AFTER the success of last year’s series showcasing the talent of senior students from the Royal Northern College of Music, Ilkley Concert Club will present three more Thursday afternoon concerts at the King’s Hall this autumn.

Once again the aim is to provide live performance opportunities to young musicians on the verge of their professional careers, and the RNCM have responded by recommending seventeen graduate and postgraduate students to play for us. Donald Grant, Deputy Head of Chamber Music, stresses that ‘the RNCM is extremely excited to maintain our close relationship with Ilkley Concert Club over the coming months. Performance experience such as this is invaluable to our students and helps them develop into musical stars of the future.’ Audience members who enjoyed last year’s outstanding concerts can anticipate recitals of the same high standard and reflect how well the students have overcome the difficulties of the coronavirus shut down.

There will be a wide variety of musical instruments to admire as well as the skill of the performers. The concerts will feature a solo pianist and five ensembles, including both guitar and harp duos. Harp students Jess Hughes and Angharad Huw form the Tegid Duo, named after Tegid Foel, a character from Welsh mythology. Guitarists Nico Buri and Tom Dale are currently studying with world-renowned Craig Ogden, who will make a welcome return to the Concert Club with the London Tango Quintet on 11 January.

Northern Reeds, playing on 1 December, is the UK’s first established reed quintet [oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon and bass clarinet]. They are winners of the RNCM Fewkes Chamber Prize 2022, and are the first UK group to be admitted to the prestigious Calefax International Reed Quintet Network.

Strings will be represented by the John Philips Quartet, a highly promising and ambitious young ensemble who were recently invited to join the RNCM External List, allowing them to pursue professional engagements. String players Orla McGarrity and Nathan Jackson-Turner have been playing together with their friend, pianist Cameron Dickason, in the Doan Trio for three years. Pianist Nina Savicevic, a prize winner in both national and international competitions, will be the only solo performer, playing in the opening concert of the series on 3 November.

The RNCM student concerts are open to all music lovers and will take place on Thursdays, 3 November, 17 November and 1 December from 2.30pm - 3.30 pm at the King’s Hall. Tickets costing £8 for a single concert or £20 for the series of three will be on sale at the opening concert of Ilkley Concert Club on 5 October, or by application to Josephine Wesley, 71 Ilkley Hall Park, Ilkley, LS29 9LD [Send a cheque addressed to Ilkley Concert Club and include your own address for the return of tickets]: Tickets will also be available on the door. For further information see the Ilkley Concert Club website at ilkleyconcertclub.org.uk.

by Josephine Wesley