25 February 2023

UPDATE

The Ealing Guitar Society would like to thank all it's patrons past and present for keeping the society going since December 1969.

As we all know, the effects of Covid have had damaging effects on live music in general.  Many societies have closed their doors since 2020.

We just about made 50 years, Carlos Bonell playing for us in December 2019.  The next concert was given by Fiona Harrison in March 2020, just before Covid shut everything down.  In retrospect it is fitting that Fiona have the last gig, being for many years a resident of Ealing and a regular player at the society.

Will the society continue at any point?  Time will tell.

Wishing you all happiness and good fortune,

Steve Dell

Chairman of Ealing Guitar Society.

01 March 2020

Fiona Harrison


Fiona Harrison.

Fiona has given numerous solo recitals throughout the country, broadcast live on BBC radio, been featured on television and performed in ensemble at The Barbican Centre and London Purcell Room. She has performed Rodrigo’s “Concierto d’Aranjuez” numerous times in the UK and Spain and was a guest artist with the “Stichting Gitaarorkest Nederland” early 2019.

Fiona has been a guest tutor for three consecutive summers at The Royal Greenwich Guitar Festival, 2017-2019, and taught for several years at the International Summer Guitar Festival, West Dean. Fiona worked for the ABRSM professional development team for many years and co-directed numerous very popular residential flute and guitar courses with Julie Wright and Atarah Ben-Tovim, MBE, in the UK and abroad.

Alongside performing and teaching, Fiona runs regular workshops in Surrey, has provided performance classes at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, 2019, and has adjudicated their prestigious Alison Stephens Competition. Fiona has also adjudicated various music festivals in the South East and worked as an external assessor for the Royal College of Music junior department. Fiona enjoyed working as a teacher assistant at Yale University and at various times has provided inset training sessions for the Surrey County Music Service.

Fiona Harrison graduated from the Royal College of Music and with a Masters degree from Yale University, USA. The later degree was enabled through a scholarship from Yale and an Award from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

            PROGRAMME


Sonata in D major                                                    D. Scarlatti
Sonata in A major

Grande Ouverture op.61                                         Giuliani

Prelude no.3                                                              Villa-Lobos

Aconquija                                                                  Agustín Barrios Mangoré
Danza de Altiplano                                                 Leo Brouwer

Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios                       Agustín Barrios Mangoré

Tango en Skaï                                                           Dyens


                                                                    Interval


Registro from Suite Venezolana                            Lauro
Danza Española No.5                                              Granados

Oblivion                                                                    Piazzolla

Danza Brasilera                                                        Morel

Koyunbaba                                                                Domeniconi
I Moderato
II Mosso
III Cantabile
IV Presto

01 December 2019

50th Anniversary Celebrity Concert : Carlos Bonell

 

Carlos Bonell was born in London of Spanish parents and studied at the Royal College of Music with John Williams where he was appointed the youngest-ever professor. He gained prominence through his Decca recording of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez which has been repeatedly singled out as the finest version available. 

Over the past few years Carlos has been helping Sir Paul McCartney in editing, notating and recording a concerto he is composing for guitar and orchestra. 

Carlos’ discography includes more than 20 CD and DVD recordings. His 2012 album Magical Mystery Guitar Tour went to number one on the UK classical iTunes charts.  

In 2018 Carlos spent time in the studio recording music for the UK TV series Endeavour (the young Inspector Morse). Carlos also recorded the guitar music and theme with orchestra for the original Inspector Morse series – 30 years ago! 

His most recent album Once We Moved Like The Wind includes the first guitar recording of music from The Piano by Michael Nyman. 


From Cuban Landscape to Strawberry Fields,
including music by Brouwer, Coeck, Villa-Lobos, Pheloung, and The Beatles


Programme:

Leo Brouwer:
b.1939
Danza del Altiplano

Heitor Villa-Lobos:
1887-1959
5 pieces:
Prelude 1-
Andantino expressivo: homage to the Brazilian people
Prelude 3-
Andante: homage to Bach
Choros no.1
Prelude 4-
Lento: homage to the Brazilian Indian
Prelude 2-
Andantino: homage to the local hustler

Leo Brouwer:
Cuban Landscape with Bells

INTERVAL

John Lennon: 1940-1980
Strawberry Fields*

Armand Coeck:
b.1941

Suite Nocturno:
Evening Star
Twilight
Midnight Dance
(1st London performance)

Barrington Pheloung: 1954-2019
The theme from Inspector Morse*

George Harrison: 1943-2001
Here Comes The Sun*


*arranged by Carlos Bonell

06 October 2019

Ben Travers (1st half) & Martin Byatt (2nd half)



Ben Travers. 

Ben Travers grew up in southwest London and fled to distant parts as soon as possible. He has travelled and played in Australia, Latin America, eastern Europe, France, Spain and Italy.

A self-taught musician, in the Eighties he finally sought professional help at Dartington College of Arts in Devon. Here, as a guitar performance undergraduate, he studied with the legendary acoustic guitarist John Renbourn.

He has arranged and composed several pieces of his own. Otherwise his repertoire owes much to his travels in South America, to jazz and bossa nova. Apart from Renbourn, he lists Bert Jansch, John Scofield, John Martyn and Carlos Barbosa Lima as his favourite players.

Programme.
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (MacColl/Jansch )/Banish Misfortune (trad/Thompson) 

The Wedding/Cherry (Ibrahim/Travers/Renbourn)

Three Full Bags (trad/Travers)/Sheebeg Sheemore (O'Carolan)

After You (Travers)

This Time (Klugh)

One Note Samba (Jobim)

Little Niles (Weston/Renbourn)
Anji (Graham)
 


Martin Byatt

Martin has been delighted to play on several occasions at the Ealing Guitar Society since leaving The London College of Music in 1979.

He has been involved in many musical projects, including classical trios, folk quartets and Latin jazz bands.

He has worked in several West End theatre productions most notably Zorro at the Garrick Theatre playing the music of the Gypsy Kings.

For this recital he has gone back to his classical upbringing and has assembled some of his very favourite pieces!


Programme.

Handel - Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
( arr. David Buckingham) 

Libertango – Piazzolla 

Sonata K.380 - D. Scarlatti
( arr. David Russell ) 

Preludio Op.5 No.1 - Barrios 

Fugue BWV 1001 - Bach 

Zapateado - Sainz de la Maza 

Fandango - Rodrigo 

Bate-Coxa - Pereira 

La Vida Breve - De Falla

08 September 2019

Manus Noble


 Venue:  St Matthews Church Hall, North Common Road, Ealing W5 2QA
(hall is at end of alleyway to the left of the church).

Admission:  £13 / £10 concessions
Doors open at 7:00pm, recital at 7:30.

Irish guitarist Manus Noble is one of the UK's leading classical guitarists, known for his strong, unique sound, original compositions and varied recital programmes that aim to break down audience's preconceptions of what is possible on the guitar. Noble studied with Craig Ogden, Gary Ryan and Michael Lewin, graduating from the Royal College of Music with First Class Honours and the Royal Academy of Music with Distinction. He then went on to launch his career to wide critical acclaim, winning awards from the Musician's Benevolent Fund, Ian Flemming Trust, Countess of Munster Trust, Ivor Mairants Guitar Competition, Royal College of Music Guitar Competitions and being accepted onto the Park Lane Group, Countess of Munster and Making Music Concert Series.

Career highlights include recitals at major UK venues such as the Purcell Rooms, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Sage Gateshead, Bridgewater Hall, Kings Place and Wigmore Hall, as well as giving recitals and masterclasses at Festivals across the UK and Europe. Noble is also in high demand as a teacher, teaching at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as well as directing the National Youth Guitar Ensemble in Wales.
In 2019 Noble graduated from the European Institute of Guitar Making under the tutelage of Stephen Hill and Evan Kingma, and now works as a luthier out of his workshop in Oxford. For more information, click on 'Noble Guitars'. Manus Noble uses Concerto Carbon Cases, Knobloch Strings and performs on guitars made by Manus Noble and Stephen Hill.

Programme

Almain 
(Robert Johnson) 

Prelude No.1 
(Villa-Lobos) 

Laputa : Castle In The Sky​ 
​Howl's Moving Castle 
(Joe Hisaishi (arr. Noble))

​Sakura Theme and Variations​ 
(Yuquijiro Yocoh) 
  
Out of The Night 
(​Manus Noble) 
  
​​INTERVAL 

Mirage 
(Noble) 

​Out of Clonmel​ 
(Gary Ryan) 

Heal 
(Manus Noble) 

Railroad 
Birds Flew Over The Spire 
Rockweed 
(Gary Ryan)