Tag: Andrew Bernardi

2024 Shipley Arts Festival Launched At Toovey’s

Rupert Toovey, Andrew Bernardi, and Grace Shearing

Friends, sponsors and supporters gathered at Toovey’s Washington salerooms for the launch of the 2024 Shipley Arts Festival.

The festival celebrates the local, national and international qualities of our nation gathering a community of many of this country’s leading musicians whilst providing pathways to emerging talent.

The evening included Csárdás written by the Italian composer Vittorio Monti in 1904. The piece draws on the Hungarian folk tradition. It begins slowly rising to an ecstatic crescendo and was played by the extraordinarily talented young violinist Grace Shearing accompanied by pianist Christina Maude. Grace is now the lead violinist at Lancing College having begun her musical journey with Andrew Bernardi’s String Academy when she was 8 years old. The String Academy seeks to provide opportunity through music to young people regardless of their background.

It is these qualities which attracted the attention of Chris and Elaine Goodman who, through their Focus Foundation, seek to support young people, often from families with disadvantaged backgrounds across Sussex and the UK. This year Andrew Bernardi is partnering with Lancing College who are hosting the event, The Yehudi Menuhin School and the Focus Foundation bringing together 400 performers from 10 of our local schools and an adult choir to perform Chris Hussey’s new opera Beware the Mackerel Sky. I am really looking forward to hearing the opera at Lancing College after the captivating extract at Sunday’s launch. Chris Hussey’s piece follows in the tradition set by Benjamin Britten and Andrew Lloyd Webber at Lancing College.

Andrew Bernardi performed Méditation from Thais, the opera by Jules Massenet and with the internationally renowned Italian conductor and pianist Andrea Ferrari. The extraordinary range of the Amici Bernardi Stradivarius violin came alive as Andrew played this sonorous, moving and redemptive piece.

Kreston Reeves’ Daniel Grainge and Andrew Bernardi with musicians from his Youth String Academy at Toovey’s

Concluding the evening Andrew Bernardi said “What we have in common with our sponsors friends and patrons are our shared values. A belief in our communities and young people, and that there is a place for excellence.”

As the longest standing sponsor of the Shipley Arts Festival I am delighted that Toovey’s and myself remain at the heart of this remarkable celebration of music and community. Together with our fellow sponsors Kreston Reeves, Nyetimber, and NFU Mutual at Horsham, Henfield and Chichester, we wish Andrew Bernardi and his Shipley Arts Festival every success with the 2024 season of concerts.

For more information on the forthcoming Shipley Arts Festival and to book your tickets visit the box office at www.bmglive.com.

Andrew Bernardi to Open the 2023 Festival of Chichester

The Stradivarius Piano Trio – Andrew Bernardi, Maria Marchant and Jonathan Few. will be joined at Chichester Cathedral by his Music Group and The Trinity Laban Ensemble

Andrew Bernardi is excitedly preparing to open the Festival of Chichester with a performance of the English composer Gustav Holst’s The Planets on 10th June at 7.30pm. Tickets have just gone on sale for the concert which will be held in the Nave of Chichester Cathedral.

It is always an extraordinary privilege to hear Andrew and his fellow musicians at the Cathedral. Professor Nic Pendlebury will be conducting this orchestral work with Andrew Bernardi’s Music Group and the Trinity Laban Ensemble.

Nic Pendlebury is one of the nation’s leading contemporary electric, classical viola players and a celebrated conductor. He is no stranger to Sussex audiences having contributed to Andrew Bernardi’s Shipley Arts Festival over many years.

Andrew has always promoted the music of leading 20th century English composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst and his friend Arnold Bax, each of whom drew inspiration from Sussex and her landscape.

The Planets, Op. 32, is composed in seven movements and was written between 1914 and 1917. Each movement in the Suite is named after a planet in our Solar System and its astrological character.

Holst was no stranger to Chichester and its Cathedral and it will be exciting to hear his work performed in the Nave featuring George Morton’s stunning chamber arrangement of the piece.

The Mark Chagall Window © Rupert Toovey/Chichester Cathedral

The Cathedral became famous for its patronage of the arts during the 20th century under Dean Walter Hussey’s guidance. The Marc Chagall window was his last commission for the Cathedral and is based on Psalm 150 “O praise God in his holiness… Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” – inspiring words for any musician.

The programme will also include Eliana Echeverry’s new work The Lost Planet for electric viola and ensemble. Nic’s own transcription of Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, arranged for solo electric viola and sonic delay will also be part of the evening..

Tickets are expected to sell quickly, especially for the preferred seats, so visit bernardimusicgroup.com/event/festival-of-chichester-opening-concert to book yours and explore the concerts in this year’s Shipley Arts Festival.

Images courtesy of the Dean and Chapter of Chichester Cathedral.

Shipley Arts Festival 2023

Rupert with The Stradivarius Piano Trio – Andrew Bernardi, Maria Marchant and Jonathan Few. Photos courtesy of Richard Greenfield

Community and enduring friendships were celebrated at the launch of Andrew Bernardi’s Shipley Arts Festival which this year was once again held at Toovey’s Washington auction rooms.

The festival celebrates the local, national and international qualities of our nation gathering a community of many of this country’s leading musicians whilst providing pathways to emerging talent. This work is recognised and supported by the Arts Council of Great Britain.

I asked Andrew about the continuing success and growing national reputation of the Shipley Arts Festival. He replied “At the Shipley Arts Festival’s heart is the inspiration of English music, in particular continuing John Ireland’s tradition of music inspired by Sussex.” The composer John Ireland is famously buried at Shipley. Andrew continues “We continue to commission new music for Sussex and the festival from many of the nation’s leading composers and musicians. This year we have asked the famous English operatic baritone and composer Roderick Williams OBE, to write the third and final movement of his Knepp Piano Trio. This piece not only references composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams and John Ireland but is also inspired by the festival’s deepening celebration of nature, especially here in Sussex.”

At the heart of the 2023 season of concerts will be Andrew Bernardi’s Stradivarius Piano Trio with acclaimed Sussex born pianist Maria Marchant and cellist Johnathan Few. They will be performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Archduke Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op.97 and Antonin Dvořák’s Dumky Piano Trio No.4, Op.90, as well as works by Bach, Purcell, and John Ireland.

Shipley Arts Festival Director Andrew Bernardi with members of his String Academy. Photos courtesy of Richard Greenfield

One of the things I most value about the festival is how it remains generous and outward facing supporting our county’s young musicians through its String Academy who, together with Andrew and his professional musicians, performed music from the movies and Pink Floyd at the launch on Sunday evening.

Speaking on the evening Andrew said “What we have in common with our sponsors friends and patrons are our shared values. A belief in our communities and young people, and that there is a place for excellence.”

As the longest standing sponsor of the Shipley Arts Festival I am delighted that Toovey’s and myself remain at the heart of this remarkable celebration of music and community. Together with our fellow sponsors Kreston Reeves, Nyetimber, and NFU Mutual at Henfield and Chichester, we wish Andrew Bernardi and his Shipley Arts Festival every success with the 2023 season of concerts.

For more information on the forthcoming Shipley Arts Festival go to www.bmglive.com.

Review of the Year, 2022

Andrew Bernardi playing in support of the Chestnut Tree House

What an extraordinary year 2022 has been. As a nation we mourned the loss of HM Queen Elizabeth II and as the second great Elizabethan age drew to a close we ushered in a new Carolean era. It has been particularly hopeful to see the qualities of duty, service and affection for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, that were so admired in our late Queen, embraced and taken forward by our new King.

The war in Ukraine has brought to an end a long era of peace and economic prosperity in Europe leading to inflation, and many in our nation face hardship and personal challenges. And yet it is my experience that across Sussex the response has been generous.

There is a rich diversity of people in Sussex working for the common good in support of our communities, charities and creating opportunities for our young people. They are bringing positive change for the future.

Throughout the year I returned again and again to Arundel Castle and its gardens to find many of the charities that make West Sussex such a special place gathered, celebrated and supported after the separation which Covid-19 brought to our county and communities.

Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice supports children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. Music at their Arundel Castle dinner was provided by Andrew Bernardi. As well as bringing the finest musicians to Sussex through his Shipley Arts Festival Concerts Andrew is also passionate about supporting music and young people through his String Academy.

Arundel Castle gardener, Rose Philpot, The Collector Earl’s Garden

Sussex Heritage Trust supporters were blessed with a tour of Arundel Castle’s gardens. It’s a charity which promotes and celebrates best practice in our county’s built environment and landscape through its annual awards whilst encouraging and supporting talented young people into careers in conservation, building and horticulture.

Castle Gardener Rose Philpot led one of the tours. Rose’s story is inspiring. She discovered her passion for gardening on work experience in the castle gardens. Rose volunteered and worked in the gardens whilst she trained at Plumpton and was eventually offered a full-time job. Her career is progressing at Arundel and she has been given responsibility for looking after the stumpery, herbaceous, Round House and cut flower gardens which she speaks about with a real sense of ownership and a gardener’s delight.

Those who work for the common good in support of our communities and charities, and provide opportunities for our young people are bringing positive change for the future.

I remains to wish you all a Happy New Year.

Music of a Different Kind at Goodwood

The 1979 Hepworth-Cheverolet GB1

Goodwood by the Sea is one of the Shipley Arts Festival’s most famous and popular commissions. Composed by the internationally celebrated baritone and composer, Roderick Williams, it was inspired by the Goodwood Estate. But as Andrew Bernardi, the Festival’s Director, and I set out for the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed it was to celebrate music of a different kind – the music of V8 and V10 racing engines and the electric cars as they sped up the famous hill climb.

Andrew Bernardi at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In the woods we witnessed the extraordinary power and poise of the 1980s Group B rally cars and the spectacle of the rough terrain Safari Championship buggies as they jumped and swerved around the purpose built course.

The speed and acceleration of the electric cars was other. I have never seen anything move up Goodwood’s hill as fast as Thomas Yates’s McMurtry Spiérling (the name is apparently Irish for thunderstorm). It looks like a cross between a Batmobile and a Le Mans prototype racer. The dual electric engines deliver 0-60mph in under two seconds and a top speed of 200mph. The car made a sound like a jet engine thanks to its fans which generate 2000kg of downforce. As it broke the all-time Goodwood record it moved so fast it sucked hay out of the trackside bales!

Another car which created an elemental noise was the Hepworth family’s 1979 Hepworth-Cheverolet GB1 with its 5.0-litre V8 engine. The car was the final BRM F1 car but never raced in the British Aurora F1 series which it was built for. The Hepworths used the chassis to build a ground-effect Can-Am car. Although it was shipped to the USA it again never raced. More recently the Hepworth family rebuilt the car and its racing pedigree was begun here in Sussex at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was wonderful to witness it thundering up Goodwood’s famous hill climb.

I couldn’t believe that BMW’s M division is only 50 years old. The magnificent sculpture in front of the house appeared to throw some of the most famous M-series BMWs up into the air as other examples of the marque rushed up the track celebrating this important anniversary.

Goodwood with its remarkable celebration of cars and speed really did provide music and a festival of a unique and different kind.
I can’t wait for the 2022 Goodwood Revival weekend which runs from 16th to 18th September.

To find out more and to book your tickets visit goodwood.com/sports/motorsport and for the Shipley Arts Festival go to bernardimusicgroup.com/events.