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Aldeburgh Strings and Aldeburgh Winds

Aldeburgh Strings and Aldeburgh Winds

Aldeburgh Strings and Aldeburgh Winds
Ensemble

The Aldeburgh Strings and Aldeburgh Winds ensembles are a product of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme which was founded over 40 years ago by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.

 
Genre
Classical
    Biography

    Created in order to provide high-level performance training for the world's best emerging professional musicians, this legacy still lives on today in the shape of residential courses and masterclasses which take place throughout the year in the beautiful surroundings of the Suffolk coast where Britten lived and worked. Young Artists benefit from an exceptional campus of performance spaces and studios which has grown around the world-famous Snape Maltings Concert Hall, home of the Aldeburgh Festival. The Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme hosts some of the world's finest performers and teachers who lead, and often participate in, intensive projects which mostly culminate in high-profile performances and recordings.

    Since its inception in 2010 Aldeburgh Strings has met for intensive residential courses during which it has explored core chamber repertoire alongside leading artists and tutors, including director Markus Däunert. These tutors are drawn from some of the world's finest orchestras - such as the Berlin Philhamonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestra- and direct the ensemble sections from within, in an inspiring dual role of mentor and performer. As well as Britten's music, the ensemble has performed core repertoire by Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Elgar, Vaughan-Williams and Bartók as well as John Woolrich's Capriccio for violin and strings. This recording is the conclusion of projects celebrating Britten's centenary in 2013, at which Aldeburgh Strings performed the closing concert.

    The Aldeburgh Winds ensemble was inspired by Aldeburgh Strings and was formed in 2015 for a week-long residency and performance at Snape Maltings Concert Hall. The ensemble was directed by oboist and conductor, Nicholas Daniel with the tutorage of Richard Watkins, former principal horn of the Philharmonia and Richard Hosford, principal clarinet of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Aldeburgh Winds is made up of musicians from eight different countries, including the UK, Brazil, Taiwan and Hungary, all of whom are alumni or current members of the Britten-Pears Orchestra. During this residency, the ensemble recorded and performed a selection of wind ensemble repertoire by Strauss, Stravinsky and Britten.