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6 May 
 
7 May



Germany
 Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 7.30pm 
BBC Singers at the Herrenhausen Festival
Herrenhäuser Gärten
Herrenhäuser Straße 3a, Germany 30419 Hannover
Germany

Tickets: € 18.20 - € 41.60
Robert Hollingworth conductor
BBC Singers
Sinfonye


Medieval and modern, mystical and material all collide in this concert which has as its focus songs by the 11th century German Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, performed both in their original versions and as re-imagined by Stevie Wishart. Completing the programme, two modern works which also have their roots in the medieval world – Britten's cycle wittily juxtaposes sacred and secular lyrics and is one of his last works, while Sir Harrison Birtwistle's setting takes words from a source that was to become a well-spring of inspiration in his later career – the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – and is one of his earliest published pieces.



Hildegard of Bingen : Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum
Benjamin Britten : Sacred and Profane
Harrison Birtwistle : Narration: a Description of the Passing of a Year
Wishart Stevie : Out of This World (BBC Commission)

7 May



United Kingdom
 Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 7:30pm 
CBSO The Spirit of Defiance
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Broad Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B1 2EA
United Kingdom
0121 200 2000
symphonyhall@necgroup.co.uk
http://boxoffice.necgroup.co.uk/iccsym.asp

Tickets: £10-£39.50
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons conductor
Baiba Skride violin



The Soviet censors called it an ‘optimistic tragedy’. Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony. Dark, impassioned, packed with secret messages and featuring a terrifying musical portrait of Stalin himself, Shostakovich’s Tenth is one of the most powerful of all twentieth-century symphonies. Andris Nelsons’s first Birmingham performance of this modern masterpiece will be keenly awaited – and the young Latvian violinist Baiba Skride is fast becoming a Birmingham favourite too. Sofia Gubaidulina’s Bach-inspired Concerto, written in defiance of Soviet oppression, makes a wonderfully apt prelude to Shostakovich’s epic drama.



Sofia Gubaidulina : Violin Concerto (Offertorium)
Dmitri Shostakovich : Symphony No 10

8 May



United Kingdom
 Friday, June 8, 2012 at 7.00 pm 
Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: £12 concs £10
Mihkel Poll
piano



The Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize annually awards a talented Guildhall School musician with a Wigmore Hall recital. Estonian pianist Mihkel Poll is the recipient of this year’s award, and his winner’s recital promises to be a special occasion.



George Enescu : Piano Sonata in F# minor Op. 24 No. 1
Gyorgy Ligeti : Etude No. 5 ‘Arc-en-ciel’
Gyorgy Ligeti : Etude No. 13 ‘L’escalier du diable’
Bela Bartok : Szabadban (Out of Doors Suite) Sz. 81
Maurice Ravel : Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit
Alexander Mosolov : 2 Nocturnes Op. 15
Sergei Prokofiev : Piano SonataNo. 6 in A Op. 82

8 May



United Kingdom
 Friday, June 8, 2012 at 10 pm 
Timothy Andres
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: £12 concs £10
Timothy Andres
Piano

Young Californian pianist and composer Timothy Andres makes his debut at Wigmore Hall in this recital focusing on his own music and that of his contemporaries.

Praised for his ‘acute ear’ by the New York Times and a ‘stubborn nose’ by the New Yorker, Timothy Andres is an American composer-pianist whose work crosses boundaries and defies categorisation. When his debut album Shy and Mighty was released in 2010, the New Yorker observed ‘an unhurried grandeur that has rarely been felt in American music since John Adams came on the scene … more mighty than shy’.


Ted Hearne : Two movements from Parlor Diplomacy (London première)
Timothy Andres : How can I live in your world of ideas
Johannes Brahms : Intermezzo in B minor Op. 119 No. 1
Timothy Andres : It takes a Long Time to be a Good Composer
Robert Schumann : Vogel als Prophet Op. 82 No. 7

9 May 
 
10 May 
 
11 May



United Kingdom
 Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7.30pm-9.30pm 
Kensington Symphony Orchestra World Premiere
St John's, Smith Square
London, SW1P 3HA
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7222 1061
http://sjss.org.uk
info@sjss.org.uk

Tickets: £15, £10 (£10 concessions)
Kensington Symphony Orchestra
Russell Keable, conductor

The final concert of KSO's 56th season features the premiere of a major new work by Peter Nagle, written as a tribute to John Cage in his centenary year.

"The most professional-sounding of non-professional orchestras" - Sunday Telegraph


Johannes Brahms : Symphony No.1
Jean Sibelius : Symphony No.7
Peter Nagle : Until I die there will be sounds

12 May 
 
13 May



United Kingdom
 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 6:30PM 
Harrison Birtwistle's Bow Down at Spitalfields Music Summer Festival
Spitalfields Festival
London
United Kingdom

Presented by The Opera Group, in association with the London Sinfonietta.



A macabre folktale is brought to percussive and visceral life in this interdisciplinary performance. When The Fair Sister is courted by The Suitor, The Dark Sister commits a terrible act of betrayal. But as her crime echoes through the land and across the ages will she finally receive retribution?

Bow Down is an ancient murder ballad reimagined by young performers and players.



Harrison Birtwistle : Bow Down

14 May



United States
 Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 8:00pm - 9:30pm 
Composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti Showcases New Works
Gershwin Hotel, NYC
7 East 27th Street, NYC
United States

Tickets: $10 General, $5 Students
Just off a 3-month long tour in Europe and India, composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti returns to his hometown of New York City with a trio of live performances ranging from avant-jazz collaborations to a curatorial concert series in Brooklyn. One of the most innovative composers and improvisers on the new music scene, Lukas neatly bridges the classical-modernist-world-music divide. He combines his post-minimalism compositional style with other facets of contemporary expressions such as noise and electronics as well as indigenous non-Western musical and cultural influences.
As part of the Contagious Sounds concert series curated by Vicky Chow, this concert features new works by Lukas for the rebirth of his band, Lukas Ligeti’s Notebook (formerly known as Kaleidoscope Point).

Leading on percussion, Lukas is joined by Dan Blake (sax) and Eyal Maoz (guitar). Wende K. Blass (guitar) and TBA (piano). Also slated to appear are special guests such as Cadillac Moon Ensemble, Tom Bergeron, Candy Chiu, and more…

www.lukasligeti.com


15 May



United States
 Friday, June 15, 2012 at 7.30pm 
Present Music Love Concert
Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, WI
United States

Tickets: $35-$15
Present Music
Robin Pluer
Jennifer Goltz

Embrace the universal language of love with Milwaukee’s own cutting-edge new music ensemble -- Present Music. All aspects of love will be explored through music from bliss to heartache and everything in between.

The Love concert will feature a variety of contemporary composers whose music discovers love’s limitless possibilities. Present Music has commissioned Grammy-Award Winner Michael Daugherty, one of the most performed and recorded American composers today, to create a new work for voice and ensemble, entitled The Labyrinth of Love. This world premiere will take the audience on an unpredictable journey through the poetry and writings of women from ancient Greece’s Sappho, Victorian England's Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Hollywood's Elizabeth Taylor. Alongside a rich, musical soundscape created by Daugherty, soprano Jennifer Goltz, who possesses a "brilliant voice full of subtle allure and sprightly energy", will join Present Music for this exciting event.

Milwaukee’s own chanteuse extraordinaire, Robin Pluer, will join Present Music in a special performance featuring music from Edith Pilaf.


Michael Daugherty : The Labyrinth of Love
Bright Sheng : Kazakhstan Love Song
Michael Gordon : ac/dc

15 May



United Kingdom
 Friday, June 15, 2012 at 19:30 
London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

Tickets: £10 / 15 / 19.50 / 27 / 35
Valery Gergiev conductor
Renée Fleming soprano*
London Symphony Orchestra





Claude Debussy : La Mer
Henri Dutilleux : Le temps l’horloge
Maurice Ravel : Shéhérazade
Igor Stravinsky : Petrushka

16 May 
 
17 May



United Kingdom
 Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 6pm 
Birtwistle, Carter and Knussen at the Aldeburgh Festival
Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh
Snape Maltings Concert Hall,Snape,Suffolk,IP17 1SP
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1728 687110
http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk
enquiries@aldeburgh.co.uk

Tickets: £32, £28, £24, £19, £14
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group +
EXAUDI



Ives’ delight in forming a ‘set’ from an assemblage of apparently independent parts is matched by the serious originality of Knussen’s programme-building.

Three Places in New England and The Fourth of July are a blend of an understated yet all-American grandeur with music of raucous celebration, a carefully crafted chaos of borrowed popular tunes and sophisticated collision of multiple musics.

Birtwistle’s ebullient perpetual motion seems in harmony with the earthy joys of Bartók’s rustic miniatures. Carter’s anti-concerto, lyrical and feisty, prefaces a modern-day classic of a Requiem.

An Elliott Carter premiere by two of the leading exponents of his music that continues the recent sequence of Carter premieres at Aldeburgh.




Harrison Birtwistle : Cantus Iambeus
Bela Bartok : Three Village Scenes
Elliott Carter : Interventions for piano and orchestra
Oliver Knussen : Requiem – Songs for Sue
Charles Ives : The Fourth of July; Three Places in New England

17 May



United Kingdom
 Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Mertz, Giuliani, Barrios Mangoré and more
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: £10 £14 £17 £20
Dimitris Dekavallas
guitar


Multiple award winner Dimitris Dekavallas has established himself as one of the most talented guitarists of his age. Much in demand as a soloist worldwide, he has been praised for his ‘truly phenomenal performances’ (Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation), and ‘his warm tone and lyrical expression’ (Classical Guitar Magazine)

Johann Mertz : Variations Mignonnes
Johann Mertz : Tarantelle
Mauro Giuliani : Variations on a theme of Handel Op. 107
Barrios Mangore : Una limosna por el amor de dios
Barrios Mangore : Vals Op. 8 No. 4
Jenny Jackson : FanTango (world première, dedicated to Dimitris Dekavallas)
Jorge Morel : Danza Brasilera
Jorge Morel : Misionera
Mauricio Kagel : Sonata II (world première, dedicated to Dimitris Dekavallas)

18 May



United Kingdom
 Monday, June 18, 2012 at 7pm 
Billy Budd
English National Opera
London Coliseum
United Kingdom

ENO

ENO continues to refresh its Britten repertoire with this new production by the team behind ENO’s award-winning Peter Grimes.

A metaphysical battle between good and evil fought out aboard a British man-o'-war, Britten’s richly orchestrated all-male opera was originally commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain and is considered to be one of the composer’s finest works.

Starring Benedict Nelson (a ‘standout’ Demetrius in 2011’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as Billy, Matthew Rose as Claggart, the malevolent master-at-arms, and Kim Begley as Vere, the morally conflicted captain, this new staging reunites the award-winning director-conductor partnership of David Alden and Edward Gardner from 2009’s Peter Grimes.

Mon 18 Jun 2012
Sat 23 Jun 2012
Wed 27 Jun 2012
Sat 30 Jun 2012
Tue 03 Jul 2012
Thu 05 Jul 2012
Sun 08 Jul 2012


Benjamin Britten : Billy Budd

19 May 
 
20 May



Wales
 Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 2pm 
Afternoon Concert: Honegger & Stravinsky
BBC Hoddinott Hall
Cardiff
Wales

Tickets: £8/£11
Conductor Thierry Fischer
Cello Christian Poltéra



Written in the depths of the Second World War, Honegger's Second Symphony (for strings and trumpet) evoke not only the emotions of the period but also ultimately a sense of hardwon joy. Stravinsky's youthful full-blooded Symphony in E flat, written under the guidance of his teacher Rimsky Korsakov, will appeal to those who love the late nineteenth century Russian romantics.



Arthur Honegger : Symphony No 2
Arthur Honegger : Cello Concerto
Igor Stravinsky : Symphony in E-flat

21 May



United Kingdom
 Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 7:30pm 
CBSO London 2012 Festival Opening Concert
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Broad Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B1 2EA
United Kingdom
0121 200 2000
symphonyhall@necgroup.co.uk
http://boxoffice.necgroup.co.uk/iccsym.asp

Tickets: £20
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Edward Gardner conductor
CBSO Chorus
CBSO Youth Chorus
CBSO Children’s Chorus


The world’s greatest music – made in Birmingham. On the opening night of the London 2012 Festival, CBSO are thrilled to present the latest masterpiece from Jonathan Harvey, one of the world’s greatest living composers, who was born in Sutton Coldfield. An epic choral work, Weltethos is inspired by the shared spiritual heritage of humanity and founded on texts from six of the world’s greatest religions: Confucianism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. Expansive, visionary and awe-inspiringly beautiful, it’s a perfect way to kick off the nationwide celebrations in the summer of 2012. Join the CBSO to welcome the world and hear sounds like you’ve never heard before.

6.15pm Pre-concert talk: Premiere! Jonathan Harvey
Stephen Maddock talks to the great Birmingham-born composer about his new choral work.



Jonathan Harvey : Weltethos

22 May



United Kingdom
 Friday, June 22, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Evelyn Glennie and Philip Smith
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: £15 £20 £25 £30
Evelyn Glennie
percussion

Philip Smith
piano



Famous for hitting anything that neither moves nor flinches, Evelyn Glennie does so with a flair, invention and imagination that has made her without doubt the world’s most celebrated percussionist. She creates new instruments, with a whole body of new repertoire for them to play. Here, collaborating with the pianist Philip Smith, she reconfigures old, established works for new, exploratory sound-worlds.

Toshiro Mayuzumi : Concertino for xylophone and piano
Evelyn Glennie : Waterphone improvisation
Christos Hatzis : Eternity’s heartbeat
Evelyn Glennie : Orologeria Aureola
John Psathas : Drum Dances
Antonio Vivaldi : Concerto in C for piccolo recorder
Philip Sheppard : New Work
Astor Piazzolla : Libertango
Nebojsa Zivkovic : Quasi una sonata

22 May



Scotland
 Friday, June 22, 2012 at 7.30pm 
Listen Here! New World Symphonies – Music from America and Beyond
City Halls
Glasgow
Scotland

Tickets: Free (limited to 2 per application)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra



Since the late 1800s the USA has proved to be an inspiration and a refuge for many composers. Aaron Copland and Charles Ives looked to their homeland to forge a new orchestral sound in works such as Appalachian Spring and Three Places in New England. European composers such as Bartók fled to the country never to return while Dvoøák's visit at the end of the 19th century provided the impetus for his best known and most loved symphony, the Ninth.

Join the BBC SSO and its Artist-in-Association, Matthias Pintscher, for this very special two-part concert which opens the BBC SSO's 2012 Listen Here! weekend.

The first part of the concert (Ives, Bartók and Dvoøák) will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, presented by Jamie MacDougall.



Charles Ives : Three Places in New England
Béla Bartók : Violin Concerto No.2
Antonin Dvorak : Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World'
Aaron Copland : Appalachian Spring: ballet
Charles Ives : The Unanswered Question

23 May 
 
24 May 
 
25 May



United Kingdom
 Monday, June 25, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Damon Albarn's Dr Dee
English National Opera
London Coliseum
United Kingdom

ENO

About the production starring Damon Albarn
Following the success of Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West, ENO presents the London premiere of Albarn’s visionary new opera Dr Dee.

Although largely unknown today, Doctor Dee was the quintessential Renaissance Man. From astrology to alchemy and physics to philosophy, his thirst for knowledge was insatiable and, as a key advisor to Elizabeth I, he is credited with providing much of the intelligence which shaped ‘the British Empire’ established under her rule. Dee also dabbled in the occult and, ultimately, this fascination destroyed him. Conned by a deranged medium, Dee’s career ended in disgrace and sexual scandal and he died discredited and penniless.

This fascinating figure is bought to life by the extraordinary talents of composer and musician Damon Albarn, and director Rufus Norris. Albarn’s music is an ingenious mix of pop vocals, much of which he will perform live on-stage, with contemporary orchestral music played on 16th-century period instruments. Rufus Norris’s staging presents five centuries of English history and the three realms of earth, heaven and hell, with the virtuosic flare which has secured him a raft of awards and five-star reviews from London to Broadway.

Performances
June 25, 26, 28, 29 & July 4, 6, 7 at 7.30pm , July 7 at 2.30pm
8 performances. Running time: 2hrs.
Pre-performance talk: Thur June 28, 5.30-6.15pm, £5



Damon Albarn : Dr Dee

26 May 
 
27 May 
 
28 May



United Kingdom
 Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
LSO Discovery Celebration Concert
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

Tickets: £4
Kristjan Järvi conductor
Rachel Leach presenter
LSO On Track: Next Generation
Music Maker Schools
London Symphony Orchestra


LSO Discovery brings music into the lives of 60,000 Londoners every year, and the annual summer celebration concert takes just a small slice of these participants and brings them together on the Barbican stage. Conductor Kristjan Järvi directs the LSO in an evening which begins with River Journey, a work commissioned by John Stephens OBE especially to be performed with children from three primary schools close to LSO St Luke's led by animateur Neil Valentine. East London's most gifted young musicians then perform in a new piece they have written with Howard Moody - Terrors of Red Flame.


Jeff Moore : River Journey (LSO commission)
Manuel de Falla : The Three Cornered Hat – Suite
Howard Moody : Terrors of Red Flame (LSO commission)

29 May



United Kingdom
 Friday, June 29, 2012 at 7pm 
Studio Concert: Knussen conducts Ravel, Debussy and Stravinsky
BBC Maida Vale Studios, London
Maida Vale One, Delaware Road, London
United Kingdom
02085761227

Tickets: FREE (subject to availability)
Oliver Knussen, conductor
BBC Symphony Orchestra



The BBC Symphony Orchestra invites you to a live studio recording of playful, song and dance infused music conducted by Oliver Knussen. Stravinsky’s famous symphonic poem ‘The Song of the Nightingale’ is presented alongside Swiss-French composer Arthur Honegger’s symphonic movement Rugby which, inspired by the game, presents exchanges between orchestral forces suggestive of opposing sides. This is preceded by French waltzes and a berceuse from Ravel and Debussy, as well as Boulez’s orchestration of Ravel’s Frontispice, originally scored for five hands on two pianos.


Maurice Ravel : Valses nobles et sentimentales
Claude Debussy : Berceuse Heroique
Maurice Ravel : Frontispice (arr. Boulez)
Igor Stravinsky : Le Chant du Rossignol
Arthur Honegger : Rugby

29 May



United States
 Friday, June 29, 2012 at 8pm 
Music & Música - Composers Don Hagar & Jay Vilnai
BEA - Brazilian Endowment for the Arts
240E 52nd street, New York, NY
United States
212.371.1556
http://www.brazilianendowment.org
contact@brazilianendowment.org

Tickets: $15 and $10
Gelsey Bell, Christine Moore, sopranos; Lynn Bechtold, violin; Dan Barrett, cello.

The Brazilian Endowment for the Arts presents, within the music program Music & Musica, composers Don Hagar and Jay Vilnai. The composers will present a concert that explores different styles of contemporary music. Don Hagar prepared works for strings, while Mr. Vilnai will present pieces that combine voice and strings.



Donald Hagar : Concert for string Trio
Jay Vilnai : 3 Shakespeare songs

30 May 
 
31 May 
 
1 Jun 
 
2 Jun 
 
3 Jun 
 
4 Jun 
 
5 Jun



United Kingdom
 Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 11:00 
The Nash Ensemble
Cheltenham Festival

United Kingdom

Ian Brown piano
Richard Watkins horn
Marianne Thorsen violin
Philip Dukes viola
Paul Watkins cello



Two venerable British composers, both 80 this year, hear brand new pieces of theirs on this first Thursday of the Festival. Hugh Wood features in the BBC Singers’ concert later on; but here, the hugely distinguished members of the Nash Ensemble premiere a new work by Alexander Goehr for the combination that Brahms first wrote for in 1865 – horn, violin and piano.



Wolfgang Mozart : Piano Quartet in G minor
Alexander Goehr : Horn Trio (premiere)
Frank Bridge : Phantasy Piano Quartet
Johannes Brahms : Horn Trio in Eb Op.40

5 Jun



United Kingdom
 Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 8pm 
Cheltenham Festival 2012
Cheltenham Festival

United Kingdom

Tickets: £15, unreserved seating
BBC Singers
David Hill conductor




Hugh Wood : From the Pisan Cantos LXXXI (BBC commission, first performance)
Lauri Supponen : new work (RPS commission; first performance)
Jonathan Harvey : Marahi
Judith Bingham : new work (BBC commission, first performance)
Giles Swayne : Magnificat
John Tavener : Unto the end of the world (first performance)
Einojuhani Rautavaara : Mass (UK premiere)

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