Archive Item of the Month – March 2020
March for March: Grand march [Hob. VIII/3bis]
composed expressly for and presented to The Royal Society of Musicians, London by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). London: 1792.
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Archive Item of the Month – February 2020
Valentines’ day : Thomas Valentine (1759-1800) and his immediate family
RSM Member Thomas Valentine (A093) hailed from an extensive family of musicians from Leicester and moved to London in the late 1770s. His name appears in the list of instrumentalists for the important and ground-breaking music festival held in London in 1784, namely the Handel Commemoration Concert at Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon (see An account of the musical performances in Westminster-Abbey and the Pantheon, May 26th, 27th, 29th and June the 3d and 5th, 1784 in commemoration of Handel by Charles Burney, London, printed for the benefit of the Musical Fund, 1785). Valentine joined the Society of Musicians on 4 July 1784 just a few weeks following this festival and his application had been supported by Redmond Simpson (who compiled the financial accounts for the Handel Commemoration Concert) and notes that Valentine “has practised music for a livelihood upwards of seven years, is a single man, aged about 25, plays at Covent Garden Theatre, has many scholars”.
Read More»Archive Item of the Month – January 2020
Beethoven 2020 : 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth
Head and shoulders painted plaster bust of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), clad al’antica, after a bust by Johann Nepomuk Schaller (1777-1842) of 1827. The sitter’s cloak is gathered at the right shoulder with a morse, the whole atop an integral socle. Rectangular name-plate below unlettered.
Read More»The 25th Annual Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concert
The 25th Annual Jacqueline du Pre Charity Concert took place at 7.30 p.m. on Monday 24 February 2020 at Wigmore Hall.
For this concert, Joanna MacGregor curated a programme with Aldeburgh connections; music by Bridge, Britten and Shostakovich was included together with a new commission from former Britten–Pears Young Artist, Freya Waley-Cohen.
Welcome to Ginny Leigh
Following Phoebe Fullbrook’s departure in July, we are thrilled to welcome the appointment of Ginny Leigh to the role of Membership Secretary at the Society.
Ginny trained as a flautist with Miranda Zwalf, Peter O’Connor and then with Amy Yule at Durham University, graduating in 2019 with a BA Hons in Music. Whilst at university, Ginny’s primary academic focus was musicology; her extended musicological research has centred predominantly around music philosophy as well as gender, sexuality and dramaturgy in 20th century opera. She is an also avid composer and has studied trumpet with Paul Mayes.
Ginny has also had experience freelancing as a performer for a range of events, has worked as a flute teacher, and volunteered at local churches in Hertfordshire as a musical engagement assistant to provide outreach opportunities for children.
Ginny is delighted to be joining the Society’s team and is looking forward to meeting our Members at various meetings and events.
Charlotte Penton-Smith appointed Chief Executive of The Royal Society of Musicians
Charlotte Penton-Smith has recently been appointed to the newly-created post of Chief Executive of The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain. She has been Secretary of the RSM since 2013. Her new position reflects the important strategic role she plays with the Governors in developing the Society to meet today’s challenges. With a rapidly expanding membership base and a new office in London’s Fitzroy Square, the RSM is well placed to capitalise on the traditions established by Handel and its other founders, whilst harnessing the opportunities of the twenty-first century.
Prior to working at the RSM, Charlotte Penton-Smith was Chief Executive of Future Talent and OperaGenesis Administrator at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; her career began at Aldeburgh Music (now Snape Maltings) as Britten–Pears Programme Assistant and then Masterclass Co-ordinator.
As a result of Charlotte Penton-Smith’s promotion, the RSM is now seeking a Membership Secretary to join its small team.
Steven Isserlis and Soloists of the Kronberg Academy
The 22nd Annual Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concert
Tuesday 28 March 2017, 7.45pm, Wigmore Hall
Steven Isserlis and six outstanding emerging soloists play for The Royal Society of Musicians’ annual fundraising concert at Wigmore Hall. The main evening performance begins at 7.45pm and features three works:
Antonin Dvořák Terzetto Op. 74 for two violins and viola
Zoltán Kodály Duo for Violin and Cello Op. 7
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Op. 70
Meanwhile, the six Kronberg Academy musicians perform as soloists in a showcase event beginning at 5.30pm. This event is free to ticketholders of the main event, or tickets can be purchased separately for £6.
These two events are generously sponsored by J & A Beare and Beare’s International Violin Society.
Steven Isserlis cello
Soloists of the Kronberg Academy:
William Hagen violin
Ziyu Shen viola
Stephen Waarts violin
Pablo Ferrández cello
Timothy Ridout viola
Kian Soltani cello
The Royal Society of Musicians is delighted to announce that Judith Weir CBE has been appointed President of the Society with immediate effect
Having graduated from Cambridge University and following time at Tanglewood, Judith spent several years working in schools and adult education in rural southern England; followed by a period based in Scotland, teaching at Glasgow University and RSAMD. As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, Judith wrote several works for orchestra and chorus which were premiered by the orchestra’s then Music Director, Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE. She has also been commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta; and has written concert works for some notable singers, including Jane Manning OBE, Dawn Upshaw, Jessye Norman and Alice Coote.
Judith has had a long association with Spitalfields Music Festival; and in recent years has taught as a visiting professor at Princeton, Harvard and Cardiff universities. Honours for her work include the Critics’ Circle, South Bank Show, Elise L Stoeger and Ivor Novello awards, a CBE (1995) and the Queen’s Medal for Music (2007). In January 2015 she became Associate Composer to the BBC Singers.
In 2014 Judith was appointed Master of The Queen’s Music in succession to the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies CH CBE, who also held the position of President of the Society until his death earlier this year. Judith’s appointment within the Society continues this very special link in what has become a significant year not only for our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, but also for The Royal Society of Musicians.
Judith Weir comments:
“It is a great honour to take up the role of President of the RSM, succeeding our wonderful colleague, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. In difficult times for funding of the arts, the work of this venerable Society, supporting the welfare of musicians as it has done for nearly three hundred years, is ever more vital. I am glad to have the opportunity to add my own support.”