwards in celebration of the new season.
• Our second concert was, quite simply, sensational: Trio Balthasar, comprising three superlative musicians – Iain Burnside, piano, Michael Foyle, violin, and Tim Hugh, cello – galvanised the audience from the first notes of Haydn to the last of Ravel, with a moving and revelatory performance of Shostakovich’s 2nd Piano Trio at the concert’s heart.
• Last, and certainly not least, the Spanish pianist Miriam Gómez-Morán returned with a programme of giants of the Classical and Romantic periods, all well-known works played with virtuosity, sensitivity, and deep musicianship. As one audience member wrote afterwards, “This is exactly why we go to live concerts and listen to familiar music, because in the hands of a master there will always be endless possibilities and new things to hear.”
That occasion was also marked by the presentation of our special award to the Most Promising Young Musician of the East Lothian Council’s Young Musician of the Year competition. Only ten, Alex Layberry, a pupil at East Linton Primary School, is a year younger than Miriam was when she first took up the piano. We hope that great things are in store for him too!
• Moray Welsh and Martin Roscoe, veterans of the concert stage and fully at ease in a partnership of many years, performed Rachmaninov’s great cello sonata with sensitivity and grace, a swansong of sorts for Moray, our Honorary President, who plans to spend less time on stage and more in his painting studio. The afternoon was made even more special by the attendance of our new Honorary Patron, John McMillan, who joined us at a reception afterwards in celebration of the new season.
• Our second concert was, quite simply, sensational: Trio Balthasar, comprising three superlative musicians – Iain Burnside, piano, Michael Foyle, violin, and Tim Hugh, cello – galvanised the audience from the first notes of Haydn to the last of Ravel, with a moving and revelatory performance of Shostakovich’s 2nd Piano Trio at the concert’s heart.
• Last, and certainly not least, the Spanish pianist Miriam Gómez-Morán returned with a programme of giants of the Classical and Romantic periods, all well-known works played with virtuosity, sensitivity, and deep musicianship. As one audience member wrote afterwards, “This is exactly why we go to live concerts and listen to familiar music, because in the hands of a master there will always be endless possibilities and new things to hear.”
That occasion was also marked by the presentation of our special award to the Most Promising Young Musician of the East Lothian Council’s Young Musician of the Year competition. Only ten, Alex Layberry, a pupil at East Linton Primary School, is a year younger than Miriam was when she first took up the piano. We hope that great things are in store for him too!
With another successful season over, the committee has been looking to the future, not only choosing musicians for next season but also taking a look at the running of the society and making sure it will be able to continue to offer annual seasons of superb chamber music for local audiences.
Following the retirement of our secretary Marion Malcolm, we shall start next season with smaller group of committee members. Our search for new committee members continues, so if you feel like giving it a try or know some-one who you think might be interested, do let us know.
We are continuing to develop the Society’s procedures, always looking for ways to save money and make the running of the Society more efficient. One such change is that we are moving our ticketing and promotional activity online rather than doing it all by post. This is also significantly more friendly to the environment.
We will send out our annual brochure by email to everyone on our mailing list before the start of the season. Printed copies will also be available at concerts.
Over the last few months we have been investigating online ticket sites and we are delighted that the Brunton Theatre Box Office will take this on for us. Their online booking process is simple, and e-tickets will be issued, or paper tickets if requested (at a small extra cost).
Finally, after a long period where we have kept our ticket prices deliberately low during and following the pandemic, we have now decided to raise them by £1 to £13. Under-26s continue to be free of charge. We hope you agree that this still represents very good value for money.
Full details will be provided when we send out the new brochure. We are looking forward very much to seeing you next season, which will start on 1 October with a very special concert from our Honorary President, the cellist Moray Welsh.
Following the retirement of our secretary Marion Malcolm, we shall start next season with smaller group of committee members. Our search for new committee members continues, so if you feel like giving it a try or know some-one who you think might be interested, do let us know.
We are continuing to develop the Society’s procedures, always looking for ways to save money and make the running of the Society more efficient. One such change is that we are moving our ticketing and promotional activity online rather than doing it all by post. This is also significantly more friendly to the environment.
We will send out our annual brochure by email to everyone on our mailing list before the start of the season. Printed copies will also be available at concerts.
Over the last few months we have been investigating online ticket sites and we are delighted that the Brunton Theatre Box Office will take this on for us. Their online booking process is simple, and e-tickets will be issued, or paper tickets if requested (at a small extra cost).
Finally, after a long period where we have kept our ticket prices deliberately low during and following the pandemic, we have now decided to raise them by £1 to £13. Under-26s continue to be free of charge. We hope you agree that this still represents very good value for money.
Full details will be provided when we send out the new brochure. We are looking forward very much to seeing you next season, which will start on 1 October with a very special concert from our Honorary President, the cellist Moray Welsh.
On Friday 24 March 2023 Eleanor Hulme, co-chair of Haddington Concert Society, presented an award at the second annual East Lothian Council Young Musician of the Year competition. Alex Layberry, a Primary 6 pupil at East Linton Primary School, was chosen as the first winner of the HCS Most Promising Young Musician prize for his exceptional performance. Described by Jonathan Gawn, head of the ELC Instrumental Music Service, as "a definite star in the making" Alex so impressed the audience that a kind donor has provided a small grand piano for him to practise on at home, replacing the electric piano he had been using. Additionally, each of the winners received season tickets for our forthcoming season to share with two adults who helped, supported, or encouraged them with their musical studies. Jonathan thanked the Society for our "enthusiasm, support and encouragement for our young musicians" and we look forward to continuing our involvement with them in the years to come.
full report: https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/news/article/14035/young_musician_of_the_year_named?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo
full report: https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/news/article/14035/young_musician_of_the_year_named?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo
Jonathan Gawn and Eleanor Hulme on the left of the photograph, and HCS prize winner Alex Layberry in the centre
Maximiliano Martín, clarinet, Philip Higham, cello, and Julian Milford, piano, play Beethoven and Brahms trios during their unforgettable concert at Holy Trinity Church on Sunday 19th March.
A musical tribute to her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Joel Quarrington plays Bottesini's Elegy No,1, the cello version of which we heard played so memorably by the Kwon-Lim Duo at the end of our concert in December last year. Press here to listen.
Joel Quarrington plays Bottesini's Elegy No,1, the cello version of which we heard played so memorably by the Kwon-Lim Duo at the end of our concert in December last year. Press here to listen.
