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■ Meadows Chamber Orchestra The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.45pm. £10 (£1–£8). Peter Evans conducts a concert of jazz- influenced classical works including Copland’s Music for the Theatre, Gershwin’s An American in Paris and a new commission by Ben Parry, Blue Note Sinfonia. Bathgate ■ Mandolinquents Torphichen Kirk, Torphichen, 01506 635257. 7pm. £10 (£8). Unique mandolin quartet impresses with a diverse repertoire.
■ A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £9 (£6). See Thu 3. Edinburgh FREE The Planets Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 11am & 7pm. Primary school children from across Edinburgh have taken Holst’s famous Planets Suite and given it their own spin, with dynamic images from the 1969 moon landing, full orchestral percussion and organ. Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance.
Monday 31 Saturday 5
Edinburgh ■ Lunchtime Concert St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Retiring collection. Adult Choir of Second Presbyterian Church, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Tuesday 1
Glasgow ■ Virtuoso Piano Ramshorn Theatre, 98 Ingram Street, 548 2558. 1.15pm. £4. Finger-twisting virtuosity by Yuanfan Yang, aged just 13 and winner of the 16- and-under Manchester International Piano Competition. Haydn’s Sonata in C major rubs shoulders with works by Schumann, Chopin and Liszt, and Yang’s own composition Scarborough Fair.
Dundee ■ Carlo Curley Caird Hall, City Square, 01382 434940. 7.30pm. £10 (£3; under 18s free). A charismatic and unorthodox organ player with a self- proclaimed life’s mission to ‘establish the organ at the forefront of musical instruments’ proves that Bach invented rock and roll. St Andrews FREE Simon Chadwick Lunchtime Recital Cathedral Ruins, North Street, 01334 472563. 12.45pm. Monthly series of lunchtime recitals of medieval and Renaissance Scottish harp music.
Thursday 3
Glasgow ■ Westbourne Music The Merchant House, 7 West George Street, 649 5347. 12.45pm. £7 (£3–£6). This fortnight’s concert sees the Phoenix Piano Trio perform works by Dvorák and Malcolm Lindsay. ■ Winter Gardens Prom People’s Palace & Winter Gardens, Glasgow Green, 276 0788. 7.30pm. £8 (£4–£6). Light-hearted musical entertainment from Strathclyde University Concert Band and other musicians from the university in the always popular Winter Gardens Prom, this year featuring music from Mamma Mia, Pirates of the Caribbean and more.
Edinburgh ■ Lunchtime Concert St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Retiring collection. A lunchtime performance by the Doncaster Wheatsheaf Singers. Stirling ■ A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle Tolbooth, Jail Wynd, 01786 274000. 8pm. £10 (£8). Inspired by Hugh MacDiarmid’s poem of the same name, music by Bill Sweeney is performed by the always interesting Red Note Ensemble.
Friday 4 Glasgow ■ Brodsky Quartet RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £9 (£6). The acclaimed foursome performs waltzes by Dvorák and Schumann’s String Quartet No 3.
Glasgow FREE Happy Bi-centennial Chopin Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 113–117 Trongate, 553 0840. 1pm. Pianist Mira Opalinska performs selected works by Chopin in the year of his bicentenary. ■ Glasgow Chamber Choir: Handel and Bach Hyndland Parish Church, 79–81 Hyndland Road, 7.30pm. £10 (£6). Works by two of the Baroque era’s most celebrated composers: Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Ode for St Cecilia’s Day together with Bach’s Singet dem Herrn. ■ Glasgow Chamber Orchestra Sherbrooke St Gilbert’s Church, Nithsdale Road, Pollokshields, 7.30pm. £12 (£4–£9). The orchestra’s summer concert features John McLeod’s new Guitar Concerto, performed by soloist Ian Watt, alongside Kodály’s Dances of Galanta and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 3. ■ Merchant Sinfonia Summer Concert City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £2. The community orchestra, run and coached by members of the BBC SSO, performs two orchestral masterpieces: the finale from Stravinsky’s lush Firebird, and a dramatic finale in Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bare Mountain. Edinburgh ■ Lunchtime Concert St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Retiring collection. Wasatch Chorale from Utah gives a lunchtime recital. ■ The Orchestra of the Canongait The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.45pm. £15 (£7.50–£12.50). Acclaimed German pianist Helena Buckmayer joins the orchestra for an all- Schumann concert in the year of his bicentenary. She performs the wonderful Piano Concerto in A minor, which shares the programme with the Manfred Overture and Symphony No 2.
Sunday 6 Glasgow FREE Organ Recital: Kevin Bowyer Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 1pm. Bowyer gives the first complete performance of Sorabji’s truly epic Organ Symphony No 2. Includes two intervals of 30 and 45 mins and is expected to conclude at approx 11.15pm. FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3–3.45pm. See Sun 30. ■ The Orchestra of Scottish Opera St Andrew’s in the Square, St Andrew’s Square, 0870 013 4060. 3pm. £8.50–£11.50. Rory Macdonald conducts the last of this season’s series of concerts by the fantastic Orchestra of Scottish Opera. Includes excerpts from Mozart’s Se il padre perdei and Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. ■ British Flute Society Flute Festival RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. Times vary. Prices vary. The RSAMD collaborates with BFS for a two-day flute festival. Performances, masterclasses and trade stands will be held over the two days, including a visit
from the Scottish National Wind Orchestra and world famous Dutch flautist Jacques Zoon. See www.rsamd.ac.uk for information on specific events.
Edinburgh ■ St Giles’ at Six St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Retiring collection. German organist Michael Eckerle performs music by Bach, Saint- Saëns, Guy Weitz and Marcel Dupré. ■ Come and Sing Messiah St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, 225 6293. £12 (£5) for singers. 6pm. Join the choir of St Mary’s in singing Handel’s Messiah, with BBC Songs of Praise Gordon Stewart as conductor. The first rehearsal is at 2pm, preceded by an optional picnic with fellow choristers in the cathedral grounds at 12pm. The performance takes place at 6pm. ■ Scottish Sinfonia Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £11 (£3–£9). A concert of much-loved orchestral works: Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto featuring soloist Roddy Long, and finally the bucolic Symphony No 6 (‘Pastoral’) by Beethoven. ■ Edinburgh University Renaissance Singers Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, 7.45pm. £7. EURS are joined by Collegium Musicum, Rutgers University, in a concert of works by Palestrina, Byrd, Victoria, Isaac and Taverner.
Dundee ■ NYCoS Dundee Choir Concert Caird Hall, City Square, 847 6413. 6.30pm. £5 (£3). Dundee’s finest young singers perform a selection of choral pieces. Greenock ■ Glasgow Chamber Choir: Handel and Bach Finnart St Paul’s Church, Newark Street, 01475 723956. 6pm. £10 (£6). See Sat 5.
Monday 7
Glasgow ■ Prelude to the Piano Festival RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £5 (£3). Whet your appetite for four days of ivory tinkling at its best with an hour-long lunchtime taster of works by Chopin and Schumann. The festival begins on 9 June. ■ British Flute Society Flute Festival RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. Times vary. Prices vary. See Sun 6. Edinburgh ■ Get Organised Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 1.10pm. £3. Regular lunchtime organ recitals by John Kitchen, this time exploring the Auld Alliance with a selection of works with Scottish-French connections.
Tuesday 8 Glasgow ■ Guitar Concert RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). Solo and ensemble playing exploring the repertoire of classical guitar under the direction of staff member, Allan Neave, and featuring a number of his students.
Classical Music Hitlist THE BEST CLASSICAL & OPERA*
✽✽ Meadows Chamber Orchestra A jazz-influenced programme from Meadows includes Sally Beamish’s Celtic- inspired Under the Wing of the Rock, originally written for a viola soloist and the Scottish Ensemble but later rescored by the composer for saxophone and orchestra. Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 30 May. ✽✽ Mr McFall’s Chamber & Michael Marra A performing partnership that debuted with great success at the old Bongo Club in Edinburgh, Mr Marra and Mr McFall’s continue to hit it off in their witty and finely observed renditions of Michael Marra’s own songs paired with the quirky ensemble’s typically diverse repertoire. Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 28 May. ✽✽ British Flute Society Flute Festival Two days of all things flutish come to a dazzling close with a recital by Dutch flautist Jacques Zoon, who is one of the world’s finest players and teachers. He started playing at the age of eight and hasn’t stopped since. RSAMD, Glasgow, Mon 7 Jun.
See www.rsamd.ac.uk for more information and details of specific events.
Edinburgh ■ A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 7.30pm. £13 (£5–£8). See Thu 3. Kilberry ■ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Strings Tour Crear, Kilberry, 01880 770369. 7.30pm. £22 (under 18s free). The SCO Strings take to the road, bringing with them serenades by Tchaikovksy and Mozart, Otar Taktakishvili’s Concerto No 2 and acclaimed Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keulen as director and soloist.
Wednesday 9 Thursday 10
Glasgow ■ RSAMD Piano Festival RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. Times vary. Prices vary. In the bicentenary year of two of the most eminent composers for piano – Chopin and Schumann – soloists Steven Osborne and Martino Tirimo take time out from their international careers to join RSAMD students and chamber groups for four days of concerts and masterclasses, finishing with a four-piano extravaganza.
Glasgow ■ RSAMD Piano Festival RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. Times vary. Prices vary. See Wed 9. Edinburgh FREE Live Music Now: Anna Massie and Mairearad Green National Gallery Complex, The Mound, 624 6200. 6–6.30pm. The two multi- instrumentalists present a programme inspired by the Glasgow Boys.
27 May–10 June 2010 THE LIST 89