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Alex Barnes & Anna Croad

Wednesday 28th May 2013, 7:30pm

This Summer Concert will take place in the Ribble Valley Borough Council Chamber, Church St., Clitheroe, BB7 2DD
There are no tickets for this concert. All are welcome whether members or not. We hope that those attending will make a donation to help cover the costs.

Please do not be put off by the fact that we had this same combination of instruments only 12 weeks previously. Your Chairman and Concert Organiser, having heard this young duo play recently, were both very impressed, particularly by their inclusion of  Arvo Part’s Spiegel im Spiegel which was electronically enhanced – note ‘enhanced‘ not amplified. Alex Barnes is not only an instrumentalist but also a sound engineer and we are therefore promised some items with similar treatment. Although there will be items from the standard repertoire, this will be an excellent opportunity to hear a rather different approach in others.

Alex Barnes started playing the cello at the age of ten, and by the time he reached thirteen had already won a place at Chetham’s School of Music, studying with Helen Thatcher and Gillian Thoday. In 2006 he graduated with honours from the Royal Academy of Music, having studied with Lionel Handy, and performed in masterclasses with various internationally acclaimed cellists including, Colin Carr, Anssi Karttunen, Bruno Schrecker and Robert Cohen.

Alex has taken part in many competitions including prizes and awards including Richmond-upon-Thames Young Musician of the Year 2006, and was awarded “Highly Commended” in the 2005 May Mukle ‘cello prize at the RAM. Recently Alex performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Kew Sinfonia, rehearsed the Schumann Cello Concerto in summer 2007 with the Dartington Festival Orchestra. Alex is plays with orchestras throughout the UK and abroad, including Principal Cello with the Lancashire Sinfonietta, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart Festival Orchestra and the Trafalgar Sinfonia. He is also a founding member of the Montepulciano Quartet.

Alex has an extensive experience of location recording and professional CD production, including a full working knowledge of professional digital editing software and hardware. Alex also takes professional photos for musicians.

Alex plays on a beautiful modern cello by Robin Aitchison of Ely.

Anna Croad began learning the violin aged 7 in Nottinghamshire where she was brought up. At 15 she was accepted at Chetham’s School of Music to study the violin with Malcolm Layfield. Anna furthered her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with violin professor Howard Davis and graduated with an honours degree.

Currently Anna performs regularly with many top London orchestras including Trafalgar Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia. She is also a keen chamber musician playing first violin in the Montepulciano String Quartet and as one half of her string duo with cellist Alex Barnes, enjoying successful performances for concert societies and festivals around the country, Europe and even on board a cruise ship to the Caribbean!

She is currently very excited to be guest-leading the string quartet for pop star Lana Del Rey. Anna is the Leader, Co Founder and Director of the Blue Topaz String Trio for which she also writes arrangements. The trio has performed at venues including Wembley Stadium, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Kensington Palace and the European Bank and for the Queen, Jamie Oliver, the presidents of the 2012 Olympics and the Prime Minister.

Anna has been fortunate to perform with big names in top London venues, on TV shows such as Live from Abbey Road, X Factor and Children In Need, in the recording studio and on tour in the UK and abroad with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Colin Davis, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Angela Gheorghiu, Adele, Russell Watson, Simply Red, Enya, Jocelyn Brown, Noel Gallagher, Leona Lewis, JLS and Damon Albarn. Anna’s musical passions also include education work and passing on her skills and enthusiasm of music to others. She freelances both as a Workshop Leader and supporting musician through the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra outreach departments following training from Spitalfields Animateur Apprentice Scheme. This has resulted in sharing her musical skills and passions with many organizations including with children from mainstream and special schools and with adults from Crisis Homeless Charity.

Anna plays a David Rattray violin 1999 after Guarneri del Gesu 1744 de Beriot.


Programme

J.S.Bach ~ Selection of Two-part Inventions
Barnes/Croad ~ Odyssea  (electronically enhanced)
Kodály ~ Duo, Op.7
Mussorsgsky ~ Night on a Bare Mountain
Mark O’Connor ~ Appalachia Waltz
Arvo Pärt ~ Spiegel in Spiegel  (electronically enhanced)
Graham Waterhouse ~ Pas de Deux