A performance by graduate and post-graduate students from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. This annual showcase is an opportunity to enjoy performances by some of the most talented young musicians from around the world who are studying at our local conservatoire in Cardiff. The programme, entitled Glories of Late Romanticism, is a celebration of chamber music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The featured composers include Camille Saint-Sans, Frank Bridge, Aram Khachaturian, Erich Wolfgang von Korngold and Johannes Brahms. This year’s concert is full of variety and includes piano duos and trios featuring violin, cello and clarinet.

Among the performers, regulars among Wye Valley Music audiences will remember Stephanie Cheung (‘whose fingers fly over the keys with brilliant fluidity, whether it is Bach or Shostakovich’ - Somerset County Gazette). Stephanie was born in Hong Kong and started taking piano lessons at the age of three; she has since won prizes in competitions and festivals both in Hong Kong and the UK. While she enjoys playing a wide range of solo repertoire from Baroque to Contemporary, Stephanie is also a dedicated chamber musician and accompanist who has performed in prestigious venues in London, Italy and Hong Kong.

Wye Valley Music is dedicated to bringing top quality performers to St Briavels and our other venues in Monmouth, Chepstow and – this year for the first time – Ross on Wye. Each year in March we welcome the opportunity to hear stars of the future put through their paces. Supporting the development of young professional musicians is an important part of our mission. So do come and join us to hear Stephanie and an equally talented group of young artists on violin, cello, clarinet and piano as they embark on their professional careers.

Programme

Sonata for violin and piano (1886) - César Franck
Allegretto ben Moderato - Allegro – Recitativo-Fantasia – Allegretto poco mosso
Non Morgan violin, Joss Wort piano

Élegie Op.24 (1880) - Gabriel Fauré
Derin Topgul cello, Michael Young piano

Introduction and Rondo Op.72 (1898) - Charles-Marie Widor
Raphael Hitchen clarinet, Michael Young piano

Interval

Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano (1932) - Aram Khachaturian
Andante con dolore, con molto espressione - Allegro – Moderato
Sanne Heaven violin, Raphael Hitchen clarinet, Stephanie Cheung piano

Andante (from Sonata for Cello & Piano Op. 19) - Sergei Rachmaninoff
Derin Topgul cello, Michael Young piano

Marietta’s Lied (from ‘Die tote Stadt’) (1919) - Erich Wolfgang von Korngold
Xuan Fang violin, Jiabei Wu piano

Piano Trio No 1 Op.8 (Ist Mvt) (1854/5 rev. 1889) - Johannes Brahms
Sanne Heaven violin, Derin Topgul cello, Stephanie Cheung piano