Music
“Giants of the Baroque” concert
“Giants of the Baroque” concert
Sunday 31 January 2010 , 7 pm
Auditorium, 5th floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Patumwan Junction
On Sunday 31 January the Siam Orchestra Foundation is inviting serious music lovers to attend an evening of solo, duo and trio sonatas by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Corelli and Vivaldi at the new Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Rama 1 Road, Pathumwan Road intersection. The concert which starts at 7pm promises to be quite spectacular with world class Artistes Mr. Richard Harvey, British Academy Award winner composer; conductor, and Virtuoso Performer – Flauto dolce / Recorder; Mr. Benedict Cruft, Dean of Music at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts – Baroque Violin, Mr. Shalev Ad-el, renowned Israeli conductor and harpsichordist – Harpsichord and Mr. Apichai Leamthong, International Academy of Music Bangkok – Cello.
At the heart of the Siam Chamber Orchestra Foundation's ambitions lies a bold plan to help young musicians, promote concert tours and nurture the spread of classical music right across Thailand. The most visible sign of this activity is the Siam Chamber Orchestra itself, a carefully selected group of locally based musicians, augmented for its bigger events by some very well known international artists brought in from Europe and America.
But this is more than just an orchestra. It is the embodiment of a dream for English composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Harvey, who now lives in Thailand. For Richard has created the Siam Chamber Orchestra Foundation to play the music he loves in Bangkok and take it to parts of the country where this kind of music is never heard. Harvey, who composed the music for films like Suriyothai and Naresuan, has also written for some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. He wrote the much-loved Kyrie for the Magdalene for The Da Vinci Code and has contributed to Disney's The Lion King and several of the Harry Potter movies.
But his musical genius has always refused to be pigeon-holed. He has toured in a duo with guitar virtuoso John Williams, conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and worked on pop and rock projects with Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello.
“Western classical music is music for the whole world,” says Harvey. “It’s a lot less narrowly Western than people think, as it has all kinds of roots in Greek, Arabian, Indian and even Chinese music. And it is no coincidence that some of today’s leading soloists – pianists, violinists and cellists, for example – are musicians from non-European backgrounds.
“We will raise money and awareness with concerts in Bangkok, provide instruments for young people whose families cannot afford them and do everything we can to make music teaching available right across the country.”
The SCO Foundation is keen to find enough corporate and individual sponsors to allow most of its concerts to be free. Even where this is not possible – in the larger venues in Bangkok, for example – it has adopted a policy of making many free tickets available for students.
Shalev Ad-El has quickly developed a reputation as one of the world’s most sought-after continuo players. As a soloist he has played the harpsichord with most of the leading orchestras in Israel including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. He has given recitals throughout Europe, the Far East, South and Central America, and the USA.
Benedict Cruft has been performing the set of six masterpieces for unaccompanied violin by J.S.Bach since 1987 and has played the three Sonatas and three Partias as a pair of concerts over 75 times.
Admsion free, for reservation, please contact Siam Orchestra Foundation
Tel. 02 7153717, 089 4908737
