Manchester Chamber Concerts Society have moved their location to The Stoller Hall at Chetham’s School of Music.
For a variety of reasons, the Society decided to move across town and are delighted to be in residence at The Stoller Hall. During 2020, MCCS hosted two streamed concerts from The Stoller Hall which were incredibly successful.
We look forward to a fantastic future in our new home at Chetham’s School of Music.
Martin Roscoe, our Artistic Director, has kindly recorded some excerpts for members and supporters. We aim to post a new video every two weeks. We hope you enjoy his performance of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Op. 13
We are delighted to announce that former MCCS Chairman, Peter Kurer, has been awarded a British Empire Medal by Her Majesty The Queen in the most recent Honours List. Peter has been awarded the honour for his work in Holocaust Education.
This 2010 article from the Jewish Telegraph gives an insight into Peter’s life and work.
Congratulations Peter!
PETER KURER
by Jonathan Kalmus,
Jewish Chronicle December 2, 2010
A man whose family was saved from the Holocaust by the Quaker movement has accused Yad Vashem of failing to record the historical rescue.
Peter Kurer, 79, from Manchester, was brought to England in 1938 from Vienna by Quakers in a mass rescue operation of Jews from Germany and Austria. Their father, Jacob, a dentist, came to Britain in 1936 seeking contacts to help his family and met Horatio and Mary Goodwin, a Quaker couple in Whalley Range, south Manchester.
With their help, he was able to set up a dental practice and two boys were sent to a Quaker boarding school, supported by benefactors. The remaining Kurer family members received guarantees from members of the Manchester Meeting.
Mr Kurer says Quakers enabled around 7,000 Jews to enter the UK. It is thought that the 20,000 strong Quaker movement paid £350,000 in Home Office costs as a guarantee to the British government to accept the refugees, the equivalent of £17.5m at today's rates. Quakers brought in a further 6,000 Jews as domestic workers.
After eight years research, Mr Kurer submitted the first historical paper on the subject to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem last year, written by British historian Dr Jennifer Taylor.
But Yad Vashem has still not decided whether to include the paper in its archives. Its supporting historians have warned that without archiving, the story will die with the survivors.
Mr Kurer, president of Manchester's Morris Feinman Home, suspected the delay was because the Quakers support the Palestinian cause. "The Quakers saved 23,000 Jews, and a thousand things besides. The Quakers currently support the Palestinians but that has nothing to do with this history."
Manchester Chamber Concerts Society has launched its 2020/21 season of concerts at the Royal Northern College of Music.
I Musicanti and Martin Roscoe will open the season on Monday 12th October 2020. Made up of leading performers from across the country, I Musicanti is united my a ceaseless musical curiosity, palpable sense of adventure and an unswerving commitment to excellence.
The renowned Hungarian ensemble, Takacs Quartet perform on Monday 9th November. Members will be able to see first hand why the ensemble continue to receive rave reviews from the international press, including The New York Times and the Financial Times.
On Monday 30th November, Martin Roscoe performs alongside Marcus Farnsworth. The young baritone was awarded first prize in the 2009 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and the Song Prize at the 2011 Kathleen Ferrier Competition.
The Carducci Quartet perform on Monday 14th December. The UK-based quartet have an extensive discography, which includes classic works by Haydn, complete Shostakovich cycles and a range of new commissions.
On 25th January 2021, first prize winners in the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition, Marmen Quartet will perform. The renowned ensemble are currently String Quartet Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London alongside their busy performing career.
The renowned Sitkovetsky Trio return to Manchester on Monday 22nd February 2021. The trio regularly performs in world renowned concert halls including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Wigmore Hall and Lincoln Centre.
The Charlotte Norton Concert will return in 2021 and will feature acclaimed young musicians from the RNCM and Chethams. The concert is presented with thanks to former member Lottie Norton, who generously left a substantial legacy to the Society in 2016. Further programme details will be released in due course.
The final concert of the season features the renowned cellist, Steven Isserlis alongside Arisa Fujita and Alasdair Beatson. Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, Steven enjoys a unique and distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster.
The full season advert can be viewed here.
Manchester Chamber Concerts Society has launched its 2019/2020 season of concerts at the Royal Northern College of Music. The season has a significant focus on young artists and the Society is delighted to feature an orchestral concert for the first time.
The Maxwell Quartet will open the season on 23rd September 2019 with a programme of works featuring Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 alongside a new work by Dutch composer Joey Roukens. In addition, they will showcase music of their hearts, as they perform an array of traditional Scottish folk music: “We believe folk music is the fundamental of classical music and our approach aims to marry the two together in a unique, free and meaningful way. For us, every melody is a song and every rhythm is a dance.”
On 7th October, James Campbell will join the Canadian Gryphon Trio in a performance of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. Hailed as one of the world’s most preeminent piano trio’s, The Gryphon Trio share the Society’s aim to inspire the next generation of classical audiences.
Cuarteto Quirogawill perform Brahms’ String Quartet in A Minor and Ginastera’s Hispanic Quartet on 4th November 2019. Recent winners of Spain’s National Music Prize, the ensemble are quartet in residence at Madrid’s Royal Palace.
The renowned Dutch reed quintet, Calefax, has been acclaimed around the world for their virtuosic playing, brilliant arrangements and innovative stage presentation. On 4th December 2019 they will present music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Alain, Duruflé and Franck.
BBC Young Musician of the Year, Lauren Zhang, will perform with as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concert K271 with the European Union Chamber Orchestra on 27th January 2020. Zhang wowed audiences with her performance of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto alongside Mark Wigglesworth and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the final of the BBC competition last year. The orchestra will complete the programme with Holst’s St Paul’s Suite and Haydn’s Symphony No. 49 ‘La Passione’.
The Schumann Quartet performs works by Mozart, Shostakovich and Smetana on 17thFebruary. Renowned for their intimate and exceptional live performances, the Quartet believes: “a work only develops in a live performance. That is the real thing, because we ourselves never know what will happen. On stage, all imitation disappears and you can automatically become honest with yourself. Then you can create a bond with the audience and communicate through music.”
On 2nd March 2019, the Society will promote its second platform for emerging young artists from the RNCM. Thanks to an incredibly generous bequest by Charlotte Norton, three young ensembles from the Royal Northern College of Music will feature in the main season of the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society. Further programme details will be announced in due course.
The season concludes with Tre Voce, an ensemble featuring Ruby Hughes, Natalie Clein andJulius Drake. The famous trio will perform works by Janacek, Kodaly, Schubert, Brahms and Taverner.
For more information about the Society, please visit www.chamberconcerts.org.
