Events :: All Events

Orange Tree Theatre : Leaving

By Vaclav Havel. Translated by Paul Wilson

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PREMIERE

• Directed by Sam Walters
• Designed by Sam Dowson
• Lighting by John Harris

Chancellor Rieger is leaving office. But does leaving office necessarily mean that he, his long-time companion, and his extended family have to leave the state villa, which has been their home for years?

While his former secretary, and the former secretary to his former secretary, grapple with the mechanics of change and his family prepare to face an uncertain future, the Chancellor himself considers his legacy amidst visits from journalists, an infatuated student and deputy minister Klein.

The play which, which has echoes of both King Lear and The Cherry Orchard, addresses the themes of change, dispossession and the passage of power from one generation to the next amidst the chaos of leaving.

Richmond Theatre : The Concert They Never Gave

Co-creators of such hit shows as Four Steps To Heaven, Elvis That's The Way It Is and The Roy Orbison Story - Bill Kenwright and Keith Strachan - once again recreate those special days of the golden era of rock and roll with fantastic evocations of seven of pop's greatest acts. A concert that really would have been too good to be true!

'Only the Lonely' - 'Bye Bye Love' - 'Poor Little Fool' - 'Swiss Maid' - 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' - 'Wake Up Little Susie' … and many more! Hit after massive hit will have you singing along and rockin' in the aisles!

Jazz Showcase : Featuring Gary Foot

The house band will be a trio this week, Ian Anderson on Piano, Roger Perrin on bass and Jeremy Holroyd on drums but with some very special guests.

Gary Foot will be with us again on tenor, thanks to him for coming the last couple of weeks and Rosie Timson will be along as well on flute so some fine musicians producing some fine music.

Thanks for last Monday to Rod on guitar and of course to all the singers and to Gem and Little Al (and Jenny).

Music starts this Monday about 8.30 and ADMISSION IS FREE (though a small voluntary contribution for the band is always appreciated). Come along and listen or if you are a singer or instrumentalist come along and sit in with the band.

Tom Varrall tom@rttonline.com

• Admission is free.

Richmond United Group : Borough Meeting

Have you taken part in any Council consultation?

What do YOU think about the consultation process?

Participate in a Borough Meeting with the Richmond United Group.

The Sustainable Communities Act is launched on 14 October, the day of the Borough Meeting. One of the group that campaigned for this Act of Parliament will speak at the meeting.

How will the Act affect you?

Come and find out for yourself.

SPEAKERS:

• John Reekie, Chair, Richmond United Group
• Sir David Williams, LBRuT Cabinet Member for Communities
• Michael Parkes, Community Planner, Planning Aid for London
• James Page, Richmond and Twickenham Green Party
• Steve Shaw, Local Works Co-ordinator and Sustainable Communities Act expert
• Zac Goldsmith, Editor of The Ecologist

www.richmondunitedgroup.com

Richmond Council : St Margaret's & North Twickenham and Twickenham Riverside Area Consultation Meetings

The agenda will be published 5 clear working days before the meeting

Details

• Venue: The Salon, York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ.
• Contact: Paul Johnston, Democratic Services Officer, Email: paul.johnston@richmond.gov.uk, 020 8891 7156
• Note: If you would like to raise a topic at this meeting, you can contact us up to 10 days before the meeting by using the contact details above.

Richmond Theatre : Tiger Who Came To Tea

Based on the picture book written and illustrated by Judith Kerr. Adapted for the stage with songs and lyrics by David Wood.

The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly don't expect to see at the door is a big, stripy tiger!

Exciting and charming, The Tiger Who Came to Tea has been enjoyed by millions of children since it was first published over

30 years ago. Now for the first time ever, the much-loved tale of a tiger creating tea time mayhem is brought vividly to life on stage in a show packed with oodles of magic, sing-a-long songs and clumsy chaos.

Don't miss out on this wonderfully entertaining show for children aged three and up. Tea time has never been so entertaining!

St Margarets Fair : Barn Dance

Come and enjoy a barn dance celebration to welcome in the Autumn!

Dance your socks off on Friday 17th October 2008

From 7.30pm until late

£10 per person (includes live music, full dancing instructions (caller!), cheese board and good priced drinks)

At St Stephen's School Hall, St Margarets, Twickenham (entrance on A316)

All money raised goes to the St Margaret's Fair senior citizen’s Christmas dinner!

For further details and to reserve a table, please call John I'Anson (07880 796174) or Zeph King (07977 298045).

Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames (ETRuT) : Art Picnics: Hampton Allotments

Vegetables, flowers and sheds

Ticket price

• Individuals - £15 (Environment Trust members — £10)
• Family* - £30 (Environment Trust members — £20)

*two or more people, at least one of whom is under 18 years old

Advanced booking is essential — please call the office on 020 8891 5455 or e-mail info@art-picnics.org.uk to book your place.

Richmond Theatre : Hound of The Baskervilles

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Adapted for the stage by Clive Francis

A bloodcurdling howl is heard across the moors. A blanket of images and sounds envelopes the audience, bringing the atmospheric terror of Dartmoor, the eerie gothic hall and the ghostly hound to life as you have never seen before!

Successfully combining the power of live performance with revolutionary theatrical techniques, this brand new production of the classic Sherlock Holmes tale intensifies Conan Doyle's masterful storytelling skill. A visual feast of jaw-dropping projected animation terrifies and unsettles, thrills and entertains.

This adaptation of one of the greatest thrillers ever written stars Peter Egan (Ever Decreasing Circles, Noises Off) as Sherlock Holmes and Philip Franks (Heartbeat, Journey's End) as his loyal assistant Dr Watson. It is directed by Robin Herford(renowned for his expert creation of The Woman in Black) and designed by Tim Bird (Evening Standard and Olivier Award winner for his amazing projections in Sunday in the Park with George).

Richmond Concert Society : STEPHEN HOUGH

• Bach/Cortot: Toccata and Fugue in D minor
• Faure: Nocturne No. 6 in D flat, Op. 63
• Faure: Barcarolle No. 5 in F sharp minor, Op. 66
• Franck: Prelude, choral et fugue
• Copland: Piano Variations (1930)
• Chopin: Nocturne No. 17 in B, Op. 62 No. 1
• Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

Any concert by this very fine pianist is always an occasion. Apart from having a brilliant technique Stephen also shows in his recitals a highly developed musicality and sensitivity. This will be his second appearance at a Richmond Concert Society event and one which will be awaited with much pleasure.

Stephen Hough's reputation as a great pianist is without doubt. His recordings frequently win major awards and perhaps outstanding among his concerto records are the complete set of the Saint-Saens concerti and more recently the complete Rachmaninov works for piano and orchestra. As a chamber musician, many accolades have been given for his recordings with Steven Isserlis of the cello sonatas by Brahms, Rachmaninov and Franck.

But it is not only as a fine musician that Stephen is known as he has, at the start of 2007, won the First Prize in the Sixth International Poetry Competition for his poem Early Rose against stiff competition.

Stephen is also a composer of note; his latest work is an Elegy for Cello and Orchestra which he conducted in March 2007 with Steven Isserlis as the soloist. As a writer Stephen has a number of books to his credit, mainly on religious themes; his latest book is The Bible as prayer. Altogether a remarkable and wonderful person.

St Mary's Drama Group : SCAPINO

St. Mary's Drama Group is delighted to announce that the autumn production, SCAPINO, at HAMPTON HILL PLAYHOUSE, from Wednesday 22nd to Saturday 25th October at 7.45pm,is being directed by Bob Dilley.

This comic piece, written by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale, and inspired by Moliere, is set in Naples and the spirit of the play is evident from the outset - the actors welcoming the audience accompanied by a crazy song made up from the menu at an Italian restaurant.

In Bob's hands, this production should be a lot of fun and will provide some fine entertainment for all the family.

Book your tickets now, priced at £10 and available from the Box Office on 020 8941 1267.

The Turks' Head Public House : Live Music: The Reprobates

We have free live music in the bar every Friday night.

Pub

Winchester Hall

Richmond Theatre : Bros Gala Concert

Alan Titchmarsh comperes an evening's celebration of 100 years of musical theatre for BROS Theatre Company, of which he is patron and past member.

Formed in 1908, BROS is now one of the premier nonprofessional Musical Theatre companies in London. The gala features extracts from

BROS's award-winning shows, including Gilbert & Sullivan's most popular operettas, Rodgers & Hammerstein's classic musicals, and some musical hits from current West End and Broadway shows.

Richmond Theatre : An Ideal Husband

Sir Peter Hall's highly-acclaimed West End and Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband returns to the stage.

Into the fashionable world of London parties, politics and diplomacy comes the worldly and devious Mrs Cheveley. She attempts to blackmail the British Under Secretary for Foreign

Affairs, Sir Robert Chiltern, whom she accuses of building a career on dishonour by selling a cabinet secret.

Kate O'Mara (Dynasty and Bad Girls) returns to the role of Mrs Cheveley, a part she originally played in the West End. Appearing alongside are Michael Praed (Robin of Sherwood); popular TV series actress Carol Royle, whose various stage roles include leads in RSC productions; renowned actor of stage and screen Tony Britton(Don't Wait Up and Robin's Nest); Robert Duncan,

best known as Gus from the cult comedy hit Drop the Dead Donkey and Fenella Fielding (Carry On and Doctor films) whose distinguished theatre credits include Lady Fidgetin The Country Wife and the title role in Hedda Gabler.

Wilde's characteristic wit and style make this tale of political intrigue amongst society's highest-ranking figures both entertaining and highly topical.

Orange Tree Theatre : Mountain Hotel and Audience

By Vaclav Havel

• Mountain Hotel translated by Jitka Martinova
• Audience translated by Carol Rocamora and Tomas Rychetsky
• Directed by Sam Walters

Written in the 1970s, the MOUNTAIN HOTEL houses a motley group of guests striving to live with each other. Among them a blocked writer, a sentimental Russian count, the card playing Dlask, the football playing Tetz, and Vilem Pechar sunbathing on the grass. There's Rachel whose life appears to revolve around knitting and sex, Vilem's wife ministering to his infidelities and Liza coping with the count. Two of the guests look on in silence. The hotel staff has problems too; and five of the men are called Joseph.

In AUDIENCE, the first of the Vanek plays, Vanek is working in a brewery (as Havel did) and finds himself summoned to meet his boss. Might there be a better job on offer, where he will not have to handle heavy barrels of beer? But might there be a catch? Who exactly is going to be doing who a favour? And just how much beer is Vanek expected to consume before he finds out?

Furniture Scheme Richmond upon Thames : Open Day

Come and see what we have to offer. We have cheap, good quality second-hand furniture to sell.

We are keen to recycle and reuse as much as we can. Help us do this by supporting us and sharing your recycling ideas.

If you have any good quality furniture to donate, please contact us (020 8755 4665)

Book Now 2008 : Alison Weir 'The Lady Elizabeth'

When Alison Weir, one of our most popular historians, published her first novel, Innocent Traitor, it went straight to the bestseller lists. For her second novel, Alison goes to the heart of Tudor England and tells the story of Elizabeth before she became queen, a story of suspense, tragedy and intrigue.

Marble Hill House, 3.00pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Big Band Blitz 2008

Step back in time, return to the 1940s and dance the night away at Big Band Blitz. This popular and highly successful annual 1940s event will this year celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the opening of The Museum of Richmond by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Proceeds from this special charity event will help benefit The Museum of Richmond's charity. Royal Patron of the charity is HRH Princess Alexandra, and the Patrons include Richmond's famous brothers, Lord Richard Attenborough and Sir David Attenborough.

The Jon Bennett Big Band has appeared in the West End at the Lyceum and Dominion Theatres, the Savoy Hotel, the Australian High Commission, and the Royal Gala Performance, Night of Nights, at Richmond Theatre. Jon Bennett has been musical director for a number of charity gala shows, and has worked with a number of performers including Bonnie Langford, Clive Rowe, Peter Straker, and the late Roy Castle.

Among the special showbiz guests appearing will be the welcome return of Australian diva, Kathleen McCormack, who has 28 albums to her credit, including a gold award, and numerous concert appearances including Sydney Opera House, and her own radio and television shows. Also making a welcome return will be Tom Nolan as George Formby, and comedian Iain Dawson as Viv the Spiv. This year a new talented singer from Canada will be featured, Vanessa Lanch, and making his first appearance at Big Band Blitz will be actor / singer, Jack Pinder. Another special guest, making a rare big band appearance singing the standards will be rock legend Pete French of Atomic Rooster, Cactus and LeafHound fame (Pete's vocals are featured in the hit television series Life on Mars, and in the recent movie Breakfast on Pluto), and to help with the celebrity raffle draw will be TV presenter Mark Curry, assisted by three members of the original 1960's London Palladium Tiller Girls, plus a few surprises!

The Mayor of Richmond and other VIP guests will join 200 members of the public for this special celebration. So, step back in time, return to the 1940s and dance the night away at Big Band Blitz 2008.

Tickets (£17-50, concessions £14-50) available in person or by post from The Museum of Richmond, Old Town Hall, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond. or by post from Aspects Productions, 44 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3RR, or in person from The Richmond Music Shop, 16 Red Lion Street, Richmond, or by credit card from Keith Prowse, tel 0870 848 0000

Details

• VENUE Clarendon Hall, York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham TW1 3AA
• DATE Saturday 1st November 2008 at 7.30pm (doors open at 6.30pm)
• TICKETS £17-50, (concessions £14-50) available in person or by post from The Museum of Richmond, Old Town Hall, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond, or by post from Aspects Productions,44 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3RR
• INQUIRIES 020 8973 3605 or 07808 156797

Book Now 2008 : Elizabeth Jane Howard 'Love All'

Elizabeth Jane Howard, the acclaimed author of various modern classics including her four-volume Cazalet Chronicles, will talk about her latest novel Love All, which examines love (and the lack of it) through a group of people running an arts festival. She will also talk about her previous work, including her memoir, Slipstream. Chaired by Kirsty Lang of Radio 4's Front Row.

The Coach house at Orleans House Gallery, 2.15pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Jonathan Dimbleby 'Russia'

In his major BBC television series this year, Jonathan Dimbleby made an epic journey across Russia in a quest to understand this vast and mysterious country. In this riveting and timely book, Jonathan reveals a country in transition; a rapidly rising energy superpower but also a place of corruption and repression.

Landmark Arts Centre, 7.30pm, £9 (£8 concessions).

Book this event online.

Richmond Theatre : Far From The Madding Crowd

By Thomas Hardy

Adapted by Mark Healy

I shall do one thing in this life. That is love you, long for you and keep wanting you 'til I die

A fusion of vivid story telling and fine ensemble staging, shot through with humour and folk-song, brings one of Thomas Hardy's most popular and enduring novels dramatically to life in this thrilling new production from the ever-inventive English Touring Theatre.

Bathsheba Everdene is alone in a man's world. Beautiful and headstrong, she is pursued by three suitors; the constant friend Gabriel Oak; the wealthy, obsessive William Boldwood; and the reckless, dazzling Sergeant Troy. But is any of them a match for the passionate Bathsheba? A woman who will give herself only to a man she loves.

This production reunites the creative team behind the acclaimed The French Lieutenant's Woman in 2006. ETT's work is vigorous, popular and above all entertaining. Anyone who saw their thrilling Hamlet, with the fabulously brooding Ed Stoppard, will need no introduction to this powerhouse of touring theatre.

Book Now 2008 : Virago Modern Classics 30th Anniversary

Virago was set up to publish books that celebrated women, and the Modern Classics list gave voice to generations of novelists who might have been forgotten.

Three decades later, with the publication of a series of specially designed editions, Virago editor, Donna Coonan, will be joined by novelists Elizabeth Jane Howard and Philip Hensher to discuss their enduring appeal. Chaired by biographer Anne Sebba.

The Coach house at Orleans House Gallery, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Michael Holroyd ' A Strange Eventful History'

Leading biographer Michael Holroyd will talk about his fascinating new study of two theatrical dynasties: those of the legendary Ellen Terry and Henry Irving. The actor and the actor-manager enjoyed a great stage partnership and they each influenced the lives of their remarkable children – especially Ellen’s son, the stage designer, Edward Gordon Craig.

The American International University - Richmond, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : The Richmond Magazine evening 'Mightier than the Sword'

What is the most important book of all time?

Hear the views of a distinguished panel, including: former cabinet minister, Jonathan Aitken; Guardian sketch writer, Simon Hoggart; and local authors, Anne Sebba and Sarah Tucker. Panellists face cross-examination on their respective choices before the audience gives its verdict. Chaired by Richard Nye, Editor of The Richmond Magazine.

Old Town Hall, £10 (£9 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Mavis Cheek: Amenable Women

Best-selling author Mavis Cheek's latest novel is a witty, heartwarming story of two lives connecting through history. Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife, captures the attention of a local history researcher and the story of these two women living centuries apart is interwoven with a little-known part of history.

Old Town Hall, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Judith Mackrell: The Bloomsbury ballerina

Top dance critic Judith Mackrell tells the remarkable story of ballerina Lydia Lopokova, star of the Ballets Russes, who became the wife of the economist and member of the Bloomsbury group, John Maynard Keynes.

“Judith Mackrell shows us exactly what made Lopokova one of the last century's true originals”

The Sunday Times

The Coach House at Orleans House Gallery, 3.00pml, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : John Milton 400th Anniversary

Until the 20th century, Milton was accepted as the second greatest poet in the English language, eclipsed only by Shakespeare, and yet today he is seldom read. Lance Pierson explores whether Milton's reputation should be restored, and performs extracts from Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes, L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, Comus, Lycidas and the Sonnets. Lance Pierson is a professional poetry performer.

The Coach House at Orleans House Gallery, 3.00pml, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : The Richmond Local History Society Lecture

Stephen Inwood: Exploring Historic London

London's 2,000 years of history seem to have been burned, bombed and bulldozed out of existence, but Stephen Inwood, author of Historic London: An Explorer's Companion, shows how we can rediscover Roman, medieval and Tudor London, and find evidence of its later history in its shops, pubs, churches, houses, streets, alleys, parks and squares.

Duke Street Baptist Church Auditorium, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Orange Tree Theatre : Private View and Protest

By Vaclav Havel

• Translated by Carol Rocamora and Tomas Rychetsky

In the 1970s, after the Prague spring was over, and Havel's plays were no longer acceptable in Czechoslovakia, he created the character of Vanek, a semi- autobiographical dissident writer, who appeared in short plays secretly disseminated around the Prague artistic underground. So popular (and funny and apt) was Vanek that other writers, including Pavel Kohout, the actor Pavel Landovsky and Jiri Dienstbier, later to become Foreign Secretary in the post-1989 government, asked to borrow him and wrote their own Vanek plays. In the three Havel plays we meet Vanek first at work (in AUDIENCE, shown with MOUNTAIN HOTEL), then visiting friends and finally engaged in his 'dissident' activities.

Michael and Vera invite Vanek to a very PRIVATE VIEW of their newly re-furbished flat. They want to show off the new records they bought when abroad, their art acquisitions, the gothic Madonna and to offer their friend bourbon from the States and groombles served with woodpeak. But why does he seem to be withholding his approval?

PROTEST concerns the arrest of a pop musician. Vanek is invited to the house of Stanek, a well-known writer and media figure. But why has he been invited? And is it fortunate that he happens to have in his pocket a petition protesting at the singer's arrest?

Book Now 2008 : Michael Dobbs: The Edge of Madness

Top thriller writer Michael Dobbs has chosen cyber-warfare as the theme for his new page-turner. An old Russian nuclear reactor goes into meltdown while, on the other side of the world, the US Eastern seaboard is plunged into darkness and nobody knows who is responsible for the chaos. Michael Dobbs is the author of 15 thrillers including the highly successful House of Cards.

Old Town hall,, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Richmond Theatre : Phoenix Dance Theatre

Phoenix Dance Theatre has an international reputation for presenting inspiring, entertaining contemporary dance, performed by a formidable group of dancers hand picked from around the world.

This sophisticated programme features both classic modern dance by eminent American choreographer Jose Limon (1908-1972), and the latest stylish offerings from the company's Artistic Director Javier De Frutos.

Jose Limon was a crucial figure in the development of modern dance whose landmark work is rarely seen in the UK. Javier De Frutos is celebrated for his evocative and highly charged choreography, for his work with contemporary dance companies and for musical theatre, including Olivier Award winning choreography for the West End's Cabaret.

If you like dance grab this rare opportunity to see some of his most thrilling work.

Suitable for ages 11+. May contain images of nudity and conflict.

Repertoire to be confirmed.

Book Now 2008 : Adrian Flanagan: Over the Top

Adrian Flanagan tells the story of his quest to become the first solo yachtsman to circumnavigate the globe vertically via the two polar regions.

This is an extraordinary story of human endurance and courage.

The American International University in London - Richmond, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Philip Hensher: The Northern Clemency

Philip Hensher's new novel has been long-listed for this year's Man Booker Prize. The shortlist will be announced early in September — we will post the result as soon as it is known. The book is set in Sheffield between 1974 and 1996, is a portrait of an entire era, concerning the lives of ordinary people during a time of political and social upheaval. Inspired by the great 19th century Russian novels, The Northern Clemency shows Philip Hensher to be a fine chronicler of English life.

Old Town Hall, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Richmond Theatre : Buddy Holly And The Cricketers

Buddy's 70th Birthday Party Tour!

For nearly fourteen years the Buddy Holly & The Cricketers Show has been a hit all over the world, delighting audiences everywhere. This year is a special one for the ageless rocker and he invites you to join in the celebrations with this extra special 70th birthday party show.

This fast, furious and funny rock 'n' rollercoaster of a show is guaranteed to have everyone singing along to the music and dancing in the aisles to such timeless hits as That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, It Doesn't Matter Anymore, Raining In My Heart, Oh Boy! … and much, much more.

Make your Heartbeat a little faster with the show that has thousands of fans the world over saying: “I can't believe it's not Buddy!”

Book Now 2008 : Kate Adie: Into Danger

Kate Adie sets out on a fascinating journey to discover just who is attracted to living dangerously and why. Ever since her days reporting on the front lines of war zones, she has been curious about people who seek lives that put them in regular peril. With Kate's wit and gift for illumination, this is a compelling subject. Chaired by Christine Whittaker, Archive Consultant, television history programmes.

Clarendon hall at York House, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Richmond Theatre : Glenn Miller Orchestra

Take a trip down a musical Memory Lane as the official Glenn Miller Orchestra, directed by Ray McVay, brings you the best of the big band sound.

Featuring the legendary Joan Regan, who will be singing hits such as May You Always, this is a wonderfully nostalgic show with fabulous harmonies, a swinging jazz band and smooth vocals.

Book Now 2008 : Young People's Event - Lemn Sissay: Listener

Southbank Centre's Artist in Residence and author of four poetry collections, Lemn Sissay, will share poems from his new book. This will be followed by a Poetry Workshop where everyone will have the opportunity to show their own work and create a group piece.

Suitable for 12-18 year olds but everyone welcome.

Workshop places must be booked separately and writers should submit work at least two weeks in advance. Email: samantha.harris@richmond.gov.uk

The Coach House at Orleans House Gallery, Reading - 2.00pm, Workshop - 3.30pm.

Under 18s £3, Students £5, Adults £8 (£7 Concessions) Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : 'Writing dance' A panel discussion

How do you capture the experience of dance in words? How do you articulate a visual and physical sensation? Writing dance is an opportunity to listen, probe and examine different perspectives on the relationship between words and movement. Guest speakers include dance programmer Eckhard Thiemann, choreographer and author Rodreguez King-Dorset and an international dance critic.

The Coach House at Orleans House Gallery, 7.00pm, Students and under 18s £5, Adults £8 (£7 Concessions)

Book this event online.

Richmond Theatre : 4 Poof's & A Piano

Well-known from Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, where they provide musical introductions for Jonathan and all his star guests, 4 Poofs & A Piano have become a household name with their jaunty re-workings of show tunes, funk, punk, rap and swing.

More hairdressers than barbershop, this self-explanatory ensemble have performed with great success at The Edinburgh Festival, Glastonbury and around the country as well as releasing their debut album.

Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames (ETRuT) : Art Picnics: Syon House

Glorious interiors and parkland views

Ticket price

• Individuals - £15 (Environment Trust members — £10)
• Family* - £30 (Environment Trust members — £20)

*two or more people, at least one of whom is under 18 years old

Advanced booking is essential — please call the office on 020 8891 5455 or e-mail info@art-picnics.org.uk to book your place.

Book Now 2008 : Michael Frayn: Stage Directions

Leading playwright and novelist Michael Frayn has written 16 plays ranging from Noises Off to Copenhagen. His new book, a collection of writings on theatre from 1970 to 2008, covers half a lifetime, the whole range of his theatrical writing, and forms an essential commentary on his life and work. In conversation with Bamber Gascoigne, with whom Michael Frayn collaborated in his early career.

Orange Tree Theatre, 4.00pm, £9 (£8 Concessions)

To book tickets for this event, telephone the Orange Tree Theatre Box Office on 020 8940 3633.

Book Now 2008 : Richard Attenborough: Entirely Up to You, Darling

Richard Attenborough has teamed up with Diana Hawkins, a friend and colleague for 50 years, to write a revelatory and funny account of their unusual partnership and his extraordinary life. A long-time resident of Richmond and a much-loved actor director and producer, Richard Attenborough, has won numerous artistic awards, worked tirelessly for charitable causes and became a peer in 1993. Diana Hawkins will be joining Richard Attenborough to discuss their new book.

Orange Tree Theatre, 7.00pm, £9 (£8 Concessions)

To book tickets for this event, telephone the Orange Tree Theatre Box Office on 020 8940 3633.

Richmond Theatre : Enjoy

A comedy by Alan Bennett

A Alan Bennett's rarely performed Enjoy shines a whole new light on Britain's favourite playwright.

An elderly couple are living in the last back-to-back in Leeds. They're about to be re-housed in a brand new maisonette, complete with waste-disposal unit and non-slip vinyl flooring. As the bulldozers rumble and homes tumble, a way of life is fast disappearing. But that's where sentiment bumps into surrealism. When a sociologist comes to observe Wilf and Connie's daily life, things take a distinctly peculiar turn…

This comedy stars renowned actress Alison Steadman (Abigail's Party, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and, most recently, Gavin & Stacey)and David Troughton (starring roles with the RSC, Dr Who and A Very Peculiar Practice).

This is a delightful and unexpected side of Alan Bennett: gentle nostalgia and wicked satire in equal measure combine to make this an unmissable evening.

Richmond Concert Society : ROYAL STRING QUARTET

• Haydn: String Quartet in E flat, Hob. III:38, Joke
• Szymanowski: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 56
• Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12 in F, B179, American

Izabella Szalaj-Zimak (Violin) Elwira Przybylowska (Violin) Marek Czech (viola) Michal Pepol (Cello)

This season's 'Paul Woodhouse' Concert will be given by the brilliant young Royal String Quartet from Poland.

They were formed in 1998 and over the past few years have gained a reputation as one of the world's most interesting and dynamically developing string quartets of the young generation.

They will be making their first appearance at a Richmond Concert event and will be performing in one of the best venues, from an acoustic point of view, in the UK - the very beautiful St Mary's Church situated on the Riverside at Twickenham.

The Royal String Quartet have attracted rave reviews for their concerts with such superlatives as “technically superb”, and “youthful energy not in short supply”.

The list of awards the quartet has won is impressive. Awards such as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2005, the Special Prize of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2007, the First Prize and the Grand Prix at the 9th Carlo Silva International Competition in Casale Monferrato in 2000, the Second Prize at the 7th International Contemporary Chamber Music Competition in Krakow in 2003, the Special Jury Prize at the 1st International String Quartet Competition in Kuhmo,Finland in 2004 and the Third Prize in Banff's 8th International String Quartet Competition in Canada in 2004.

Like the Kungsbacka Piano Trio which opens the 2008-9 Season, the Royal String Quartet were members of the BBC's New Generation Artists scheme between 2004 and 2006. This enabled them to perform in several prestigious festivals, broadcast several times and to make recordings such as their performance of the Mendelssohn Octet with the French Psophos Quartet, who performed for the RCS some seasons ago.

Since 2004 the Quartet has run its own chamber music festival in Warsaw under the title 'Kwartesencja' which has won a wide audience and media recognition as being named the 'Cultural Highlight of the year 2004'.

In the Spring of 2008 they recorded the Szymanowski Quartets on the Hyperion label. This will add to their existing discography of four CDs: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven on the DUX label, which was nominated for the Fyderyk Award of the Polish recording industry in 2002; Astor Piazzola - Tango on the Sony label, which was given the Fyderyk Award in 2002; string quartets by other Polish composers such as the father of Polish music, Moniuszko, Szymanowski and Bacewicz on the BearTon label in 2006; and Juliusz Zarebski's Piano Quintet with the pianist Wojciech Switala again on the BeArTon label in 2006.

Book Now 2008 : artsrichmond Books for Our Time evening

Chris Patten: What Next? Surviving the Twenty-First Century

In conversation with James Naughtie, introduced by Lord Wright of Richmond GCMG.

Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle universities, is one of our most far-thinking politicians. His latest book is certain to be an international bestseller as a guide to the dangerous times the world is facing. Welcome address by Cllr Serge Lourie.

Duke Street Baptist Church Auditorium, 7.30pm, £9 (£8 Concessions).

To book tickets for this event, please call 020 8892 9446 or email info@artsrichmond.org.uk.

Book Now 2008 : AC Grayling: The Choice of Hercules

“What is the good life, and how can one achieve it?” asks leading philosopher Anthony Grayling, in this wonderfully acute and beautifully written volume. By reflecting on the challenges of duty versus pleasure, he shows how much people and society can gain by at least trying to live a life that's both valuable and pleasurable.

The American International University in London - Richmond, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Frances Osborne

Frances Osborne has drawn on family letters and diaries to explore the story of her great-grandmother, Idina Sackville, who shocked society by abandoning her young sons and running off to Africa. An inspiration for Nancy Mitford’s character, the Bolter, her story is one of heartbreak, and paints a vivid portrait of high society a century ago.

Clarendon Hall at York house, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Frodo : St Margarets' Wardrobe Swap & Sale

'Nothing to Wear?'

As the party season approaches and with the credit crunch looming, the answer to your wardrobe crisis is the St Margarets' Wardrobe Swap & Sale. Donate your beautiful guilty or worn-once purchases and buy someone else's back all in aid of FRODO^*

All we want you to do is:

1. Be brutally honest with yourself and dig out those beautiful things you know deep down you will never wear again, even though you wish you could
2. Drop them off with us on Saturday 18th October at The Winchester Hall, Turk's Head, Winchester Road, St Margarets 11am - 3pm (or call the Clothes/Ticket Hotline below)
3. Buy a ticket for the exclusive St Margarets' Wardrobe Sale Evening on Thursday 20th November at the Ballet Rambert School, St Margaret's Drive from 7.30pm
4. Help some desperate children get a better life
5. Feel good about yourself

Golden Rules:

• No rubbish and only clean things please!
• Don't forget shoes, jewellery, bags, but we draw the line at underwear…

For more information, or alternative collection arrangements call the Clothes/Ticket Hotline on 020 8744 0700

^* FRODO is a small hardworking charity that helps disabled orphaned children in Romania. Every £ donated will provide urgent medical treatment for an unwanted child and change their life. The Wardrobe Sale is part of a series of St Margaret's based events aiming to raise £25,000 to send a team of doctors out to Romania to help those children most in need.

www.frodokids.org.uk

With thanks to the following supporters; Ballet Rambert, Oddbins, Oushka, Renew Medica, Jigsaw, Boden, Paul Smith, Marks & Spencer, KallKwik Twickenham, Joules, LK Bennett, Mulberry

Book Now 2008 : Ann Leslie: Killing My Own Snakes

Fleet Street legend Ann Leslie's autobiography is a witty, incident-filled account of her life as one of the most influential journalists of our time. Ann was appointed Foreign Correspondent of the Daily Mail almost 40 years ago, an association that still endures, and was made a dame in 2007 for her pioneering journalism. Chaired by journalist Robert Chesshyre.

Clarendon Hall at York house, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 concessions).

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : Young People's Event - Gail Porter: Laid Bare

Television presenter Gail Porter will talk about her autobiography, an account of her early life as a model before becoming presenter and parent. It is an honest and inspirational story of her journey overcoming anorexia, bipolar disorder and alopecia.

For 12-18 year olds but everyone welcome.

The Coach House at Orleans House Gallery , 2.00pm, Under 18s £3, Students £5, Adults £8 (£7 Concessions)

Book this event online.

Book Now 2008 : artsrichmond Youth Writers' Festival - Awards Ceremony 2008

The culmination of young peoples' creative work during the summer will be the presentation of awards including the Borough's Youth Laureate for 2008.

Entry details for the Festival, including creative writing workshops in September, from info@artsrichmond.org.uk.

Please note, the creative writing workshops will no longer be held at the Orange Tree Theatre. Please check this website for details of the new venue. The awards ceremony will still take place at the Orange Tree Theatre.

Booking necessary from info@artsrichmond.org.uk.

Book Now 2008 : Desert Island Books

If you were marooned on a desert island, what books would you take to sustain you while you waited for rescue? Novelist Lee Langley is back by popular demand with four literary guests.

Orange Tree Theatre, 7.00pm, £13 (£11 Concessions)

To book tickets for this event, please call the Orange Tree Theatre Box Office on 020 8940 3633

Book Now 2008 : Richard Fortey: Dry Store Room No.1 (The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum)

Richard Fortey is former Senior Paleontologist at London’s Natural History Museum and he takes us behind locked doors to give a fascinating account of a hidden world of untold treasures. He combines rigorous professional learning with a gift for prose that sparkles with wit.

“Richard Fortey is without peer among science writers”

Bill Bryson

National Physical Laboratory, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 Concessions)

Book this event online

Richmond Theatre : Calendar Girls

Supported by Clydesdale Bank PLC

“We're going to need considerably bigger buns”

At first glance it should look like your classic WI calendar. Jams, cakes, sewing and all that. Except for one tiny thing…the ladies are not naked, they're nude.

A group of extraordinary women, members of a very ordinary WI, persuade one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference.

Puzzling their husbands, mortifying their children and riding the wrath of the outraged WI, they achieve their goal of raising money for charity, but inadvertently spark a global phenomenon.

Adapted by Tim Firth from his smash-hit film of the same name, Calendar Girls is quirky, poignant and hilarious.

Book Now 2008 : Andrew Graham-Dixon: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel

In the autumn of 1508, Michelangelo put the first brushstroke to his most ambitious creation, his vast fresco cycle recounting the legends in the Book of Genesis.

In his new study of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, writer and broadcaster Andrew Graham-Dixon tells the fascinating human story behind its creation and analyses its many layers of meaning.

Hampton Court Palace, 7.30pm, £8 (£7 Concessions)

Book this event online

Richmond Theatre : Peter Pan

Fly away on a spectacular journey of wonder and excitement into the magical world of Neverland for the swashbuckling spectacular pantomime Peter Pan.

Join Peter, Wendy and the Lost Boys on their awfully big adventure to save Tinker Bell from Captain Hook and his crew of dastardly pirates!

The Croc is ticking as flights to Neverland are now boarding, so Hook your tickets for a fantastic festive treat for the whole family that will leave you thinking happy thoughts! (You may even get to sit in the same seat that Johnny Depp famously used when he played J.M. Barrie in the film Finding Neverland!)

Furniture Scheme Richmond upon Thames : Open Day

Come and see what we have to offer. We have cheap, good quality second-hand furniture to sell.

We are keen to recycle and reuse as much as we can. Help us do this by supporting us and sharing your recycling ideas.

If you have any good quality furniture to donate, please contact us (020 8755 4665)

Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames (ETRuT) : Art Picnics: Christmas card making

Christmas card making workshop

Ticket price

• Individuals - £15 (Environment Trust members — £10)
• Family* - £30 (Environment Trust members — £20)

*two or more people, at least one of whom is under 18 years old

Advanced booking is essential — please call the office on 020 8891 5455 or e-mail info@art-picnics.org.uk to book your place.

Richmond Concert Society : PAUL WATKINS & HUW WATKINS

• Beethoven: 7 Variations on Bei Maennern, WoO46
• Debussy: Cello Sonata in D minor
• Elliott Carter: Sonata for Cello and Piano
• Schumann: 3 Fantasiestuecke, Op. 73
• Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F, Op. 99

PAUL WATKINS cello HUW WATKINS piano

Paul Watkins first came to public attention as winner of the string section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1988. Equally in demand as a conductor, in 2002 he won both first prize and audience prize at the Leeds Conductors' Competition.

As a cellist Paul performs regularly with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras. He has made five concerto appearances at the Proms performing works by Elgar, Sullivan, Lutos

Orange Tree Theatre : Mary Goes First

By Henry Arthur Jones

• Directed by Auriol Smith

Political shenanigans as an election approaches, honours for sale, local councillors and putative MPs changing parties from Conservative to Liberal and back again, and even fear of a minimum wage, all feature in this delightful 2008 1913 comedy.

Mary Whichello, the leader of society in a middle sized manufacturing town, is distinctly put out when her husband's main rival Thomas Bodsworth is knighted for his services to the local community. Drastic measures are required. A dinner party at the home of a young solicitor, anxious to make his way and marry Mary's sister, provides an ideal opportunity, especially when Lady Bodsworth presents such a sitting target. The events of the night disrupt the whole of Warkinstall for months and years to come and even reverberate to Westminster.

Richmond Theatre : Swan Lake

Ellen Kent Productions presents The Russian Classical Ballet Theatre Ellen Kent returns with the best of Russian ballet, including the outstanding Alexei Terentiev and Kristina Terentiev, Grand Prix winner of the International Dance Competition, Vienna 2007. Together with principal stars of international reputation and a full orchestra, they deliver performances of breathtaking technique and dazzling artistry.

The heartbreaking tale of Swan Lake is set against a background of enchanting German fairytale castles, dense forests and moonlit lakes. Its hauntingly beautiful music, the aura of romantic tragedy and two legendary pas de deux make this magnificent production one to remember.

Richmond Theatre : Coppelia

Ellen Kent Productions presents The Russian Classical Ballet Theatre Ellen Kent returns with the best of Russian ballet, including the outstanding Alexei Terentiev and Kristina Terentiev, Grand Prix winner of the International Dance Competition, Vienna 2007. Together with principal stars of international reputation and a full orchestra, they deliver performances of breathtaking technique and dazzling artistry.

Coppelia is a jewel of the traditional ballet repertoire. This delightful tale of an eccentric toymaker whose amazing creations include a beautiful, lifelike doll is told through exquisite elegance and amazing technique.

Richmond Concert Society : STEPHAN LOGES and EUGENE ASTI

• Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98
• Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39
• and songs by Mendelssohn, Hahn and Grieg

STEPHAN LOGES baritone EUGENE ASTI piano

Stephan Loges won the 1999 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and was also a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem under Helmuth Rilling.

Since then, he has sung Bach under Sir John Eliot Gardiner as part of his Bach 2000 project, sung the Bach Passions with both the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and sung with many other great orchestras: Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia; London Philharmonic; Muenchner Bach Choir and Orchestra; Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg; Odense Symphony Orchestra; Orchestre des Champs-Elysees; Ulster Orchestra; Northern Sinfonia; and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Stephan Loges' extensive Lieder repertory includes Schubert's Schwanengesang, which he has performed with Roger Vignoles, Schubert's Winterreise and Brahms' Die schoene Magelone. He has also performed regularly with Graham Johnson, including appearances at the Klavierfestival Ruhr in Germany, and made his New York debut at the 92nd St Y with Alexander Schmalcz, with whom he also gave his first full Wigmore Hall recital. Most recently he stood in for Simon Keenlyside at the Wigmore Hall performing songs by Wolf with Malcolm Martineau and Dorothea Roeschmann and gave recitals at Carnegie Hall, New York, La Monnaie Brussels, and the Schleswig Holstein Festival. He also appeared with Iain Burnside as part of his Century Songs project and sings regularly in the United States, where he gave a recital as part of the highly respected Vocal Arts Series in Washington. He has recorded with Graham Johnson as part of their Schumann and Schubert series, and songs by Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann with Eugene Asti.

Eugene Asti studied piano at the Mannes College of Music in New York with Jeanette Haien. In 1982 he was awarded a full scholarship to study at Fontainebleau in France where he studied with Gaby Casadesus, Henri Dutilleux and Claude Helffer. He received a Fulbright Award to study piano accompaniment with Graham Johnson at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he now teaches.

He has received numerous awards including the Megan Foster Prize (Maggie Teyte Competition) and the Ferdinand Rauter Memorial Prize (Richard Tauber Competition).

He has performed at many of Britain's leading music festivals, including those at Aldeburgh, Arundel, Cheltenham and Lichfield.

Much in demand as an accompanist, Mr Asti has toured with Dame Margaret Price throughout Europe, given several recitals with Dame Felicity Lott, and made his Wigmore Hall debut with Elizabeth Connell. He has close working relationships with Susan Gritton and with Alison Buchanan. He has recorded a CD of the songs of Eric Coates with Richard Edgar-Wilson.

As a musical editor, he has completed a Schubert partsong for Graham Johnson's Hyperion Schubert Edition.

Richmond Concert Society : THE RODOLFUS CHOIR

• Allegri: Miserere mei
• and music by Tallis, Stanford, Mahler, Wagner and Bruckner

Ralph Allwood conductor

The Rodolfus Choir is made up of singers aged 25 and younger who have been chosen from past and present members of the Eton College Choral Courses for prospective choral scholars. Each year these six-week-long summer courses attract some 350 students between the ages of 16 and 20, and of these perhaps a dozen are invited to join the Rodolfus Choir as places become vacant.

Since its foundation in 1984 the choir has toured in France, Italy, and Austria, and has appeared at many English festivals including two appearances at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester.

In the last two years the choir has been more active than ever, singing in several festivals (BBC Proms, Ryedale, Three Choirs, Snape Proms and the York Early Music Festival), making three CDs, and broadcasting on Songs of Praise.

Its recent recordings include music as diverse as Monteverdi, Grier, Tallis and German Romantic motets. All have attracted extremely complimentary press notices, with tracks broadcast on Classic FM and BBC Radio 3.

Richmond Theatre : Spider's Web

After the Agatha Christie Theatre Company's hugely successful productions of The Hollow, The Unexpected Guest and most recently And Then There Were None, comes the thrilling fourth instalment in this much acclaimed series.

When the wife of a Foreign Office diplomat discovers a body, she attempts to dispose of it before her husband returns home with an important client. When her house guests are persuaded to help her, it becomes apparent that not all of them were strangers to the deceased!

And so the web of deceit starts to unravel.

Richmond Concert Society : IMOGEN COOPER

IMOGEN COOPER piano

• Bach: Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826
• Schubert: 6 Moments musicaux, D780
• Schubert: Sonata No. 18 in G, D894

She is an outstanding artist, one of the finest pianists now playing. Go, listen, and wonder how many better pianists there are alive in this country, or anywhere. So reported the critic in the Daily Telegraph about a recital by Imogen Cooper.

She makes a welcome return to the Richmond Concert Society after many years. Recently, she has been recognised by receiving the CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours in 2007 and by being presented with the Instrumental award from the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society in 2008.

She will be performing music by a composer whose works she has been closely associated with for many years — Franz Schubert. His Moments musicaux are delightful miniatures and his G major Sonata is one of the greatest among the many sonatas that he composed. The recital will also include Bach's Second Partita in C minor.

As a solo recitalist she has given concerts in New York, Chicago, Paris, Vienna, Rotterdam, Prague and at London's Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall. She has played with all the major British orchestras as well as the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Imogen has a busy international career in a wide repertoire which includes recitals with singers, and it might be recalled that several years ago she performed Schubert's Winterreise with Sarah Walker for the RCS.

This recital has been picked by the President of the Richmond Concert Society, Lady Panufnik, as this season's “President's Concert”.

Richmond Concert Society : NASH ENSEMBLE OF LONDON

• Richard Strauss: Capriccio, Op. 85 - Prelude
• Schoenberg: Verklaerte Nacht
• Brahms: String Sextet No. 1 in B flat, Op. 18

One of the best known and respected musical ensembles is the Nash Ensemble of London. Over the years it has won numerous awards including the Edinburgh Festival Critics award “for general artistic excellence” and two Royal Philharmonic awards “for its breadth of its taste and its immaculate performance of a wide range of music”. It is this wide-ranging approach to music which sets the Nash Ensemble of London in a special category.

Established 45 years ago, the ensemble has made many notable recordings including, recently, the Brahms String Sextets, the first of which will be performed at their Richmond Concert event.

The programme also includes some of the most romantic of late 19th-century music in Schoenberg's beautiful Verklaerte Nacht, a very early work by this composer who later broke down musical barriers.

Six members of the Nash Ensemble of London will be taking part in their Richmond Concert Society appearance. One of the violinists, Malin Broman, will be making her second appearance this season as she performed in our opening concert, given by the Kungsbacka Piano Trio. Marianne Thorsen also plays violin, with Lawrence Power and Philip Dukes playing viola. The two cellists are Paul Watkins, again making his second appearance this season, and Tim Hugh.

Richmond Concert Society : GAUDIER ENSEMBLE

• Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
• Schubert: Piano Quintet in A, D667, Trout

The Gaudier Ensemble have performed with much success in the past for the Richmond Concert Society, and it is always a pleasure to welcome back such a distinguished collection of musicians. They come together, this body of European musicians, to perform and record the chamber music repertoire for wind, strings and piano and, being true Europeans, bring with them an international outlook and style to their playing.

It was in 1998 that the ensemble made their first appearance, a resounding success, at the Wigmore Hall. Soon afterwards they recorded Schubert's Octet which was recommended as first choice in BBC Radio 3's “Building a Library”.

Their regular tours include appearances in major concert halls and festivals throughout Europe. In the UK they have appeared at the Edinburgh Festival and the Cheltenham Festival.

For their performance of the Quartet for the end of Time, one of the most moving chamber works of the 20th century, composed by Messiaen when he was in a German prison camp during the Second World War, the important clarinet part will be played by Richard Hosford, the principal clarinettist of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Richard is also a member of the Nash Ensemble of London and with them has recorded the complete chamber works of Poulenc and also a CD of the chamber music of Mark Anthony Turnage.

Susan Tomes, the pianist in the Messiaen and the Schubert, has been described as “one of the brightest jewels in Britain's cultural crown”. Susan was the first woman to study music at King's College Cambridge which had been an exclusively male college for 400 years. She was a founder member of Domus and is now well known internationally as part of the Florestan Trio. Susan has also published a number of books including Beyond the Notes.

The cellist of the ensemble is Stephen Marks who was born in Germany and is the principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Iris Juda (viola) was born in Holland and now lives just outside Salzburg. She is a founder member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has played several times for the Richmond Concert Society when she performed with the Hanson String Quartet and the Gaudier Ensemble.

Lesley Hatfield (violin) read music at Clare College, Cambridge and then continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music. For four years she played with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and is now the Leader of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Marieke Blankestijn (violin) was born in the Hague and studied with Sandor Vegh in Salzburg. At the age of 21 Marieke won the International Mozart Competition. Since 1985 she has led the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

For the performance of Schubert's “Trout” quintet Stephen Williams (double bass) joins the ensemble. Stephen was a founder member of the Britten Sinfonia. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra.