Following the success of last year's London Chamber Ensemble's concert for the Schubert Society of GB they've been invited back and are delighted to give the first performance of Herbert Howells's String Quartet No 3 in the recently discovered early version (before it was thought lost) as well as Schubert Cello Quintet.
Donations are particularly welcome after this concert for which no admission is charged.
The London Chamber Ensemble was founded by violinist Madeleine Mitchell in 1992 to perform Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps, going on to perform at the BBC Proms. Their recording of the Messiaen, along with Krauze Quatuor pour la Naissance, was the widely recommended version of the work for many years. “An all star group which manages to outdo all its rivals” Gramophone.
Madeleine was asked by the Alwyn Trust to put together an album for Naxos of William Alwyn Chamber Music and Song, all first recordings. This was followed by the London Chamber Ensemble album for Naxos/BMS of chamber music by Grace Williams (2019), all world premiere recordings, Guardian CD of the Week and No 2 in the Classical Charts: “Passionate and persuasive advocacy, gripping interpretations… more please” Gramophone
The London Chamber Ensemble were invited to appear in the Southbank Centre’s International Chamber Music Season in Mitchell’s programme ‘A Century of Music by UK Women’ 1921-2021. This was live streamed from St John’s Smith Square on International Women’s Day, supported by the RVW and Ambache Trusts, with wide media coverage on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3, Classic FM, Scala Radio, The Guardian, The Independent, BBC Music Magazine, The Strad Premiere of the Month and Musical Opinion: “very fine performances of a broad range of fresh and rewarding repertoire…the players brought energy, precision and interpretative imagination”.
Madeleine Mitchell won a Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Award in 2022 for her creative project linking art and music in film, for her Anglo-Russian London Chamber Ensemble String Quartet introduced concert programme with the V&A exhibition Fabergé: Romance to Revolution
The quartet also gave concerts last year for the Schubert Society of GB and the Highgate Festival, and recorded a work by Effy Efthimiou. They opened Kensington and Chelsea Music Society 2022/23 season in a sold out Leighton House with the Quartet no.5 by Joseph Horovitz in tribute to the composer and Brahms Clarinet Quintet: “Superb, high quality chamber music-making” Musical Opinion Jan ’23. Later this year, they will record the Howells Quartet and give a concert with the V&A Chanel exhibition in September.