Center the Teacher

High Heels and Horse Hair: Alice Rickards (violin) and Sonia Cromarty (cello)

Tuesday 2 April 2013 • 7.30pm
Tin Hut, Gartly (map)

Tickets £10.00, £6.00 (concession), free (schoolchildren)
available from Deveron Arts, Orb's Bookshop, Rizza's shop, or at the door

A Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Huntly-based composer and teacher Ronald Center

As well as Ronald Center's own duet for violin and cello, the programme will feature the first performances of a collection of strikingly varied short pieces that have been specially written for the Ronald Center 100th anniversary concert by young people aged from 12–19 from seven different countries.

Alice and Sonia will also play the exhilaratingly virtuosic folk-tune based duo written in 1914 by Zoltán Kodály and a piece by local composer David Ward.

Both established performers in Britain and beyond, Alice Rickards (violin) and Sonia Cromarty (cello) come together to demonstrate just what's possible from 8 strings, 4 f-holes and 2 bows. Their fresh, dynamic playing explores the versatile repertoire of the string duo from the Baroque restraints of Bach and Corelli to the Impressionist sound world of Ravel. They also champion the music of their homelands, bringing to prominence some of the wealth of music to emerge from Scotland and Australia. A lively, engaging new duo — don't miss the opportunity to hear them perform.

Alice Rickards is currently a member of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She completed her undergraduate degree at the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia, before moving to the UK to study at the Royal Academy of Music where she gained a Masters with Distinction. She has had a successful and varied chamber career to date, winning the Gertrude Langer Chamber Music Prize as leader of the Minerva Quartet and also touring Australia as part of a virtuoso violin and cello duo, High Heels and Horse Hair. Alice has appeared as a soloist on many occasions, including performances with Southbank Sinfonia, the Baroque Orchestra at Dartington International Summer School and at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, where she premiered new works by Australian composers. Alice also has a great interest in period performance and has performed with many of London's early music ensembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Retrospect Ensemble and the Kings Consort.

Aberdeen-born Sonia Cromarty studied cello and baroque cello at the RSAMD gaining a First Class Honours degree and Post-graduate Diploma with Distinction. During her college years she won numerous prizes for solo and ensemble playing and since graduating she has enjoyed a busy and varied freelance career that has taken her all around the world. Sonia particularly enjoys chamber music and is also a member of the Rhona Mackay Trio, Amici Cello Trio and Daniel's Beard. She performs regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Opera and has also appeared with the RSNO, Scottish Ballet, The Scottish Ensemble, Paragon Ensemble and Red Note Ensemble. As well as performing, Sonia enjoys bringing music to the community through teaching and education projects in a wide range of settings.