Archive News Items

Chamber Music 2000 In Concert – on Thursday 23^rd November 2006 students who have been taking part in Chamber Music 2000 workshops will join the Schubert Ensemble and Lawson Trio in a concert at the Purcell Room in London.  The Schubert Ensemble are performing another concert in their Composer Portrait Series – for the 50^th birthday of Piers Hellawell – and have asked Chamber Music 2000 to prepare a pre-concert performance to celebrate Hellawell’s contribution to the collection as well as highlighting other composers too.  The concert will take place at 6.30pm to be followed by the Schubert Ensemble’s concert at 7.45pm.  Both will be attended by Hellawell, and the earlier concert will include the first London performance of the newest work in the Chamber Music 2000 repertoire, Tidy your room, which Hellawell wrote for workshops at Winchester College in February. 

Workshops by the Lawson Trio are being run over the next few months in a number of London schools.  The Lawson Trio have joined Chamber Music 2000 as an Associate Ensemble and have worked hard to develop a set of workshops for us at Henrietta Barnett, St Marylebone CE Girls School and Latymer School.  Workshops will develop the chamber music skills of string and piano students, as well as introducing them to the work of living composers.  Each set of workshops will conclude with a short concert at the school concerned as well as a number of groups from each school being invited to perform at the Purcell Room concert.  Funding for these workshops includes grants from the Ernest Cook Trust and Golsoncott Foundation.  Concerts will be held at the end of each set of workshops including a concert on 9^th November at St Marylebone School and on 13^th November at Henrietta Barnett School.  For more information about the concerts and workshops visit contact the Development Manager.

TIDY YOUR ROOM!

Chamber Music 2000 is delighted to annouce the first new work to be added to the collection in over three years.  As part of the workshops and performance in February at Winchester College, Piers Hellawell was commissioned to write a new work.  The piano quartet is the third work he has contributed to the collection and will be availble from the British Music Information Centre in the next few months.   For more information please contact admin@chambermusic.com.

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New Ensemble joins Chamber Music 2000

Chamber Music 2000 has been using the Schubert Ensemble since it began for its practical educational work. However, the ensemble's busy schedule, especially in the last few years, has inevitably limited the number of workshops and other educational projects which Chamber Music 2000 has been able to promote.  The Trust is therefore delighted to welcome another ensemble to the team. 

The Lawson Trio was formed at Cambridge University in 2000 and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music where, last year, they were awarded a Junior Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship. They pursue a busy schedule of concerts nationwide and have a particular sympathy for contemporary music. The trio is currently organising a series of workshops with Chamber Music 2000 to take place in London comprehensive schools in September 2006, further details of which will be provided nearer the time.

"The Lawson Trio ... are excellent players who show a real commitment to playing chamber music at the highest level, and to the performance and appreciation of contemporary music."
(William Howard, Schubert Ensemble)

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Contemporary Chamber Music Workshop July 2006

A Chamber Music Course for strings and piano, aimed at young people aged between 10 and 16, is being held at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Music from 24th to 27th July 2006. The workshop is being run by Cambridge Suzuki Young Musicians and will include the study of works from the Chamber Music 2000 repertoire. The concert that concludes the course will be on 27th July.
Application forms and further details are available from Steven Power: 01223 264408, stephenpower@ntlworld.net or www.suzukipianocambridge.org.uk

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Chamber Music 2000 Performance in April 2006

Wednesday 26th April 2006 at 7.45pm
A concert as part of the Stoke D'Abernon Festival which  celebrated the opening of the fantastic new Menuhin Hall, at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey. 

Students from the Yehudi Menuhin School and from state schools across Surrey performed seven works from the Chamber Music 2000 repertoire which they have been working on with members of the Schubert Ensemble and Lawson Trio.  The programme also included a performance of Brahms Piano Quartet in g minor opus 25 and Martin Butler's Sequenza Notturna.

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CHAMBER MUSIC 2000 NEWS

Published in December 2005

Chamber Music 2000 started by assembling a portfolio of chamber pieces which were within the reach of young people and amateurs.  We now have a bank of over 40 works available from the British Music Information Centre and our focus has  shifted to getting the repertoire out into the musical community.  We are especially, though not exclusively, keen to develop ways in which the pieces can be used in educational settings and therefore, with the help of the Schubert Ensemble, we have developed an education strategy and are working across the country on various initiatives as well as developing web-based resources.  Below are two projects which will be taking place in the spring. Others are also in progress and details will appear on this site soon.

Winchester College will be working with two local 6th form Colleges (Peter Symonds and Barton Peveril) on works from the Chamber Music 2000 repertoire in February 2006. The Schubert Ensemble, joined by Alison Dods, will run workshops on the 9th February with the students and on the 26th February there will be a free public concert of Chamber Music 2000 works studied plus a performance by the Schubert Ensemble of César Franck’s Piano Quintet.  The workshops will include the first new work to be commissioned by Chamber Music 2000 in a number of years by Piers Hellawell, who went to the college.  The FREE concert is at 7.30pm in Winchester College Music School, Culver Road, Winchester SO23 9JF (Tel: 01962 621122)

In March the Schubert Ensemble will run another day of workshops for Chamber Music 2000 at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Students from the school and from across Surrey (through Surrey County Arts) will come together to work on 10 pieces from the repertoire.  The workshop day on the 17th March will also include opportunities for teachers from the school and the Surrey County Music Service to look at the repertoire and talk to the Schubert Ensemble about using the works in their teaching.  A concert will be held in the new concert hall at the Menuhin School on the 26th April as part of the Stoke D’Abernon Festival and will include a performance by the Schubert Ensemble of Brahms’ Piano Quartet No.1.  For more information about tickets please call 08700 842020

Trustees – The membership of the Trustees of Chamber Music 2000 has remained constant for over 5 years, but earlier this year we sadly said goodbye to Annie Bayley who retired from the Trustees due to other pressures on her time.  We would like to thank her for her contribution to the meetings and advice during the early years of the Trust.  We are delighted however, to welcome Louise Woods and Keith Willis to the Board.  Louise is a piano teacher and avid player of chamber music and Keith is the Head of Cultural Services for Surrey County Council and a pianist who was introduced to the Trust through playing the Chamber Music 2000 repertoire with students from the Surrey County Youth Orchestra.  We welcome them both to the Board.

The Future – As we work to develop the activity of Chamber Music 2000 into 2006 and beyond we shall also need to be fundraising from Trusts, Foundations and public funding.  If you felt able to support the Trust in some way or if you know of particular organisations who might support us we would love to hear from you. 

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New Development Manager for Chamber Music 2000

In May 2004, the Trustees of Chamber Music 2000, the charity set up to develop chamber music repertoire for piano and strings announced the appointment of Bridget Whyte as their new Development Manager.  Full Press Release
Bridget Whyte can be contacted by phone 01962 870451 or via e-mail on admin@chambermusic2000.com.

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Reviews of the launch of Chamber Music 2000

"Soothsayers and sundry Lebrechts have for some time been pointing to the inexorable downward spial of many things classical. It therefore comes as a huge breath of fresh air to discover a project that is both hugely innovative and likely at a stroke to invigorate one of the areas that has lain most dormant over recent decades.

The Schubert Ensemble has long been at the forefront of two major strands of current practice - commissioning new work and engaging in educational outreach. With Chamber Music 2000 the group extends these concerns by breathing new life into the long-term future of chamber music."

Classical Music, 29/1/01

"We believe in chamber music," says Blendis. "It's a tremendous learning ground for young musicians because it teaches you about playing together and it instils a terrific confidence. It's brilliant ear training and it improves intonation and rhythm. Its benefits are immeasurable."

Times Educational Supplement, 5/3/01

Read the full article at www.tes.co.uk

"There are few professional chamber music groups of international reputation working in Britain who have commissioned as much music as the Schubert Ensemble... 'String and wind pupils are often drawn into the process of ensemble playing at an early stage in their learning', explains William Howard, pianist with the Ensemble, 'but pianists are almost always excluded from chamber groups because of this lack of music at a suitable technical level.'"

Making Music, April 2001

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Press Release

The Schubert Ensemble, Britain's leading chamber group performing music for piano and strings have commissioned 60 of the most prominent composers of today, to write short pieces suitable for playing by young and amateur musicians. The pieces are all for different combinations of piano and strings, and are of varying difficulty. They offer not only much needed repertoire for musicians of all ages, but also a fascinating panorama of different styles of contemporary music. They also have been found to make excellent models for student composers for GCSE to University level and beyond.

Further information can also be obtained from:

• BMIC for scores & publications - Tel:020 7928 1902
• NMC Recordings Ltd., for the CD a white room NMC D075 - Tel: 020 7403 9445
• Ann Senior for Schubert Ensemble information and educational projects Tel: 01452 771263 or email (senior.mgt@dial.pipex.com)