​A slightly earlier reminder for your diaries for our next concert on Saturday 30th November at the usual time and place, when international pianist Victor Maslov will be playing works by Valetin Silvestor and Sergei Rachmaninoff. 

In 2021 Victor graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, having completed his Artist Diploma as a Carne Trust Junior Fellow, and previously having received his Masters of Performance with Distinction and his Bachelor of Music with a First class grade. At the RCM, Victor studied piano with Professor Dmitri Alexeev and Head of Keyboard Professor Vanessa Latarche, and conducting with Toby Purser, Head of Conducting.

​Upon his graduation, Victor was announced as the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Rose Bowl for his achievements at the RCM, which was awarded to him by HRH The Prince of Wales in March 2022. For more information about Victor and his programme click the links below.

Please note that if you would like to reserve a ticket for this concert for yourself and/or a friend please phone Gill Smyth on her mobile 07791 439084 as her landline is currently out of action.

We are delighted to welcome for the first time the amazing violist Edgar Francis who will present a wonderful programme of Schubert, Benjamin Britten, Florence Price, Rebecca Clarke and Frank Bridge.

Edgar is a dynamic and versatile musician, with a passion for performing that involves him in all aspects of the viola. He has performed in leading venues including The Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Kolner Philarmonie and The Royal Festival Hall and was First Prize Winner at the 2021 Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition.

Edgar will be accompanied by pianist Jâms Coleman who has been a regular visitor to Whitstable over the last few years. Jams is a pianist who enjoys performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist. He regularly performs at prestigious festivals and venues in the UK and internationally. Recent highlights include recitals at the Aldeburgh Festival, BBC Proms, Champs Hill, Cello Biënnale (Amsterdam), Cheltenham Festival, Kings Place, the Leeds Lieder Festival LSO, St Luke’s and the Wigmore Hall.
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Do join us for what looks like being a wonderful evening of great music and great biscuits during the interval!

The Treasurer's Report and the Chairman's Report will both be available at the meeting.  If you are planning to attend could you let us know please, we need to know the numbers:

A slightly earlier reminder than usual as our next concert falls on Easter Saturday to make sure this date was in your diaries.

For this Easter Saturday concert we welcome the Enigma 14 Trio with Lisa Nelsen (Flute), Paul Turner (Piano) and Julian Metzger (Cello) with an interesting and delightful programme of works by Haydn, Louise Farrence, Stacey Garrop and Loell Liebermann.

Lisa is internationally recognised for her versatility as a flute soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, educator and mentor in performance practices. She is also Chair of the British Flute Society and is one of the flute Professors and Woodwind Academy coaching for the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 

Enigma 14 Trio have now been together for eight years and in addition to each of them having a wonderful sense of humour, Lisa Nelsen, Julian Metzger and Paul Turner are formidable musicians with a passion for chamber music and the repertoire that has been composed for flute, cello and piano.

​Our first concert of 2024 is on Saturday 27th January at 7.30pm at our usual venue St Johns Church Argyle Road Whitstable. 

We welcome back the saxophonist Huw Wiggin who played for us with great acclaim in March 2019. On that occasion he was accompanied by the pianist John Lenehan and it was a truly memorable recital. This time Huw will be accompanied by the harpist Oliver Wass who together are known as The Wiggin Wass Duo.

At first sight you might think that this is a slightly unusual pairing of instruments but in fact it is a spellbinding combination. For an example, on the Concert Programme page, the YouTube clip of the beautiful and enchanting sound these musicians with their wonderful interpretation of In the bleak Midwinter by Gustav Holst.

If you are not a season ticket holder, tickets are usually available at the ticket desk on the evening.  We look forward to seeing you next Saturday for what will be a remarkable and memorable concert.

In case it's not already in your diary this is to remind you that our next concert is this coming Saturday at the usual time and place and features the internationally acclaimed Maggini String Quartet.

Formed in 1988, the Maggini Quartet is one of the finest British string quartets. Its acclaimed recordings have won many international awards including Gramophone Chamber Music Award of the Year, Diapason d’Or of the Year and a Cannes Classical Award, and have twice been nominated for Grammy Awards. Recent projects have been recordings of the string quartets of Welsh composer Arwel Hughes, a disc of music by Jonathan Rutherford and another of Mozart’s ‘Hunt’ and ‘Dissonance’ quartets.

They have proposed a superb programme:

• The Mozart famous "Dissonance" quartet No.19 in C major.
• The Beethoven String Quartet Op 18 No. 3 in D major
• The Dvorak String Quartet in F major Op. 96 "American" 

I hope you will be able to join us. It's worth coming just for the wonderful biscuits with the tea and coffee during the interval, quite apart from the truly wonderful music!!

We are delighted to welcome the pianist Leon McCawley who will present a programme of Haydn, Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann.  

Praised for his unfailingly communicative playing, British pianist Leon McCawley has been delighting audiences worldwide since winning, in 1993, first prize in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. His many concert performances and extensive discography have established him as a pianist of great integrity and variety, bringing freshness and vitality to Classical, Romantic and 20th century repertoire.

As a concerto soloist, Leon performs with many leading British orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National and Ulster Orchestras, Bournemouth and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras and Royal Northern Sinfonia. He made his sixth appearance at the BBC Proms in August 2019 performing John Ireland’s Piano Concerto with BBC Concert Orchestra/Bramwell Tovey which was televised on BBC4.

​We have been trying to get Leon to Whitstable for about 4 years now because of his incredibly busy concert schedule, delighted that we have finally made it!