Litsa Tunnah & James Francis Brown – Violin & Piano recital

Programme:

 Spring Sonata- Beethoven 1770 1827

The Lark Ascending- Vaughan Williams 1872 1958

Violin Sonata- Brown 1969 

Biographies:

 Winner of numerous awards and prizes violinist Litsa Tunnah has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues. Highlights have included Litsa’s debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing Paganini under Ben Pope, and Tchaikovsky at Farnham Malting’s with conductor Alexander Walker. Litsa made her Russian debut in Moscow to huge critical acclaim and was invited to return to St Petersburg for further performances which were documented in a film recorded by ITV.

 Frequently in demand as a recitalist she has performed in prestigious venues throughout the UK and overseas including the Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, St James Piccadilly, King’s Place, Regents Hall, Martinu Hall Prague and Trieste Opera House. She has also performed more recently at the Palace of Westminster which led to a special request for a series of six performances in the capital for the Lord Mayor of London.

 Litsa is committed to premiering new works in her programmes and collaborates with renowned composers. She was specially commissioned to record Boris Pigovat’s complete violin works and excerpts from the CD have been broadcast on the Israeli Classical Music Channel. Other notable collaborations include the premiere performance of Geoffrey Palmer’s ‘Hadassah Variations’ for violin and orchestra which was broadcast by the BBC, and a project working with the renowned British composer David Matthews performing his works for solo violin. Litsa also appeared at St Martin in the Fields performing the World Premiere of Pigovat’s ‘Birth of Venus’ for violin and orchestra which has since been dedicated to her by the composer. Upcoming dates include Litsa’s premiere of Peter Seabourne’s ‘Thread’s’ for  solo violin which has been written and dedicated to her.

 Highlights of the past season have included a USA tour where Litsa performed at Carnegie Hall, and filming in Mumbai for a documentary on Synaesthesia sponsored by Suzuki.

The release in late 2018 by Resonus Classics of the CD The Heavens and the Heart, conducted by George Vass, has confirmed James Francis Brown’s reputation for highly-sophisticated and energetic works which have seen his following grow rapidly in recent years as audiences respond to his rare ability to imbue the traditional tonal landscape of classical music with a fresh sense of purpose.

 This recent recording immediately gained two broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and prompted Guy Rickards, in the January 2019 edition of Gramophone Magazine, to say “This new release from Resonus is the first of any of his orchestral works, and what a disc it is! The Trio Concertante…is a glorious single-movement triple concerto for violin, viola and cello that belongs in the topmost rank of British string-orchestral music.”

  His music covers a wide range of genres featuring chamber ensembles, choirs and orchestras and it is regularly performed by many of today’s leading musicians including Steven Isserlis, Tasmin Little, Emma Johnson, the Badke Quartet, Jack Liebeck and many of the major orchestras throughout the UK. 

 A recording by Members of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome was released in 2019.

 “Seldom does one hear new music that marries such daunting technical skill and virtuosic demands with so much ease and life-affirming joy….” Mark Lehmann, American Record Guide, 2012.

Admission by programme on the door £12, FOM members £10 & Children Free.