The Smith Quartet play Philip Glass at St George's Bristol

By Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 22 April 2013

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Reviewed at St George's Bristol, Bristol on 19 April 2013

Glass, String Quartet no. 3, “Mishima”

Glass, String Quartet no. 1

Glass, String Quartet no. 4 "Buczak"

Glass, String Quartet no. 2 "Company"

Glass, String Quartet no. 5

Smith Quartet

Two Michael Nyman works for string quartet at St John's Smith Square

Melissa Hok Cee Wong, 1st June

This Saturday afternoon concert by the Smith Quartet – the first in a two-concert series that would present the complete string quartets of Michael Nyman, including the UK première of his String Quartet no.

**111

Transparent Glass: The Smith Quartet at St John's Smith Square

Paul Kilbey, 12th October

Bathed in a wash of soft blue light, St John’s Smith Square was home to a remarkable concert on Friday night with the Smith Quartet presenting all five of Philip Glass’ string quartets. The performance, played with the sensitivity of real experts in this repertoire, provided an insightful and absorbing overview to the many different sides of Glass.

****1

A Steve Reich experience at St Paul's School

Helen Fraser, 26th November

Do you remember when Steve Reich, “America’s greatest living composer”, came to your school concert and you performed his seminal work Clapping Music with the great man? No? Well, Joshua Kellie does. Joshua was one of the talented (and fortunate) St Paul’s School pupils chosen to perform in a concert in honour of the minimalist composer on his 75th birthday.

Nelson Goerner shines with the CBSO and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody

Robert Gainer, 9th April

The CBSO present the work of three European émigré composers of the 1930s and 40s, who reimagined their musical influences with contrasting approaches and results.

****1

Chicago Symphony Orchestra music on death: whimper then bang

Graham Meyer, 9th April

Jakub Hrůša leads the CSO in pedestrian Janáček and Rachmaninov, but Strauss's Four Last Songs and Wagner's Tristan excerpts send audiences home deeply touched.

***11

Andris Nelsons and the BSO arrive in New York, with baggage in tow

Cameron Kelsall, 9th April

In his first New York appearance since the termination of his contract as BSO Music Director, Nelsons courts public sympathy and makes some thrilling music.

***11

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Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres is a Bristol-based film composer and classical electronic artist. Alexandra's passion in scoring and as a performer lie in the duality between the classical and electronica worlds, moving picture and her love for the piano. Her music has been described by The White Room Magazine as “majestic, at times monumental…the force and vastness of nature”.