Saturday, 9th March 2024 at 7.30 pm
Alderley Edge Methodist Church
Lewis Kingsley Peart is a Chethams School of Music alumnus and graduate of London's Trinity Laban
Conservatoire where he studied with Philip Fowke and Alisdair Hogarth.
Based in both London and Manchester, Lewis enjoys a busy life as a working
musician. Organising projects as both soloist and collaborator, he programmes a
wide variety of music from the traditional classical canon, right through to
jazz and the avant-garde. With a strong background in theatre, his appearances
are never without verve.
Lewis made his debut at St. John’s, Smith Square in March 2018 in a programme of music celebrating the 75th
birthday of the American composer, Stephen Montague. In the summer of 2021, he
had the privilege of working with British concert pianist and composer, Stephen
Hough, on his third piano sonata, ‘Trinitas’, for the Trinity Laban New Lights Festival of Contemporary Music.
Highlights of the 2022 season included a concert for the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival at St. Mary’s Cathedral, and his debut recital at London’s St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Lewis looks forward to future recital engagements
and is excited to make his concerto debut in 2024.
Grieg's Piano Concerto is one of the best-loved in the classical repertoire. It
was composed in 1868 in Søllerød, Denmark where Grieg was staying to improve his health and is clearly
influenced by the piano concerto of Robert Schumann, sharing both key, form and
compositional devices: Grieg had heard Schumann's concerto played by Clara
Schumann in Leipzig in 1858 just two years after Robert's death. Grieg revised
the work many times throughout his life; the final version of the concerto was
completed only a few weeks before his death and it is this version that has
achieved worldwide popularity.
The programme opens with Ethel Smyth's dramatic overture to her opera The
Wreckers. Ethyl Smyth, an active suffragette, made her way into the highest
circles despite resistance from the musical establishment, which tried to
minimize her talents and keep her on the sidelines: some critics complained
that her music was “too masculine for a lady composer.” The eccentric story of The Wreckers profiles a band of Cornish outlaws who
cause shipwrecks in order to loot the cargoes. This overture cleverly combines
the energy, camaraderie, and sardonic tone of the story and characters - all
packed into ten minutes of intense music that still thrills us today.
Bradford-born Frederick Delius was born to a prosperous mercantile family but
resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce. He was sent to Florida in the
United States in 1884 to manage an orange plantation, though he neglected his
managerial duties, and returned to Europe two years later. The experience did,
however, provide the inspiration for one of his most popular works, the Florida
Suite. The four movements are marked Daybreak — Dance;
By the River; Sunset — Near the Plantation; At Night.
Considered by many - including Beethoven no less - to be one of Mozart’s finest works, the Magic Flute opera was completed right at the end of the
composer’s life in 1791. The spritely overture has always been a favourite amongst
audiences all over the world.
Tickets
Buy your ticket(s) online NOW. You can use and debit or credit card, or pay by
Paypal if you have a Paypal account. We charge a small booking fee.
Adult: £15
Under 18: £2.00