The Commission for New and Old Art presents: THE LONG 40s.

This selection of Germanic and Anglophone pieces asks if we’re happy with the history we’ve ended up with, and whether we could think about it differently.

Featuring:
Jago Thornton (piano)
Stephane Rancourt (oboe)
Chris Emerson (viola)
Sam Fairbrother (performance)

Programme:
J.S. Bach, Cello Suite No 1 in G major for solo Viola
Britten, Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op. 49, Solo Oboe
Britten, Elegy for Solo Viola
Cabaret Songs incl. Britten, Knussen, Eisler, Bredemeyer, Thornton, lyrics by Isaac Nowell
Goldmann, 5 duets for Oboe and Viola
The Long 40s thinks through some chamber musical tastes of the past seventy years. In their classical and cabaret forms.

Performers:

Chris Emerson: is an Australian musician, living in the North of England. A violist in the Hallé for the past 23 years, Chris also plays violin, piano, composes and arranges. He is also involved in many education projects through the Hallé and feels Bach on the viola is worthy of a wider audience.

Sam Fairbrother: writes and directs theatre. Recent credits include a pamphlet of poetry A Promenade (2023) with Pariah Press. A resident of the Mersey Basin, he is an active member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and a gay man.

Jago Thornton: is a London-based pianist and composer with influences from improvisation, jazz and electronics — his music begins with (but does not end at) extended techniques, resonances, microtones and atmosphere.

Stephane Rancourt: is Principal Oboe at the Hallé, and Senior Oboe tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music. He teaches oboe at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, and is a visiting oboe tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Doors 7pm, performance start at 7.30pm. £15 tickets.

Graphic credit: Tommy Bradley