Kettering Concerts

Kettering Concert 2017-05-07

Elanée Ensemble and Friends
Jo St. Leon (viola), Stuart Thomson (Double Bass), Emma McGrath (violin), Lucy Carrig (violin), William Newbery (viola), Brett Rutherford (cello)

String Sextet

Programme:

String Sextet in D minor – Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
String Sextet No.2 in G major Op 36 – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Sextet from Capriccio Op. 85 – Rickard Strauss (1864-1949)

Sunday 7 May 2017, 3pm
Kettering Community Hall
Tickets available at the door
$15
Stay for the post-concert afternoon tea, meet and chat with the musicians.

Stuart Thomson

Born in Edinburgh, Stuart Thomson began playing the double bass at age nine and later joined the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra, which inspired him to become a professional musician. He studied with Duncan McTier and Corin Long at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester and was awarded the Eugene Cruft Prize for Double Bass. While at the RNCM he began working professionally with the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras. Subsequent freelance work included engagements with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Philharmonische Werkstatt in Switzerland. In 1999 he joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2001 moved to Australia to play with the Sydney Symphony. The following year he was appointed Associate Principal of The Queensland Orchestra and in late 2003 took up the post of Principal Double Bass with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO). He has also received invitations to guest as principal with the Adelaide and West Australian Symphony orchestras. In 2005 he made his solo debut with the TSO playing alongside Alex Henery in Bottesini's Passione Amorosa for two double basses. Then again in 2011 with Tubin's concerto for double bass and in 2015, he performed the Australian premiere of Tan Dun's Double bass concerto The Wolf. In December this year he will appear again as soloist with The Wolf and the TSO in Hobart and on the TSO's tour of China. An active chamber musician, he is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Elanée Ensemble focusing on music for viola and double bass. He also teaches at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music.

Emma McGrath

Heralded as a "First-magnitude star in the making" by the Seattle Times, British violinist Emma McGrath made her London debut aged 10 in the Purcell Room and at 14 she performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Howard Shelley, broadcast live on Classic FM. She has since performed with numerous professional ensembles and orchestras, and has played in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia, Israel, the UK and the USA as a soloist. Emma moved to Tasmania to take up the post of Concert Master with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in 2016. Emma joined the KPQ in 2017.

Lucy Carrig

Lucy began playing the violin at the age of 4. She studied with Beryl Kimber and William Hennessey in Adelaide and with Stelios Kafantaris in Germany. During this time she represented Australia in the Jeunesse Musicales World Orchestra with whom she toured much of Europe and Canada. At 22 Lucy returned to Australia to take up the Principal Second violin job in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Two years later she joined the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, also as Principal Second violin. Lucy has appeared as soloist with the TSO, Adelaide and Hobart Chamber Orchestras; is a member of the Australian World Orchestra and has played as guest Associate Principal Second with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She appears regularly with Virtuosi, the Elanée Ensemble and with the Discovery Octet.

William Newbery

William returned to Adelaide from Cologne, Germany, in March 2005 having completed a Musik Diplom at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. His previous studies comprise the special music programme at Marryatville High School, a Bachelor of Music Degree with first class honours from the Elder Conservatorium and the Advanced Performance Programme at the Australian National Academy of Music.
William was a regular guest player with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2007. He has also been a guest of the Tasmanian, Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. He was the founding principal violist of the Adelaide Art Orchestra and has been broadcast on ABC FM playing a concerto for viola and computer. In 2007 William became a permanent member of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Since joining the TSO William has been a regular performer for Virtuosi Tasmania and has also made a broadcast for ABC FM Sunday Live. He tutors viola for the Tasmanian Youth Orchestra and has also given chamber music performances for MONA FOMA and the Kegelstatt Ensemble in Adelaide.

Brett Rutherford

Brett Rutherford began his study of the cello at the N.S.W. conservatorium of Music with John Painter and then later with Barbara Woolley for more extensive study. In 1981 Brett joined the Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra (now AOBO). In 1984 Brett with his wife Janet travelled to London to spend a year of study. During this time Brett studied with Alexander Baillie and William Pleeth. On returning to Australia, Brett joined the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Since then Brett has also played with Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players, Virtuosi Tasmania, and, with the Trigon Ensemble, has performed for ABC-FM and ABC television, as well as concerts around Australia. Brett retired from the TSO in 2017 but continues a busy teaching and chamber music schedule. Brett is a founding member of The Kettering Piano Quartet and also plays the viola da gamba in the early music group, Sequenza.