Pekka Kuusisto explains...

Have you see the programme for our Serenade concerts in November?  With no less than 12 works by nine different composers, there's a high chance that you'll be hearing some pieces of music for the first time.

The programme was jointly devised by Pekka Kuusisto and Britten Sinfonia and we thought it would be a good idea to ask Pekka about why and how the programme has taken shape.


In Pekka’s words the programme is a ‘voyage’ with Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings at the journey’s end. For Pekka, the programme should unfold as one interconnected string:

‘Since I am completely addicted to the Serenade and Les Illuminations, not to mention the Nocturne, I wanted to build a programme that would feel like an extended version of the voyage those pieces take the listener on, and have the whole concert be like a preparation, an approach, to the Serenade. Like Britten himself wanting to have the Fantasia Upon One Note by Purcell performed at the premiere of his String Quartet No. 2… I wanted to have pieces that would, in a concert situation, feel like they are connected, or that our way of performing them has to feel like we are stretching ropes from one musical bell-tower to another, or chains between stars... and then we will dance. Yes! That's what this concert must be.’

The programme journeys through works by Nico Muhly, Bartok, Erkki Sven-Tuur, Nordheim, Berg, Arvo Part, George Crumb and a new piece by Judith Weir. Pekka has requested that the audience refrain from clapping until the interval and end of the concert, as the works are designed to segue from one to the next.

He hopes the performance will take audiences to new and unfamiliar places: ‘I think we could afford to have some more concerts that don't follow the most common patterns. At the moment it doesn't take more than a violinist performing without shoes to create a stir, and that says a lot. I don't want to outlaw average programming, that's not it, but there's just so much we should try as well.’

The concerts take place at Norwich Theatre Royal on Sunday 17 November, Cambridge's West Road Concert Hall  on Friday 22 November (part of Cambridge Music Festival) and London's Milton Court Concert Hall on Sunday 24 November (part of Barbican Britten).
You can find full details here.

A highlight a year!

As we approach our 20th Birthday season we've been looking back at some of the highlights over the past twenty years. We've selected a highlight a year (but you can also read what else we were up to each year here).

1992

Britten Sinfonia launches following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognise the need for a world class orchestra in the East of England.

1993

Britten Sinfonia’s part in Jonathan Miller’s production of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos provides the orchestra’s first critical success.

1994

The number of concerts increases from 12 in 1993 to 27 in 1994, including the orchestra’s first foreign tour, a residency at the Wratislava Cantans Festival in Poland.

1995

Britten Sinfonia’s debut CD is released to critical acclaim, featuring David Pyatt in the Strauss Horn Concertos and the Duet-concertino and Serenade for Wind Op.7. It wins a Gramophone Award.

1996

Orchestra works with tenor Ian Bostridge for the first time, with a young Daniel Harding conducting. This successful collaboration leads to other concerts and an EMI recording of Britten repertoire including Our Hunting Fathers.

1997

Britten Sinfonia awarded £150,000 from the Arts Council’s Arts for Everyone scheme for the development of its work in the East of England.

1998

Landmark concert series Frank Zappa and the Fathers of Invention, setting Zappa’s music against Bach, Stravinsky, Varese, Ives and Steve Reich

Proms debut

1999

Britten Sinfonia makes its BBC Proms debut, featuring a new symphony by David Matthews.

2000

Britten Sinfoina’s first tour to Germany includes performances at Munich’s Gasteig and Frankfurt’s Alte Oper.

2001

Joanna MacGregor directs a 10 date tour – Light and Shade - featuring music by Arvo Pärt, Lou Harrison, Schnittke and a new work from Nitin Sawhney. The tour is featured in a Joanna MacGregor South Bank Show profile for LWT.

2002

Celebrations for the orchestra’s 10th Anniversary begin with a national tour featuring Evelyn Glennie.

2003

Following a national review of the chamber orchestra sector, Arts Council England announces 100% increase in Britten Sinfonia’s funding.

2004

A major tour with Nitin Sawhney takes the ensemble to Brussels and around the UK in the autumn, including a debut at the Royal Festival Hall.

2005

We launched our first ever lunchtime series, Britten Sinfonia at Lunch, at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge.

Jacqueline Shave was appointed leader in September.

2006

Lux Aeterna, our Hyperion recording of music by Morten Lauridsen, was nominated for a Grammy award.

2007

The ‘Britten Sinfonia at Lunch’ tour continued to be recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and the tour expanded to include Krakow (Poland), Aldeburgh, Cambridge and Norwich. 

2008

In a truly unique production that attracted a great deal of press and attention, Britten Sinfonia joined the Michael Clark Company for the Stravinsky Project at the Barbican.

2009

Britten Sinfonia appears at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk , the first classical group to appear at the festival.

Latitude Festival 2009 - photographer: Rebecca Walsh

2010

Nico Muhly was in residence with Britten Sinfonia throughout January and February 2010. A new work by the composer featured as part of Britten Sinfonia’s award-winning lunchtime series in January, and Impossible Things, a major commission for voice and violin, premiered as part of an acclaimed 14 date European tour which brought together Mark Padmore and Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto.

2011

The orchestra launched a new residency at Brighton Dome and Festival and founded its own choir, Britten Sinfonia Voices.

2012

Britten Sinfonia became Associate Ensemble at the Barbican.

We will be clebrating our 20th Birthday with special concerts at the Barbican and in Cambridge and Norwich

Tenner for a Tenor Campaign

On Tuesday we launched our exciting new crowd-funding campaign Tenner for a Tenor. The aim of the campaign is to fund a new commission by Jonathan Dove for tenor Mark Padmore and Britten Sinfonia. We hope this model of funding new commissions will inspire people who have never thought of donating to contribute as we are only asking for donations of £10!

Working with Carly Murphy-Merrydew (design concept) and the guys from Wash Media (film) the promotion of the campaign compares items which cost £10 (which doesn’t get you much these days) and includes sausages, train tickets, wine and flowers! Take a look at the short film which captures the fun and quirky nature we’ve taken with promoting Tenner for a Tenor.

Launch events took place at our At Lunch concerts in Cambridge on Tuesday and London on Wednesday and tomorrow (Friday) we’ll be launching the scheme in Norwich. We’ve also created a giant postbox where people can post their donations at concerts but you can also donate online and via SMS text message.

So far we have had over 50 donations and the scheme is generating press and viral interest for its innovative way of encouraging philanthropy in the arts. Donors will have their name acknowledged in the score of the new work and will also get behind-the-scenes access with special email and video updates as the new work is written.

You can keep up to date with the campaign by following #10fortenor on Twitter or the Tenner for a Tenor page on Facebook. What are you waiting for? To donate text BRITTEN to 70700, or visit http://www.tennerforatenor.com/. 4lb of sauasages or a piece of music that will last a lifetime – which will you choose?

Meet Jacqueline Shave

Jacqueline Shave has been the leader of Britten Sinfonia since 2005. In February 2011 she leads Britten Sinfonia in English Song, a series of concerts with Mark Padmore featuring some of the most beautiful music for voice and orchestra. Here she answers a few questions about herself;

What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Performing Beethoven Quartet Op 131 in the Wigmore Hall about 13 years ago

Any low points?
I was pretty low when I left the Royal College of Music after 2 terms, gave up the violin and went into selling double glazing.

When are you happiest?
On the early morning ferry to the Western Isles with the light bouncing off the water.

What is your greatest fear?
That humans are destroying the natural world

Which living person do you most admire, and why?
My friend Robert who has battled with illness and despite not being able to walk,talk,or eat normally, still finds a will to be alive every day

What was your most embarrassing moment?
I was totally embarrassed when I broke down massively at a performance of Elektra and was introduced to Bernard Haitink with a swollen red face and bulbous swollen eyes from crying and I couldn’t speak.

What is your most treasured possession?
My stone collection

What would your super power be?
Definitely to fly

If you were an animal what would you be?
A sea eagle

What is your most unappealing habit?
Picking my mascara off my lashes late at night whilst watching crap TV

What is your favourite book?
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
I don’t feel any guilt about pleasure

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Beethoven, Prince Charles, David Bowie, Frida Khalo, Daniel Barenboim, Ted Hughes, Joni Mitchell, George Eliot, Peter Gabriel.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?
Paris at the turn of the Century

How do you relax away from the concert platform?
Walking in the Hebrides, traveling, exploring, writing and eating delicious food.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Still being married to my husband

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
That we are alone, even when surrounded by people.

In a nutshell, what is your philosophy?
Live your life with truth and love.

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Mark Padmore and Britten Sinfonia, led by Jacquline Shave will perform Finzi's Dies natalis in Cambridge on Monday 7 February, London on Wednesday 9 February and Norwich on Sunday 13 February. More Info

They will also perform Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with Stephen Bell in Dartington on Sunday 6 February, Southampton on Thursday 10 February and Birmingham on Friday 11 February. More Info

Total Eclipse (reprised)

To the Barbican last night to hear Handel's Samson, given by The Sixteen. The undoubted star was Mark Padmore, who opened Britten Sinfonia's season with the Act 1 highlight aria 'Total Eclipse': any nominations for a better tenor in the UK at present? Catherine Wyn-Rogers was Micah (with whom I spent a splendid evening at the Midem Awards last month); other soloists included Roderick Williams and Jonathan Lemalu, both of whom have worked with BS in recent seasons. There is a brilliant clutch of singers now who are as at ease in period performances as with singing with 'modern' bands like Britten Sinfonia.

Thence to Krakow for the premiere of Richard Harrold's Ink. I hope to give a report on that on Sunday: there are chances to hear it in Cambridge, Birmingham, London and Norwich next week.

Performance on 3: tonight

Our Night Music project will be broadcast tonight on BBC Radio 3 at 19.00 in Performance on 3. Presented by Tom Service, it was recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall last Monday, with music by Stravinsky, Birtwistle, Handel, Britten and John Woolrich. You can still read the programme notes and follow the texts on our website. Mark Padmore and Maxim Rysanov are the soloists.

In darkness and light

Another interesting reaction to our Night Music project, this time from Richard Fairman in the FT. The debate about how we presented the event continues to rage. OK, we had a lighting designer and tried to make the stage picture reflect the mood and tone of the music; we had stage consultants and had thought about the way the concert should flow; the musicians had rehearsed the links between pieces so there was no chance of them banging into their music stands. And yes, having the house-lights down meant that the audience could not see their programmes: but is that any different to going to see a play or an opera? All your attention can be directed to the music, and when the diction is as clear as Mark Padmore's you don't need to follow the texts. We always put our programme notes and any texts on our website a week before our own promotions, so there is plenty of time to read up in advance. Anyway, we wanted to provoke a debate, but we obviously don't want to alienate our audiences. Let us know your views!

Darkest materials

'Joviality has its place in music but its most life-enhancing consolations often derive from the darkest materials.' A great summary of our Night Music programme from Fiona Maddocks in today's Evening Standard: read her full review. There is a final chance to hear this programme in Southampton tonight

Dream weaver

Read Mark Padmore's Guardian article on the poetry of Britten's Nocturne, which you can hear him sing at the QEH on Monday evening.

Night Music SinfoniaCast

Fiona Talkington introduces our latest SinfoniaCast in which Mark Padmore and Kate Kennedy consider the importance of text in our Night Music project. The first concert is in Cambridge tonight at 8.00pm: Kate and Mark will discuss the ideas in the podcast in greater depth before the concert at 7.00pm.

Night Music

Mark Padmore joins Britten Sinfonia for a programme exploring the theme of night, with music by Birtwistle, Stravinsky, Britten, Woolrich and Handel. Full details are here. The concerts are in Cambridge on Thursday, Norwich on Friday, London next Monday, and Southampton next Tuesday. The literary delights equal the musical ones, with texts by Milton, Shelley, Tennyson, Coleridge, Middleton, Wordsworth, Owen, Keats and Shakespeare. Watch out for Mark's own analysis of the programme in next Saturday's Guardian Review.

Family Music Days on two continents

Our new season is getting going, and what a brilliant (if exhausting) start: two Family Music Days on consecutive days. The children in Cambridge get the special opportunity of taking part in gamelan workshops. Having just come back from Korea, where I witnessed a similar event in Jeonju, I can't resist some photos from each continent. The fascination with percussion instruments is universal, and I suspect UK children would love the chance to learn dragon dances as well. More news later this week on our Night Music project with Mark Padmore, and do check our newly revamped website.

The Traveller in Lichfield

'The literary patchwork was fluently stitched together, and Roth's score, which had both Brittenesque moments, and highly accessible anthem-like choral writing, nicely varied the pace'. So wrote Andrew Clements in today's Guardian of the last of the performances of Alec Roth's The Traveller which we have been giving at the festivals in Salisbury, Chelsea and Lichfield.

For the texts, Vikram Seth wrote six new poems and translated some 25 Indian texts from a rich variety of traditions and languages, including Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and Tamil. Here is an extract:

Child of son, of daughter,
Tombed and wombed in water,
Flesh to bind and bound me,
Darkness all around me,
Neither seen nor seeing,
Being and not being,
In my world's cessation
Lies my re-creation.
© Vikram Seth

Mark Padmore was the tenor soloist, in what was the last concert project of our season. He joins us again in the first tour of next season in October, in an enticing project with Katie Mitchell: Night Music.

Lichfield Festival

There is a further chance to hear our Traveller project - with Mark Padmore, and featuring the new work by Alec Roth to Vikram Seth texts - at the Lichfield Festival on 8 July. You might also like to read the festival director's blog. There are some great links in his 19 June entry to material on and about Vikram Seth, including some video interviews.

Imogen Cooper wins RPS Award

We were delighted that Imogen Cooper was the Instrumentalist Award winner at the RPS Music Awards, presented last Thursday evening at the Dorchester. The citation sums up why we enjoy working with her so much: 'Imogen Cooper's distinction as one of the most formidable musicians of her time is widely recognised. But the intellect, musicality and programming skills that she has demonstrated in her music-making in 2007 have, we feel, taken her to new levels. This award celebrates her achievements as a deeply thoughtful soloist, an inspirational keyboard director and a fastidiously accomplished chamber musician.' Britten Sinfonia next performs with her in February 2009 when we continue our Beethoven concerto cycle with no. 3. The concerts are in London, Cambridge and Norwich. Stephen Moss' article in the Guardian last week about Imogen makes fascinating reading. You might also enjoy Mark Padmore's discussion of Schubert's song cycles in the same paper: more of our next project with Mark later.