This will be the fourth year that Ilkley Concert Club has presented Afternoon Concerts featuring young musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music.
Initiated to give performance experience to promising students on the verge of a professional career the concerts are open to all and have delighted local music lovers with the chance to enjoy high quality afternoon events.
As well as providing excellent entertainment over the years several of the early performers are now established professional chamber musicians and this year the Treske Quartet, who first performed in Ilkley as post graduate students in 2022 are returning, fully fledged, to appear at an evening concert on December 11.
This year the performers, with each individual or ensemble providing a half hour recital, include piano and guitar soloists, a piano trio, a saxophone quartet and a string quartet.
Tuesday 5th November: Pianist Nadia Dotsiak and the members of Trio Kagura have come to the RNCM in Manchester from Ukraine, Japan, New Zealand and Lithuania to follow professional studies on the Masters course.
Thursday 14th November: For guitarist Ravi Nathwani this is a return visit to Ilkley as a soloist after performing last year with mezzo, Sophie Clarke. Ravi is currently on the International Guitar Festival’s Young Artist Programme and completed all his graduate and post graduate studies at the RNCM.
The Solasta Saxophone Quartet are starting their third year playing together, and have already won some of the most prestigious prizes at the RNCM. If they match the Olias Quartet performance last year we are in for a treat – both saxophone quartets are students of Rob Buckland of the Apollo Quartet.
Thursday 5th December: The young Cedar String Quartet will perform a full one hour recital. Already praised by Donald Grant of the Elias Quartet for their ‘very beautiful and hugely promising performance’, they are establishing themselves as frequent recitalists in Manchester.
The three afternoon concerts are open to everyone and will take place between 2.30-3.30pm at the King’s Hall, Ilkley.
Tickets costing £10 for a single concert or £25 for the series of three are on sale on line at ilkleyconcertclub.eventbrite.com, or by application to Josephine Wesley, 71 Ilkley Hall Park, Ilkley, LS29 9LD [Send a cheque addressed to Ilkley Concert Club and include your own address for the return of tickets].
Tickets will also be available on the door. For further information see the Ilkley Concert Club website at ilkleyconcertclub.org.uk.