Kettering Concerts

Kettering Concert 2022-05-08

Tasmanian String Quartet
Emma McGrath (Violin), Jennifer Owen (Violin), Douglas Coghill (Viola), Jonathan Békés (Cello)

Beethoven and Britten

Programme:

String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 – Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36 – Edward Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Sunday 8 May 2022, 3pm
Kettering Community Hall
SOLD OUT - No door sales

Stay for the post-concert afternoon tea, meet and chat with the musicians.

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.

Jennifer Owen

Currently Principal First Violin of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Jennifer Owen has worked professionally as Principal Second Violin of the Houston Symphony (from 1999-2015), previously as Principal First Violin and Acting Associate Concertmaster of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (1996-99) and as Associate Concertmaster of the Richardson Symphony, Texas (1992-93).
She has performed as Acting Principal First Violin with the Melbourne Symphony and as a member of the second violin section for the last two seasons of the Australian World Orchestra. During her time in the United States she played in many summer music festivals including Santa Fe Opera, Grand Tetons Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Colorado, Strings in the Mountains, and Park City Music Festival.
Jennifer has appeared as soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony, the Houston Symphony and the Riverside Symphony in New York City. As a chamber musician Jennifer has most recently performed with Virtuosi Tasmania and for the 2016 Dark MOFO Festival. In the US she was a regular guest on Faculty chamber concerts at both Rice University and the University of Houston, and appeared on concerts for the Society of Modern Music, and the St Cecilia Chamber Music Series.

Douglas Coghill

Douglas Coghill began playing the violin at the age of 7 with the hope of one day playing the viola. At 12, when he was big enough, he made the change to the viola. In 2006 Douglas began studying at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2007 he received the Brunner prize for the most improved string player. He was the 2008 winner of the John Gaitskell Memorial Mensa Trust Award. He completed his Bachelor of Music Performance degree in 2008. Following his Bachelor degree, Douglas began studies at Australia’s leading music school, the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). At the academy he performed in the orchestra, in chamber ensembles and as a soloist. At ANAM Douglas had the opportunity to work with leading musicians from around the world.
In 2012 Douglas appeared as a soloist with the Australian Doctors Orchestra. He has worked with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of the “Opus House” ensemble based in Hobart. Douglas plays on a viola made by Felix Scheit who is based in Berlin.

Jonathan Békés

Jonathan Békés started playing the cello at 10 years old and has studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music. He has learnt with cellists such as Howard Penny, Julian Smiles and Susan Blake and won numerous awards for his performance including the ANAM Director’s Prize, and First Prize in the ANAM Chamber Competition. He is recipient of the 2016 Accenture Australia Scholarship, the Sydney Conservatorium’s Corinna d’Hage String Scholarship, and has attained his AMus and LMus, both with distinction.

Békés is in great demand as a performer, chamber musician and teacher across Australia and has taken his cello across the world, having performed and taught across four different continents. He is member of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, a founding member of the award winning Clarendon Trio and plays regularly with the Australian World Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Békés has performed chamber music alongside such artists as Anthony Marwood, Stephan Dohr, Ole Bøhn, and Timothy Young and has performed in masterclasses for Steven Isserlis, Pieter Wispelwey, Nicholas Aldstaedt and Alban Gerhadt.

Békés has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras around Australia including the Hobart Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Youth Orchestra. In 2011 he played for a full house at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall as part of the HSC ENCORE program.

In his spare time, Békés is a passionate Sydney Swans supporter and a committed Hobart Hurricanes enthusiast. He is a keen squash player, an avid golfer and loves to get outside to go hiking and mountain biking. For more information go to www.jonathanbekes.com.

Botaniko Artist Group – Artist

Formed in 2014, Botaniko, (Esperanto for botanical), is a small group of dedicated botanical artists, who, by invitation, collaborate towards yearly exhibitions depicting plants found in gardens and other venues of historical significance in Tasmania. Past projects include the gardens of the Port Arthur Historic Site, the 200th anniversary of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, The Tasmanian Herbarium, The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), The Windsong property, and in 2022, the trees of historical significance found in the garden of Tasmania's Government House. Titled Floral Splendour - Government House Garden. This year, members of Botaniko have been painting plants, shrubs and trees growing in in a number of private gardens of historic Battery Point (Hobart). Some of the resulting works will on display at the concert.