Musicians flying from around world to play Hambleden

INTERNATIONALLY renowned viola player Lawrence Power is focusing on a theme of travel and adventure, with the theme “Across Mountains and Valleys” for the next West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival at Hambleden.

Lawrence, 48, who lives in London, founded the festival in 2011 at the Church of St Lawrence in West Wycombe, and for the last two years, it has been held at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Hambleden.

“It’s our 15th anniversary, we’re back in Hambleden which is such a gorgeous venue and it’s been lovely performing there,” says Lawrence.

“It’s just such an opportunity to hear these incredible players who might come to London to play with the big orchestras once a year.

“To hear them there in that setting, it’s really an opportunity. We’re very lucky that they’re going to be joining us with some amazing music, all this music looking back to homeland and nostalgia, all these things, travel and adventure, music linked to that really.”

The series of concerts include “Rediscovered Places” today (Friday) at 1pm, with music by Bacewicz, Rachmaninov, Ades, Vaughan Williams and Brahms, “Night Music”, tonight at 7.30pm, with pieces by Boccherini, Shostakovich, Biber and Dvorak, “Grand Ballet”, tomorrow at 11am, with music by Westhof, Marais, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, and “Chamber Lab” tomorrow at 8pm, which will feature music by Haydn, Bartok, Ades, Hummel, Boccherini Buxtehude, Matteis, Ridout and Biber. The music for the final night will be performed by Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang, as well as violinists Charlotte Spruit, Annabelle Meare, violists Lawrence and Timothy Ridout, cellists Nicolas Altstaedt and John Myerscough, and lutist Sergio Bucheli, with a musical experiment.

“I’ve always wanted to do this with the festival in some way,” says Lawrence, “and this year I thought it would be really interesting to have almost like a lucky dip group of pieces that the audience can choose from really, pieces that we haven’t rehearsed.

“It’s kind of a jam session, for want of a better word. A lot of these musicians haven’t been able to meet until these days, so it will be nice just to play some music for the audience in a slightly more relaxed way, which is quite a unique way to hear these musicians performing.

“Essentially it’s just a celebration of all this music that is linked to national roots, from Vaughan Williams to Rachmaninov to Bartok to all of these great European composers. There are some very exciting musicians flying in from all over the world so I think it’s a lovely opportunity for people to experience that.

“We were just so touched that Hambleden welcomed us so warmly really and it’s a beautiful church.”

l West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival at Hambleden takes place at the Church of St Mary in Hambleden today (Friday) and tomorrow, Saturday, September 20. For more information, visit westwycombe.org.uk