The first concert of the 'Regis Music and Concert Club' took place on Sunday 22nd January 1978 to an invited audience. In those days it was 'Dinner Jacket preferred' . Tickets were £2 each. In 1999 the name was changed to the 'Bognor Regis Music Club'.
To celebrate forty years of the Club's continued existence, we are delighted to welcome back Bradley Creswick (violin) and Margaret Fingerhut (piano), who gave such memorable performances when they last played for the Club in 2011.
Places may be booked by phoning Helen Woods, with priority for Club members up to 30th November. Celebratory refreshments will be provided
Acclaimed and charismatic violinist Bradley Creswick was born in Bognor Regis, where many remember him as an outstanding member of the West Sussex Youth Orchestra. He studied at the Royal College of Music under Jaroslav Vanacek and later with Emanuel Hurwitz.
In 1984 Bradley became leader of the Northern Sinfonia and later that year was soloist in the first American performance of Malcolm Williamson's Lament in memory of Lord Mountbatten of Burma, during the orchestra's coast-to-coast tour of America. In 1987 Bradley moved to London to lead the Philharmonia, still maintaining his relationship with the Sinfonia, making guest appearances, notably as soloist with them in the 1989 BBC Proms playing The Lark Ascending.
The London years continued as leader of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House before taking the opportunity, in 1994, to return to the Sinfonia and the Northeast for a second time.
Bradley has undertaken many recordings and broadcasts with the Northern Sinfonia including the EMI recording of Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending and Concerto Accademico with Richard Hickox, performing Prokofiev's Concerto no.2 for Radio 3, and recording all the Handel op.6 Concerti Grossi with George Malcolm. More recent recordings include Handel's Concerti Grossi op.3 for Naxos and the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola by Mozart with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. He has also recorded violin concertos by Paul Patterson and Eero Hämmeenniemi.
Bradley has been invited twice to Marlboro Music Festival in America and is asked regularly to guest lead a wide range of orchestras, including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Playing with friends is a vibrant part of his life and he relishes the chance to play with the pianist Margaret Fingerhut, giving recitals around the country; their partnership goes back to their days at the Royal College of Music and over the years they have covered a huge range of repertoire.
Margaret Fingerhut is regarded as one of the UK's most distinguished and poetic pianists, renowned for her exploration of the highways and byways of the repertoire. As a concerto soloist she has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players, in major venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican. She is often heard on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and many radio stations worldwide.
Her extensive discography on the Chandos label has received worldwide critical acclaim and won many accolades. Her numerous discs reflect her long-standing fascination with exploring lesser-known repertoire, including works by Bax, Berkeley, Bloch, Dukas, Falla, Grieg, Howells, Leighton, Novák, Stanford and Suk as well as several pioneering collections of 19th century Russian and early 20th century French piano music. She was the soloist in the première recording of Elgar's sketches for his Piano Concerto slow movement, arranged by Percy Young. Other première recordings of British repertoire include Edgar Bainton's Concerto Fantasia, Bax's Octet and works by Howells, Leighton, Lennox Berkeley and Michael Berkeley. 'Margaret Fingerhut deserves our most heartfelt admiration for her championship of the byways of the British repertoire twentieth century piano repertory.' (MusicWeb International). Margaret also made the first recording of a student piece by Rachmaninoff, as well as two solo piano pieces by Sergey Taneyev.
Two of her Bax recordings - the Octet with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble and the Concertante for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra with Vernon Handley and the BBC Philharmonic - were short-listed for Gramophone awards. Her disc of solo piano music by the Polish/French composer Alexandre Tansman was awarded the accolade of 'Diapason D'Or' in France and received high praise: 'A triumph of piano playing' (Pianist). Her CD of encores "Endless Song" was Featured Album of the Week on Classic FM and was selected as 'Editor's Choice' in Pianist magazine as well as being awarded an "Outstanding" accolade in International Record Review.
Margaret maintains a keen interest in working with contemporary composers and she has given first performances of works by Paul Spicer, James Francis Brown, Peter Copley and Tony Bridgewater, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and at the Three Choirs Festival.
Margaret is a Professor of Piano at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and a Visiting Tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire where she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship. She is a regular guest at summer schools such as Chetham's, Jackdaws and Dartington. Her teaching at Dartington was described by The Spectator magazine as demonstrating 'enormous skill and sympathy'. She has given masterclasses in the USA, Canada, China and Japan, and she has been on the jury for many competitions including the BBC Young Musician of the Year.
Born in London of Polish, Ukrainian and Irish ancestry, Margaret went to the Royal College of Music where she studied with Cyril Smith and Angus Morrison. She subsequently studied with Vlado Perlemuter in Paris and Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore. Margaret lives in London and East Sussex.
Programme:
Brahms Sonata No.1 in G Op.78
Brahms Scherzo in C minor (from FAE Sonata)
Interval
Selection of pieces and lollipops, to include works by Bloch, Ravel, Sarasate and Ries.