It’s always a pleasure to highlight certain concerts, and particularly a concert series. The Radcliffe Centre in Buckingham  is a state of the art refurbished  concert venue in a Church, now a listed building on the University of Buckingham Campus; it has a fine Steinway piano. The church will play host to an exciting new series of concerts featuring various celebrated artists. This collection of concerts will be held every first Wednesday of the month, commencing on February 5th, with a celebrity launch.

Violist Ziya Shen and pianist Anthony Hewitt will open the series, offering an innovative and interesting recital programme which will include works by Bloch, Brahms, Ravel and Prokofiev. Shen and Hewitt have already been busy this week performing together at Royal Festival Hall and tomorrow night at the Wigmore Hall (February 2nd), indeed this is their only concert outside London.

Sixteen year old Ziya Shen won the 11th Lionel Tertis International Festival and Competition 2013, setting a new record for the youngest winner of this prestigious prize. From China, she is in the UK for two weeks only.

Anthony Hewitt is founder of the Ulverston International Music Festival now in its 11th year, and an international prize-winning virtuoso whose communicative performances have won him critical acclaim worldwide. Career highlights include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, RPO and Wigmore Hall. Most recently his performance of Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K. 467 sold out at both the Royal Festival Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall.

A unique addition to the programme is the inclusion of a specially composed poem by Artist in Residence, Graham Roos to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Chinese Cocklepickers’ disaster (5/2/2004), an event which has resonances for both performers: Chinese born Ziyu and Cumbrian Hewitt, whose home town, Ulverston overlooks the fated Morecombe Bay.

The series is presented by Seven Star Productions which is organised and run by Yvonne Evans of Seven Star Concerts.

Publications

Melanie Spanswick has written and published a wide range of courses, anthologies, examination syllabuses, and text books, including Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). This best-selling graded, progressive piano course contains a large selection of repertoire featuring a huge array of styles and genres, with copious practice tips and suggestions for every piece.

For more information, please visit the publications page, here.