British Harpsichord Society News
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| ANNOUNCING THE BRITISH HARPSICHORD SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION Submissions invited for compositions for solo harpsichord to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the British Harpsichord Society OPEN TO ALL AGES AND NATIONALITIES . Cash Prize awarded for first and second place London performance of short-listed works Publication of first place composition by Cadenza Music Results to be announced October 2012 The Judges will include: Mahan Esfahani (harpsichordist), Gary Carpenter (composer) and Pamela Nash (harpsichordist) FULL ENTRY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SHORTLY |
| GUSTAV LEONHARDT, R.I.P. It is with great sadness that we report that Gustav Leonhardt died on Monday January 16th at his home in Amsterdam, aged 83. A pioneering figure, he was an inspiration to many and no doubt his loss will be keenly felt throughout the musical world. An interview with him, previously published in ‘Goldberg Early Music magazine’, can be found on the BHS Performers page under Great harpsichordists, Past and Present. A longer tribute will follow in due course. |
| HARPSICHORD TUNING & MAINTENANCE An opportunity to learn the basics of how to tune your harpsichord and keep it in good repair. Sunday; 5 Feb 2012, 11:00 - 16:00 and Sunday; 25 March 2012, 11:00 - 16:00 The two days are intended to be complementary: A= introduction to tuning & maintenance issues B= more on tuning & introduction to basic repairs The tutor will be Andrew Wooderson http://www.andrewwoodersonharpsichords.co.uk/ Further details will be available soon, at: http://www.morleycollege.ac.uk/courses/music/1628-harpsichord_tuning_maintenance_a http://www.morleycollege.ac.uk/courses/music/1629-harpsichord_tuning_maintenance_b Enquiries: Patricia Shaw (020) 7450 1823 or Location- Morley College, 61 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7HT (near Waterloo Station and Lambeth North tube) Alternatively Full day courses, 9.30pm to 5.00pm will also be held at the Bexley Harpsichord Workshops in Bexley- very easily accessible by road or public transport. “Basic Harpsichord Maintenance” will take place on Saturday 24th March and the “Practical Tuning” course will be on Sunday 31st March. Booking essential, for more information contact Andrew Wooderson at |
| Seventh Mae & Irving Jurow INTERNATIONAL HARPSICHORD COMPETITION 21st-25th March 2012 at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Open to Harpsichordists under age 35 at the time of the competition. Preliminary qualification is by recording, submitted electronically before October 1. Jury; Ketil Haugsand (Hochschule für Musik in Cologne), Dana Maiben (Longy School of Music, continuo judge), Mitzi Meyerson (Universität der Künste, Berlin) Vivian Montgomery (University of Cincinnati CCM), and Edward Parmentier (University of Michigan). Further information, online application, and instructions for electronic submission of sound files are available at http://www.sehks.org/ Questions can be answered by contacting Vivian Montgomery at . |
| THE ENGLISH CONCERT MASTER CLASS 2012 The second English Concert Master Class for young harpsichordist-directors will take place between Monday 25 & Friday 29 June at the Foundling Museum in London. Four aspiring harpsichordists will work with The English Concert, their artistic director Harry Bicket & two solo singers in directing a range of Baroque repertoire, culminating in a public concert in which all student participants direct The English Concert. Day One will include basic coaching 1-to-1 with Harry Bicket. The English Concert is also offering the chance to assist Harry Bicket on future productions. The deadline for applications is Friday 30 March. For further details please contact Nick Morrison 020 7911 0905 or http://www.englishconcert.co.uk |
| HARPSICHORD COMPETITION IN PRAGUE Part of the 64th Prague Spring International Music Competition, to be held from 7 to 15 May 2012 The following artists have agreed to sit on the jury: Mark Kroll, USA – chairman; Borbála Dobozy, Hungary; Françoise Lengellé, France; Václav Luks, Czech Republic; Giedré Lukšaitė-Mrázková, Czech Republic; Davitt Moroney, Great Britain; and Christine Schornsheim, Germany For further details http://www.prague-spring.net/soutezni-pravidla |
| CALL FOR PAPERS - FIMTE 2012 The 11th International Festival Symposium on Spanish Keyboard Music, 11 to 12 October 2012 will be held in Almeria, Andalousia as part of FIMTE 13th International Festival of Spanish Keyboard Music. The festival will feature both mainstream and fringe concerts and a workshop on performance-related issues with Luisa Morales (13-14 October). The aim of this International Symposium is to provide a forum for new directions in the scholarship and performance of SOLER’s works. We welcome 200-250 word abstracts for 20-minute papers, as well as proposals for lecture-concerts (30-minutes). Official languages: English and Spanish. Deadline for abstracts: 1st June 2012 For further information, please contact: Luisa Morales, , http://www.fimte.org |
 | VIRGINIA PLEASANTS, RIP Virginia Pleasants who celebrated her 100th birthday in May, died peacefully at her home in Philadelphia on November 26. Joyce Lindorff, President of SEHKS writes ‘Virginia was a great friend, colleague and pioneer of the historical keyboard movement and inspired everyone she knew.’ A memorial service will take place sometime early in the New Year at Saint David’s Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania. We will announce the date, time and further details as soon as we can. Letters of condolence may be sent to her niece, Elizabeth Pleasants Whitehead, 2415 Headley Road, Bloomington, Indiana, 47408. |
| RUCKERS VIRGINAL RE-DISCOVERED It has been reported that a stunning Ruckers virginal has been found among a Collection of 800 antique musical instruments which has been in storage for decades at the Cincinnati Art museum. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110722/ENT/107230324/Art-museum-rediscovers-spectacular-instrument-collection |
| THE EARLY MUSIC PIONEERS ARCHIVE- Help Wanted. The following request has been received to help with research about the Cambridge-based harpsichordist, Mrs Mary Potts, a student of Arnold Dolmetsch she taught amongst others Christopher Hogwood, Colin Tilney, and Professor Peter Williams. A blog has been started called http://www.semibrevity.com/ with the sub-title ’The Early Music Pioneers Archive’. It is now intended to expand the research to cover many other teachers and performers of the early music revival, e.g. Thurston Dart, Arnold Goldsbrough, Edward Dent, E.H. Fellowes, Sir Anthony Lewis to name just a few. If you have personal experiences (of concerts and meetings with the people concerned) any memorabilia and/or recordings of ‘lost’ performances, anything about other "pioneers", or indeed anything else to contribute please contact |
| ITEMS FOR SALE- New Section on BHS Website. We have a successful ‘Sale and Wanted’ section which has until now been used solely for instruments. We would now like to extend this facility to include other items, spare parts, tuners, printed harpsichord music, books on harpsichord related subjects etc. We propose to charge10% for items advertised at more than £50, with free listing for those items of £50 or less. Please contact We reserve the right to withhold listing to those items we feel not relevant. |
