Musicians in Residence
Angell Trio
The Angell Piano Trio has established an international reputation
as a leading chamber ensemble and has received wide critical acclaim
for its "brilliant ensemble playing and wonderfully shared
vision and understanding." (Munchner Merkur review of
concert recording for Bavarian Radio)
The Trio has a wide repertoire, ranging from
well-loved core works to lesser-known masterpieces such as the
Martinu Trios, which it has recorded with much success and
championed extensively in its European tours. These have included
many performances in leading series in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland, and broadcasts for major radio stations in Munich,
Frankfurt and Stuttgart, as well as for Swiss Radio in Basel and
Bern.
The Trio is also associated with the works of
celebrated living composers such as James MacMillan, Anthony Payne,
Wolfgang Rihm as well as Jorg Widmann, who wrote his "Passacaglia"
for them. The Trio gave the German premiere of James MacMillan’s
"Fourteen Little Pictures" in a radio broadcast in Frankfurt as well
as the US premiere for its debut concert at Carnegie Hall. Very well
received, the New York Times wrote "It would be hard to
imagine a more powerful performance".
Based in London, the Angell Trio was formed at
the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies and has
returned on many occasions to Aldeburgh, performing several times in
the Snape Maltings and twice taking part in the coveted winter
Residency series for young ensembles. Studies in the past with
Andras Schiff, Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio and Siegmund
Nissel of the Amadeus String Quartet have contributed greatly to
their emergence. The Trio has performed at many major festivals in
the UK, broadcast on Radio 3 and made many appearances in London’s
concert halls including the South Bank Centre and the Wigmore Hall.
The members of the Trio are very committed to
developing new audiences for chamber music as well as interacting
with the youngest generation of composers and performers. The Trio
has given many masterclasses and seminars, and now holds posts of
Ensemble-in-Residence at Radley College, Oxon and the University of
Essex.
Although the Angell Trio is a hugely important part of our
musical lives, we all currently have other projects and areas of
musical activity : Jan is busy with his leadership of the 2nd
violins in the world-renowned Royal Opera House Orchestra as well as
other guest leader engagements, Frances is highly in demand as
pianist for International Music Courses, including Aldeburgh and
Eton, and Richard is cellist of the harp-based Wakeford Ensemble,
touring Spain in the spring, as well as Professor of Cello at Royal
Welsh College of Music and Wells Cathedral Specialist Music School.
http://www.angelltrio.com
John Law
John Law started classical piano aged four and performed first in
public at six. After winning an Open Scholarship he studied piano
and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he won
prizes for piano playing. Despite then winning an Austrian
government scholarship to study in Vienna with the pianist
Badura-Skoda, and receiving encouragement from an early classical
influence, pianist Alfred Brendel, he turned to jazz in 1986.
While John Law was exploring the more radical and freely
improvised areas of jazz he also began a series of solo CDs which
were to lead him back to an exploration of his classical roots.
The four-CD series (Talitha Cumi, Pentecost, The Hours and Thanatos) were
based on plainchant and, as well as jazz. They explored the history and
techniques associated with classical piano as well as introducing certain
harmonic elements derived from early and mediaeval music. The CDs received
outstanding reviews around the world.
From 1996, moving away from the freer end of jazz, John Law began to be more
involved with straighter jazz and composition. He formed the trio with Tim Wells
(bass) and Paul Clarvis (drums, percussion). This group recorded four
critically-acclaimed CDs, one of them, The Onliest, exploring the music of
Thelonious Monk.
In 2001, continuing to develop his own approach to the jazz language, John
Law formed The Moment Band with his trio and featuring the British saxophonist
Tim Garland. The quartet recorded the outstandingly acclaimed CD The Moment and
toured the UK in 2001. With his trio (with Dave Wickins and now Alec Dankworth
on bass) and with featured soloists (Julian Siegel, Martin Speake, Julian
Nicholas) John Law undertook, in 2002, the Monk 'n' Junk Tour in the UK,
contrasting the compositions of Thelonious Monk with the standard repertoire. A
CD of this material appeared on the label ASC in 2006.
February 2006 saw the start of an important new project: the John Law/Sam
Burgess/Asaf Sirkis Trio: The Art of Sound. John began working with Asaf (drums)
and Sam (bass) in 2005. In 2006 they recorded, at the Italian studio Artesuono,
their first CD: The Art Of Sound Volume 1, which appeared in May 2007 on 33
Records. This trio (also with the Russian virtuoso Yuri Goloubev on bass) worked
in the UK and Europe, playing at clubs and festivals, to brilliant acclaim.
Volumes 2 and 3 in The Art of Sound series, which are both solo piano
recordings, appeared in 2008. The trio recorded their second album,
Congregation, The Art of Sound Volume 4, in September 2008. The trio is due to
play a high profile concert at the 2008 London Jazz Festival.
John Law has appeared at over fifty different festivals worldwide and
appeared on nearly 30 CDs and the University is proud to be able to undertake a
series of concerts showcasing the work of this unique artist.
"An interesting and highly gifted maverick musician." - Alfred Brendel.
http://www.johnlaw.org.uk