Concerts in the West 2008

Marine Theatre on the Road : This concert will take place at The Woodroffe School

THE OBOE BAND

Thursday 27 March Tickets £10.00

Woodroffe School is hosting this special concert by the Oboe Band. Many of the music students at Woodroffe School will sieze the opportunity to hear these leading exponents of Chamber, Theatrical & Ceremonial Music from the 17th & 18th Centuries performing on Period Instruments. The concert will begin at 7.30 and tickets are available at the door and from Lyme’s TIC 01297 442138 at £10.00. Among the pieces this talented quartet will perform are Johann Sebastian Bach’s Motet - Lobert den Herrn alle Heiden, Handel’s Rigaudon, Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and Lully’s  L’air des Hautbois.

The Oboe Band brings together four young professional musicians Sarah Humphrys,  Frances Norbury, Rebecca Stockwell, and 

Joel Raymond who specialise in historical performance.  The group was formed in 2004 to revive this once hugely popular ensemble of oboes and bassoons and to explore its rich and varied repertoire.  Their music includes pieces for theatre by Purcell and his contemporaries, ceremonial music and chamber sonatas from composers throughout Europe. "The Band has abundant vitality and freshness" wrote Jeremy Barlow in Early Music Today.

In September 2006 The Band was appointed Ensemble in Residence at the Royal College of Music. From this prestigious position its members have aimed to promote Historical Performance and its many aspects through coaching for students, giving concerts and lecture recitals. The Residency has now been extended to the academic year 2007-8, when the current activities will expand to include further research into manuscripts held in the College's library culminating in a staged performance of a Restoration Play with its original incidental music. James Murphy wrote in UpBeat Magazine, Autumn 2006 "Their concerts are packed with insight and historical detail, giving audiences a glimpse into a long-neglected musical world"