Top clarinetist to perform work by local composer
ONE of the world’s leading clarinet players, Michael Collins, will be performing the premiere of a new piece by a local performer when he appears in Thurso next month.
Collins’ concert at Thurso’s West Church on June 1 will not only feature music by Weber, Brahms, Debussy and Poulenc, it will also include the first opportunity to hear Four Nocturnes by the composer, pianist and teacher Robert Fields.
Fields, a familiar figure in Caithness musical circles, lives at Brough, near Dunnet.
Among the most prominent British clarinettists of his generation, Collins won the woodwind prize at the 1978 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition.
He has since gone on to appear in concert as principal clarinetist with the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Sinfonietta, as a member of the Nash Ensemble, and as a freelance soloist and chamber player.
He has made more than 30 recordings for the Hyperion label since 1984, mostly of chamber music.
He has also recorded for DG, Chandos and EMI.
He will be accompanied in his Thurso appearance by Belfast-born pianist Michael McHale.
Since completing his studies at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, McHale has developed a busy international career as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician .
He has performed at many important musical centres, including Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Lincoln Center, New York, Konzerthaus, Berlin, Pesti Vigadó, Budapest and the Ushuaia and Tanglewood Festivals. His début solo album, The Irish Piano, was released in 2012 on the RTÉ Lyric FM label.
Tickets for the concert are £15; £12 concessions. To reserve tickets call North Highland Connections (NHC) on 0752 107 7053, or e-mail MF@northhighlandconnections.org
On June 15 NHC presents another of its Young Artistes concerts with a performance by the Sutherland Duo in Dunrobin Castle.
Then on June 27, NHC will present a lecture on Caithness’s Nordic history at Mackays Hotel in Wick.
The lecture will be given by Dr Donna Heddle, director of the Nordic Studies Centre of the University of the Highlands and Islands. More information can be found at www.northhighland
connections.org