An afternoon of Mozart Magic
Viv McLean – Piano
Described by Le Monde as “possessing the genius one finds in those who know how to forget themselves”, since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, British pianist Viv McLean has performed in all the major venues in the UK as well as throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA. Viv’s concerto work includes appearances with the RPO, Philharmonia Orchestra, LPO, Halle Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra of St John’s, Northern Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of such conductors as Daniel Harding, John Wilson, Wayne Marshall, John Lubbock, Philip Hesketh, Christopher Warren-Green, Owain Arwell Hughes, Carl Davis, Rebecca Miller, Chloe Van Soeterstede and Marvin Hamlisch.
Viv plays regularly with the Adderbury Ensemble and has also performed with other leading chamber groups such as the Ysaye String Quartet, the Sacconi String Quartet, members of the Elias, Allegri, Carducci, Tippett String Quartets, Ensemble 360, the Bristol Ensemble, Onyx Brass, LMP Chamber Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. He has collaborated with musicians such as Natalie Clein, Alice Neary, Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Adrian Brendel, Lawrence Power, Mary Bevan, David Le Page, Guy Johnston and many others. He has performed at numerous festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival, Buxton Festival, Music in the Round Festival, Glossop Festival, Three Choirs Festival and Harrogate International Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Festival International de Musique Classique d’Aigues-Mortes, the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden.
Viv studied from an early age with Ruth Nye and, after attending Chetham’s School of Music, he went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne. Whilst studying at the Academy he was the winner of the piano competition at the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition, was selected as one of the winners of the National Federation of Music Societies’ Young Artists Competition and made his Wigmore Hall debut through winning the RAM Wigmore Award.
Viv made his BBC Radio 3 recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded for Classic FM, WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway and for the Sky Arts television channel. His commercial releases have included recordings for Sony, Chandos, Signum Classics, Naxos, Nimbus, Lyrita, RPO Records, ICSM Records and his most recent albums are a Chopin recital and a selection of live recordings for Stone Records. A recording of Scarlatti Sonatas on Willowhayne Records will be released shortly.
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons & Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Iwona Boesche – Director, Violin
Born in a small town in south-western Poland, she started playing the violin at the age of 7. At 18, she made her concerto debut at the Philharmonic Hall in Katowice.
Fresh out of Academy of Music in Krakow, where she studied with the eminent violinist Kaja Danczowska, Iwona embarked on several concert tours with the Heidelberg Kammerorchester, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons through France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal as well as England, Wales and Ireland. It was with that orchestra that Iwona first came to England (not realising that she would later make it her home), performing the Four Seasons at St James’s Piccadilly when she was 24. She cannot be sure, but she has performed the piece at least 150 times!
Still barely a graduate, Iwona was appointed leader of the Krakow Radio Symphony Orchestra after a solo appearance with the orchestra. A year later, she came to London to further her performance studies at the Royal College of Music. After graduating, Iwona started to teach at the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department. Later, she became a professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, while continuing her performing career.
Alongside her solo career, Iwona was a regular first violin with the City of London Sinfonia where she played under Richard Hickox, led the London Gay Symphony Orchestra for several years and was a principal first violin with the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and the Southern Sinfonia, where she performed with Sir Roger Norrington.
Iwona’s love for music extends to all genres. She has premiered new works by Polish, English and Russian composers. On the lighter side, Iwona has performed jazz with a big band (on the violin), and she is learning to play drums, passing her first exam with Distinction.
Iwona studied Law and was called to the Bar in 2015. She practises as a criminal barrister. In her spare time (such as it is) she is an avid reader, and she enjoys playing tennis at her local club.
Bach Brandenburg Concertos
Sandy Burnett – Director, Double Bass
It gives me great pleasure to return to St Michael and All Angels with another Bach series, following in the footsteps of our complete performing cycle of Bach’s sacred cantatas there a few years ago now. This time we have one of Bach’s most uplifting cycles of instrumental music in our sights, the six Brandenburg Concertos, and I can’t wait to work with the newly established Chiswick Chamber Orchestra – a mix of professional and skilled amateur performers – on this exciting project.
As a court employee in Cöthen in his mid thirties, Johann Sebastian Bach sent a beautiful handwritten score of these concertos to the aristocratic Margrave of Brandenburg as a thinly-disguised job application, but never received a reply. The Margrave’s loss is our gain; the Brandenburg Concertos are amongst Bach’s best-loved compositions – tuneful, imaginative, brilliant and fun – and we can’t wait to bring them to life.
Kathryn Parry – Leader
I have been very fortunate to have performed all the Brandenburg Concertos many times, but never all together over two concerts and with the same players. How exciting to share this musical journey through Bach’s unique masterpieces, to discover their similarities and differences, and to enjoy his glorious celebration of the baroque concerto grosso. I can’t wait to hear the different combinations of instruments and to explore Bach’s ingenious part-writing, and I’m particularly looking forward to working with Sandy and being directed from the double bass, which will certainly bring rhythmic focus and direction to our performances!
Callum Anderson – Harpsichord
The Brandenburg Concertos are perhaps the most important and inspiring set of instrumental pieces to be composed during the Baroque era. Since first hearing these works as a young boy, they have continued to amaze me in their level of contrapuntal complexity, musical virtuosity and compositional ingenuity. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to perform all of these works as continuo player and keyboard soloist, and I am very much looking forward to working with all the other musicians involved. I have had the privilege of performing at St Michael and All Angels in the past as an organist, and I am very pleased to perform in this beautiful setting again for this concert series.
Fraser Tannock – Trumpet
A winner of the Royal Overseas League Commonwealth Competition and the Philip Jones Prize, Fraser has given solo recitals at QEH, Purcell Room, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’ Piccadilly and the Palace of Versailles.
Fraser has performed the 2nd Brandenburg Concerto in the Colombian city of Cali, at over 1,000 metres altitude, and even higher up into the Andes mountain range. It took a full week of acclimatising to the conditions to be able to get through the entire piece, before the first concert took place!
Michael Tang – Viola
Having recently moved to West London, Michael has found the musical community both enthusiastic and welcoming. He is delighted to be part of this project in pursuit of the joy of music!
Peter Robertson – Flute
An opportunity to perform Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto comes around all too infrequently, and I’m delighted to be joining the Chiswick Chamber Orchestra and working with these talented colleagues to bring Bach’s masterpiece – and this new orchestra – to life.
Alma Nunez Debretzeni – Recorder
I’m looking forward to playing Brandenburg 4 and exploring its playful character in the first movement, range of emotions in the second and the joyful final fugue. The captivating conversations between the two recorders and violin make this piece great fun to play.
Nicholas Theobald – Oboe
The opportunity to perform two of the Brandenburg Concertos in the glorious acoustic of St Michael’s is a huge privilege and I have enjoyed working and playing with such a talented group of musicians in this new orchestra. I’m sure I’ve not played them since my school days. Since retiring from clinical medical practice I’ve also had the opportunity to explore Bach as a ‘cellist which has broadened my appreciation of this great composer’s music.
Jeremy Bradshaw – Violin
I got to play the violin solo of the 5th Brandenburg Concerto long ago when I was at Farnham Grammar School – and we had the fantastic privilege of Stephen Thomson’s inspirational leadership and spine-tingling cadenza from the harpsichord. Utterly unforgettable. I have longed to play the Brandenburgs ever since and somehow the chance never arose – until now!
Andrew Pears – Cello and Founder of Chiswick Chamber Orchestra
It has always been my dream to perform the Brandenburg Concertos in the glorious acoustic of St Michael’s. There is no record of their performance here in the last forty years. The music is so joyous and exhilarating to play, with a gloriously eclectic mix of instruments across the concertos. It will be a huge privilege to work and play with such a talented group of musicians. As a builder and musician I am delighted that we can use this opportunity to raise funds to maintain and preserve the fabric of this wonderful building for another 150 years.
Nicholas Bradshaw – Bassoon
I love the Brandenburgs, and believe they represent the nearest Bach approached to modern symphonic writing.