St Mary’s Church, Hay-on-Wye, HR3 5EB. Doors open at 6.30pm. Bar.

Tickets: tba

Programme

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:   Quartet No. 19, ‘Dissonance’

Freya Waley-Cohen:  Dances, Hymns and Songs for Friendship

Bedřich Smetana:   Quartet No. 1, ‘From my life’

For over two decades, the Sacconi String Quartet has been captivating audiences with their unanimous and compelling ensemble, consistently communicating with a fresh and imaginative approach.  Formed in 2001, the four founder members, Ben Hancox - violin, Hannah Dawson - violin, Robin Ashwell - viola, Cara Berridge - cello, share an unwavering passion for the string quartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm.  The Sacconis enjoy a busy international career, and are Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music and Quartet in Residence for the town of Folkestone.  Unchanged since its inception, Sacconi is Britain’s longest-established string quartet. The Sacconi’s prolific recording career covers a broad swathe of repertoire from Haydn to present day. Their 21st anniversary album of Beethoven and Schubert reached the Classical Top Ten, and their most recent release features five major works by Graham Fitkin.  Other releases of recent years include premiere recordings of works by Roxanna Panufnik, Jonathan Dove and John McCabe, and the magnificent Taneyev Piano Quintet with Peter Donohoe. This January, the Sacconi gave the first UK premiere in twenty years of Terry Riley’s Sun Rings, becoming the first quartet to perform it since the Kronos Quartet.  For their twentieth anniversary, the Quartet commissioned their latest piece from Jonathan Dove, On the Streets and In the Sky, now released on Signum Records.  Their film of Dove’s first quartet Out of Time was released on Amazon in 2021.  They continue to give fully staged performances of Beethoven’s late quartets, entirely from memory, in collaboration with theatre director Tom Morris. As Quartet in Residence for the town of Folkestone and its surrounding areas, the Quarte enables creative collaborations with local artists and projects, and an embedded outreach programme. Recent performances of Beethoven on the Beach and Glass on the Warren seafront have attracted large audiences, many of them experiencing the energy of chamber music for the very first time. Their Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone is firmly established among the UK’s major chamber music festivals and attracts audiences from far and near for its vibrant atmosphere and dynamic programming. The Quartet is indebted to the Royal Society of Musicians and Ellen Solomon for the use of their instruments.