Live Music at The Firs

Volante Strings Spring Concert 

Come and join our resident Orchestra, Volante Strings, for a special evening performance at Elgar’s Birthplace. They will be performing their spring concert on Friday April 3 at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £15 and include a complimentary drink (Beer, Prosecco, G&T or soft drink for over 18s and soft drink for under 18s)

Worcestershire based Volante Strings have been performing music from the string repertoire for 20 years. They are pleased to feel part of the music-making at the Firs and will be playing Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in this concert, along with some of their favourite pieces by Dvorak, Boyce, Grainger and Kalinnikov.

Their own soloists will perform Telemann’s uplifting concerto for 4 violins.

Programme will include;

Elgar – Serenade for Strings

Telemann – Concerto for 4 violins

Boyce – Symphony in B flat

Grainger – Mock Morris

Paul Lewis – English Suite

Kalinnikov – Serenade for Strings

Dvorak – Two Dances

The performance will take place in two parts with an interval and will conclude around 9.30pm. 

Bookable through our Central Box Office online or on the phone 0344 249 1895

Doors open from 7pm and last entry to concert is 7.25pm

The Lorelei Duo

On Saturday 4^th April Christine and Maya, collectively known as The Lorelei Duo, will be performing a soprano and piano recital at The Firs.

The performance will take place at 1pm when the Lorelei Duo will tell the journey of love through their favourite art songs and poems embracing composers such as Schumann and Vaughan Williams as well as traditional folk songs. These songs are beautifully interwoven with Tchaikovsky's Seasons and Debussy Preludes.

The Lorelei Duo was formed in 2018 when Christine and Maya worked on a song project (The Reckoning) celebrating the suffrage centenary, where they performed at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and a variety of London venues.

Not only has Christine Cunnold, one half of the Lorelei Duo, trained with the English National Opera as an artist on their celebrated Opera Works training programme, but she has given recitals at a variety of venues such as Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Southwark Cathedral, Proms at St Jude’s and the Late Shift at the National Portrait Gallery.

Maya Soltan is a Russian pianist and coach who trained at the Moscow State Conservatory, the Nationalist Opera Studio and the Royal Academy of Music. Her recent accomplishments include collaborations with Loughborough Festival Opera, the British Library and Philharmonic Voices.

The Eumelia Piano Trio 

On Saturday 2^nd May at 12pm, The Eumelia Piano Trio will be performing music by female composers across three centuries at The Firs.

Final year students from the Royal College of Music, London, will be here to perform and explore works by female composers from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Auguste, Mikaela and Abigail have been performing together for two years as the Eumelia Piano Trio and have performed individually for many years.

Cypriot pianist, Mikaela Livadiotis, is currently studying for a Masters in contemporary piano at the Royal College of Music, where she recently performed as a soloist in John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the college’s Wind Ensemble.

Abigail Lorimer is an American cellist who is currently studying with the associate principal of cello of the London Symphony Orchestra. She has been a member of the Royal College of Music Philharmonic, Symphony and Opera Orchestras. In 2016 Abigail was the youngest member admitted to the Orchestra of Americas for their European tour.

Lithuanian violinist, Auguste Emilija Janonyte, has successfully participated in more than 20 national and international violin competitions. At the age of seven Auguste was presented with a Queen Morta’s Prize for musical achievements and in 2011 she was the winner of the prestigious Young Musician at the International Contest for Pianists, Violinists and Cellists in Estonia.

Voices of England 

On Saturday the 16^th May at 1pm the Firs, Elgar’s Birthplace presents pianist Chris Long’s recital of music by English composers, both old and new, revealing the many forms of English piano music for all to enjoy at The Firs.

The contemporary voices of Howard Skempton, Rosemary Duxbury, Keith Emerson and Chris’s own compositions rub shoulders with music by earlier 20th Century composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Baines – and there may even be a word from Henry Purcell.

Chris is a Worcestershire pianist and composer who gained a first-class Honours degree in Music and currently teaches privately for the Elgar School of Music in Worcester. Performing across Europe, he has been involved in hundreds of music productions across a variety of venues including Birmingham Symphony Hall, Manchester Palace Theatre, the Royal Opera house, Covent Garden and many churches in Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

Regularly accompanying several Midlands choirs, Chris also has his own choir ‘Vocal High’ which he runs with singer Paula Evans.

Jonathan Delbridge 

On Friday 29^th May at 12noon, The Firs, Elgar’s Birthplace is playing host to pianist Jonathan Delbridge, who will be performing an exciting range of English keyboard music from the Baroque period to the early 20th Century.

Jonathan is well known for his varied and exciting programmes on both the piano and organ and has performed a variety of venues around the UK, including the Royal Albert Hall, York Minster and h is local village church in Somerset.

Jonathan’s interest in music began at the age of just four when he started piano lessons with his mother. He continued to study under her until he passed his grade 8 exam at the age of fifteen. In December 2004, Jonathan gained the FRSM diploma in piano performing - the highest diploma awarded by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In July 2005 he also passed the ALCM diploma in jazz piano with distinction.

His programmes are entertaining and often include a wide range of music from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to keyboard music by English composers and major classical works such as Liszt’s Sonata in B minor and Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A K.488. Jonathan likes to interact with the audience, giving background information on the music performed.

Jonathan is also in great demand as an accompanist, working with professional soloists including virtuoso trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins, bass Arwel Huw Morgan and clarinettist/saxophonist David White. He accompanies for the Two Moors Festival as well as for auditions and graded and diploma exams. For more information, visit www.jonathandelbridge.com