Overview
Enjoy a performance by the Alexandra Ensemble; soprano Emma Tring and violinist Robin Martin.
"A truly Dynamic Duo of soprano voice and violin, clear words, supremely well-phrased, astonishing coloratura and seriously sensitive to all the detail and subtlety of the music …”
Programme
Michael Finnissy - Four Motets
Gustav Holst - Four songs for voice and violin
Andrew Toovey - Almost
Rebecca Clarke - Songs with violin
Michael Finnissy wrote his Four Motets for voice and violin in 2020 with "Emma's thrilling high soprano voice in mind, and was delighted that Robin's violin playing complemented the range and expertly varied colours so beautifully ..."
Alongside these motets they will perform a collection of Emily Dickinson settings by Andrew Toovey which they premiered in 2018, and music by Gustav Holst and Rebecca Clarke.
Performers
Alexandra Ensemble
Wife and husband team soprano Emma Tring and violinist Robin Martin formed Alexandra Ensemble in 2018 and performed frequently in venues around their home in South East London including taking part in the Proud Songsters online recital series during the pandemic of 2020. The Ensemble reformed in 2024 and their inaugural concert was on March 1st in Victoria Rooms Bristol with guest pianist Libby Burgess, in which they premiered a new version of John Pickard’s Verlaine Songs which was written for them. The orchestral version will be released on the BIS label later in 2024 and features Emma Tring alongside BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
Emma Tring (soprano)
Emma studied Music at Bristol University and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and is now a successful soloist and ensemble singer in the UK and abroad. She has been a member of EXAUDI vocal ensemble since 2017 and regularly performs with them around the UK and Europe. As a full-time BBC Singer Emma is looking forward to a busy Proms season and being a big part of the BBC Singers Centenary concert this October!
Emma has performed operatic roles with companies including European Chamber Opera, I Fagiolini and BBC Singers. As a soloist she has premiered many works and has performed with all the BBC Orchestras, the LSO, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, English Sinfonia, Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Britten Sinfonia, The Hanover Band, RPO, AAM, The Bristol Ensemble and St James Baroque, as well as Choral Societies around the UK. She also recently joined new vocal ensemble Vox Urbane whose aim is to promote diversity within choral music. She has performed widely with I Fagiolini and has worked with Britten Sinfonia voices, The Clerks, The Scholars and The Sixteen.
Robin Martin (violin)
Born in central London, Robin attended Dulwich College as a music scholar. After teaching and travelling in India he went to the University of Bristol, where he gained a degree in Historical Studies. Consecutive full scholarships to Trinity College of Music then enabled him to study the violin with Diana Cummings and Simon Blendis, and he was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma, followed by an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction. Following a happy year in Chile with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra, Robin returned to London and worked as a freelancer with many of the UK's leading symphony, chamber, opera and ballet orchestras before joining the BBC Concert Orchestra, his spiritual home, in November 2023. He loves the variety of work, which in the next few months includes performances with artists such as Elbow, The Pet Shop Boys and Texas for Radio 2’s Piano Rooms; playing Mozart for a Radio 4 podcast; recording at Abbey Road with Guy Barker and his Big Band; a run of Puccini and Rachmaninov operas with Bryn Terfel at Grange Park Opera; Sibelius at Queen Elizabeth Hall; The Queens of Soul in Valletta, Malta; and several BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall including concerts celebrating the music of Sarah Vaughan and Henry Mancini.
Details
This event is open to everyone, free to attend and there is no need to book.
Join us for a glass of madeira before the concert from 18.15 in the upstairs gallery.
The concert will end in time to attend Formal Hall.
Access
This event will take place in the Dining Hall on the first floor of our main building. There is step-free access with a lift and an accessible toilet.
Photograph by Julian Guidera.
