Wednesday November 22nd 7.30 pm

Julia Hwang (violin) Charles Matthews (piano)

Grieg : Violin sonata in C minor Op 45

Vaughan Williams : The Lark Ascending

Frolov: Fantasy on Gershwin's ‘Porgy and Bess'

Irene Veneziano (piano)

Rachmaninov: Polchinelle Op 3 no 4

Rachmaninov: Elegie Op 3 no 1

Liszt : Sposalizio (from Annees- Italie)

Piana: 7 excerpts from '25 Picturesque Preludes'

Madoglio: Giochi d'acqua a Villa Magni

Dvorak: 3 excerpts from ‘Poetic tone pictures'

Admission free with retiring collection. No tickets issued beforehand

Julia Hwang gave her professional solo debut with the English National Baroque Chamber Orchestra at the age of nine, performing Bach's Concerto in A minor. She recorded two CDs at the ages of eleven and twelve, and, also at the age of twelve, performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Julia has been a veteran of the concert stage for many years and her numerous solo appearances with orchestras internationally have led to an ever-increasing schedule of concerts both in the UK and abroad. Julia has appeared many times on live television and radio through the BBC and ITV and, in 2012, she was featured in a BBC4 documentary about the nation's favourite composition ‘The Lark Ascending' by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Her performance of this work was specifically chosen by the BBC to represent this timeless classic of the great British composer, and the documentary has been re-broadcast on many occasions due to popular demand. Her latest CD, recorded in collaboration with Signum Classics, will be released in June 2017. She studied at Clifton College Bristol and at St John's College Cambridge, and is now studying at the Royal College of Music.

Charles Matthews studied at the Royal College of Music, London, and was an organ scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge.  He won numerous awards, notably first prize in the 1999 Franz Liszt Organ Interpretation Competition in Budapest.  His most recent solo recording is of Francis Routh's cycle The Well-Tempered Pianist. Recent engagements include solo performances in the UK and Spain, as well as duo recitals with flute, recorder, violin, 'cello and voice.  He has performed for productions by the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet, and recorded music used in various theatres in Spain. Charles is organist of St Catharine's Church, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, and also contributes to the Spire organ and electronics project.  He works extensively with young people and acts as piano accompanist and organ tutor at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Irene Veneziano (piano) was born in Italy in 1985 and studied at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan and the S. Cecilia Academy in Rome, graduating with top marks from both institutions, and receiving the Sinopoli Scholarship for the best degree student in the Academy. She has won awards in more than 30 national and international competitions, including 1 st prizes at the Premio Nazionale delle Arti in Turin and the Premio Doplicher in Milan, and and she was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Warsaw Chopin competition in 2010 and finalist at the “International German Piano Award” in Frankfurt 2015. She has given recitals at many important festivals in Italy and throughout the world. She also has a duo with the distinguished flautist Andrea Griminelli. She has served on the juries of several international competitions, and teaches at the Conservatory in Trapani.

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