Blog Post

Michael Berkeley CBE New Piece for Mitchell - Notes on the Loss of a Friend: In Memoriam Nicholas Snowman OBE

  • By Manager
  • 23 Mar, 2023

Premiere Radio 3 In Tune 31.3 6pm and St John's Smith Square 2.4

Following the sudden death of the well known arts figure on 2nd March, Michael Berkeley has composed a new unaccompanied 3 minute solo violin piece for Madeleine Mitchell - Nicholas Snowman OBE served on the board of her Red Violin festival and was an admirer of her work and a friend of both the violinist and Lord Berkeley.

Violinist Madeleine Mitchell opens the Easter Festival at St John’s Smith Square on Sunday 2nd April at noon
featuring the Easter piece James MacMillan wrote her in 1994 (recorded on her NMC album In Sunlight: Pieces for Madeleine Mitchell), with pianist Nigel Clayton in a typically mixed programme, together with Brahms Violin Sonata no.2, The Lark Ascending in the original version for violin and piano and short pieces by Schubert and Rachmaninov for his 150th anniversary.

Madeleine will perform the new Berkeley puece and a movement of Brahms Violin Sonata no.2 on BBC Radio 3 In Tune on Friday 31st March c6pm with Sean Rafferty. She has also been invited onto Ed Vaizey's programme on Times Radio the same evening, Fri 31.3 c8.30pm. 

The Red Violin festival, Chairman Michael Beverley pays tribute to Nicholas Snowman for serving as a founder board member for their next venture in Leeds under Artistic Director Madeleine Mitchell. Nicholas helped so many arts organisations and brought his enthusiasm, wide experience and generosity. He will be much missed. www.redviolin.co.uk 
By Manager September 19, 2024
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By Manager April 15, 2024
Madeleine's recital in St Andrew's Festival, Sheffield: 'Imaginatively interpreted...in this satisfying and enjoyable recital, consummate musicianship was placed entirely at the service of wide-ranging and stimulating repertoire.' Brahms etc, Franck Sonata with Nigel Clayton 'The palpable reciprocity and sense of unity between both players enhanced their closely argued, convincingly paced performance. There was grace and elegance as well as passion and rapture, the last quality most evident in the radiant finale’s canonic writing. The interpretation found a satisfying balance between improvisatory licence and adherence to the score’s almost classical restraint. In other words, the artists presented a reading in which head and heart were ideally combined.' Paul Conway
By London Manager August 23, 2023
Many classical musicians are content to spend their careers in the snug embrace of the great or not-so-great works of the past. There’s no shame in that. Bringing those dots on the page to life needs not just the mastery of an instrument but deep cultural and historical imagination, as well as a capacious emotional responsiveness.
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Madeleine Mitchell's new album Violin Conversations has received glowing reviews by respected critics Ivan Hewett in The Telegraph and Fiona Maddocks in The Observer
By Manager June 10, 2023
Following Madeleine Mitchell's outstandingly successful last Naxos album, no.2 in the Classical Charts, this personal collection includes 8 world premiere recordings in an appealing range of styles. Violinist Madeleine Mitchell has inspired new works from a variety of composers, four of whom* join Mitchell to perform their works. The music encompasses Alan Rawsthorne’s quicksilver 1958 Violin Sonata, in a BBC broadcast to honour Mitchell’s two-decade partnership with the late Andrew Ball to Thea Musgrave’s vivid Colloquy. The sequence of atmospheric, communicative pieces explores natural phenomena, songs of freedom, telephonic frustration and a pas de deux love duet. Music by Richard Blackford,*Howard Blake,*Martin Butler,*Wendy Hiscocks, Joseph Horovitz, Douglas Knehans, Kevin Malone, Thea Musgrave, Alan Rawsthorne,*Errollyn Wallen+. With pianists Andrew Ball, Nigel Clayton and Ian Pace. Pre-order link: https://naxosdirect.co.uk/items/violin-conversations-604482 Free postage UK + https://youtu.be/0psZ1NtT97g
By Manager October 6, 2022
19' film of London Chamber Ensemble concert at the V&A during the exhibition Fabergé: Romance to Revolution exhibition with Wartski Fabergé slides + fascinating RCM archive material of Tchaikovsky's signature in the Visitors' Book and Herbert Howells' sketchbook with Luchinushka 1917.
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Grace Williams Violin Concerto live BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Radio 3 broadcast plus interval talk including Madeleine Mitchell's Naxos recording of Grace Williams Violin Sonata. The Grace Williams concerto recording will be issued on CD by Nimbus. Review here: https://seenandheard-international.com/2021/11/bbc-now-play-grace-williams-and-ralph-vaughan-williams/
By Manager July 12, 2021
Hear a movement of Schubert and Debussy quartets live here from the sold out concert: https://salonmusic.co.uk/highgate-festival-music-ends-with-a-flourish-of-debussy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=highgate-festival-music-ends-with-a-flourish-of-debussy Madeleine Mitchell and Gordon MacKay - violins, Bridget Carey - viola, Joseph Spooner - cello
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Madeleine Mitchell's International Women's Day concert programme 'A Century of Music by British Women' (1921-2021) with her London Chamber Ensemble at St John's Smith Square, received wide coverage and enthusiastic reviews. Madeleine was featured on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour weekend highlights, BBC Radio 3 In Tune, Scala Radio and Classic FM. The new piece which Mitchell commissioned from Errollyn Wallen was selected by The Strad magazine as their Premiere of the Month. The concert was reviewed by the Guardian and Arcana.fm https://www.sjss.org.uk/century-music-british-women-1921-2021-international-womens-day-directed-madeleine-mitchell Available till 8th April. Please support the artists and the venue by making a donation if you can.
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Hear Madeleine Mitchell's latest live-streamed concert 09/11/2020 of Elgar, Ravel, Strauss Violin Sonatas and Massenet Meditation here:
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