Center the Teacher

High Heels and Horse Hair: Alice Rickards (violin) and Sonia Cromarty (cello)

Tuesday 2 April 2013 • 7.30pm
Tin Hut, Gartly (map)

Tickets £10.00, £6.00 (concession), free (schoolchildren)
available from Deveron Arts, Orb's Bookshop, Rizza's shop, or at the door

A Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Huntly-based composer and teacher Ronald Center

As well as Ronald Center's own duet for violin and cello, the programme will feature the first performances of a collection of strikingly varied short pieces that have been specially written for the Ronald Center 100th anniversary concert by young people aged from 12–19 from seven different countries.

Alice and Sonia will also play the exhilaratingly virtuosic folk-tune based duo written in 1914 by Zoltán Kodály and a piece by local composer David Ward.

Rickards-Cromarty Duo

William Gilmour
Conversations for Violin and Cello

William Gilmour is a music teacher at Culloden Academy.

Justina Krystanowska
Enigma of the Mist

Justina Krystanowska is 17 years old and from Poland.

Elise Olt
Home

Elise Olt is 19 and from Estonia.

Madeline Brown
Strung Together

Madeline Brown is 12 and from London.

Emily Palmer
Reminiscence

Emily Palmer is 16 and from Oklahoma, USA.

Yuko Matsumoto
For Violin and Cello

Yuko Matsumoto is 17 and from Japan.

Arron Alderson
At Last

Arron Alderson is 16 and a pupil at Culloden Academy.

David Ward
Duo for Violin and Cello

David Ward is a professional composer who lives near Aberchirder.

INTERVAL

Ronald Center
Duet

Teacher and composer Ronald Center was born on 2nd April 1913 and died in 1973.

James East
Duet for Violin and Cello

James East, from England and now living in USA, is a mature student of David Ward.

Zoltán Kodály
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op.7

Written in 1914 by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967), this virtuosic and exuberant duo illustrates the composer's interest in Hungarian and Romanian folk music, which he collected on numerous field trips with Béla Bartók. As well as being a famous composer, Kodály is internationally renowned for the Kodály method of teaching music.

Both established performers in Britain and beyond, Alice Rickards (violin) and Sonia Cromarty (cello) come together to demonstrate just what's possible from 8 strings, 4 f-holes and 2 bows. Their fresh, dynamic playing explores the versatile repertoire of the string duo from the Baroque restraints of Bach and Corelli to the Impressionist sound world of Ravel. They also champion the music of their homelands, bringing to prominence some of the wealth of music to emerge from Scotland and Australia. A lively, engaging new duo — don't miss the opportunity to hear them perform.

Alice Rickards is currently a member of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She completed her undergraduate degree at the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia, before moving to the UK to study at the Royal Academy of Music where she gained a Masters with Distinction. She has had a successful and varied chamber career to date, winning the Gertrude Langer Chamber Music Prize as leader of the Minerva Quartet and also touring Australia as part of a virtuoso violin and cello duo, High Heels and Horse Hair. Alice has appeared as a soloist on many occasions, including performances with Southbank Sinfonia, the Baroque Orchestra at Dartington International Summer School and at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, where she premiered new works by Australian composers. Alice also has a great interest in period performance and has performed with many of London's early music ensembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Retrospect Ensemble and the Kings Consort.

Aberdeen-born Sonia Cromarty studied cello and baroque cello at the RSAMD gaining a First Class Honours degree and Post-graduate Diploma with Distinction. During her college years she won numerous prizes for solo and ensemble playing and since graduating she has enjoyed a busy and varied freelance career that has taken her all around the world. Sonia particularly enjoys chamber music and is also a member of the Rhona Mackay Trio, Amici Cello Trio and Daniel's Beard. She performs regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Opera and has also appeared with the RSNO, Scottish Ballet, The Scottish Ensemble, Paragon Ensemble and Red Note Ensemble. As well as performing, Sonia enjoys bringing music to the community through teaching and education projects in a wide range of settings.

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