James Turnbull, Robyn Parton, Libby Burgess

This event is one of the Barnes Music Society's two contributions to the 2016 Barnes Music Festival, the theme of which is Handel and the composers of Barnes.

Programme
Handel - Nine German Arias
Herbert Howells - Sonata for oboe and piano
Stephen Dodgson - Sonata for oboe and piano
Jim Parker - Sonata for oboe and piano
Gerald Finzi - Dies Natalis

Described by The Independent as "a worthy champion" of contemporary oboe music, James Turnbull has dedicated much of his performing life to promoting and extending the oboe repertoire. James has performed frequently throughout the UK and Europe including a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2010. He has broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and appeared as a soloist in numerous UK festivals including Oxford, Leicester, Cambridge, Thaxted, Ryedale, Machynlleth, Swaledale and, King's Lynn. James has released solo recordings for Champs Hill Records, Quartz Music and the ABRSM as well as featuring on a disc of Thea Musgrave's works for Harmonia Mundi USA. Gramophone Magazine described his debut recital disc, Fierce Tears, as a "notable debut" and it was selected as the Editor's Choice Recording by Classical Music Magazine.

James was seven when he began his oboe studies, learning with Irene Pragnell, Melanie Ragge, Celia Nicklin, Tess Miller and Chris Cowie. After gaining a First Class degree in music from Christ Church, Oxford University, James continued his oboe studies at the Royal Academy of Music and under Nicholas Daniel at Trossingen Musikhochschule in Germany, where he was awarded First Class for both his Artist and Soloist Diplomas.

James is an active chamber musician and is Artistic Director of Ensemble Perpetuo. Founded in 2013, Perpetuo is a chamber music collective that specialises in multi-art form collaborations and innovative ways of performing chamber music in new contexts. James has also performed with other chamber music ensembles including the Berkeley Ensemble and the Allegri String Quartet.

Aside from his performing interests, James is dedicated to broadening the appeal of the oboe and encouraging young people to learn the instrument. James also teaches at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and gives masterclasses across the UK.

James plays a Loree Royal Oboe and Cor Anglais supplied by Crowthers of Canterbury. For more information about James and his playing.

Robyn Parton made her debut as Mercedes (Carmen) with the Opera Comique de Paris while studying at the RCM. She read Music at Worcester College, Oxford, has completed ENO's Opera Works programme, Sir John Eliot Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir Apprenticeship, and is currently studying at the Wales International Academy of Voice assisted by a Goldman Award from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

Robyn was a Kathleen Ferrier Award finalist in 2012, semi-finalist in Berlin's prestigious Das Lied Competition 2013, and winner of Garsington Opera's Helen Clarke award, the Nachwuchspreis at Salzburg's Oper im Berg Festival, Making Music's concert award and the Oxford Lieder Festival prize.

Libby Burgess is a pianist dedicated to the fields of song and chamber music, working with some of the finest singers and instrumentalists of her generation. She enjoys a diverse song recital schedule, ranging from the Wigmore Hall and St John's Smith Square to the Aldeburgh, Buxton and Oxford Lieder Festivals; from music societies around the country to broadcasts on Radio 3.

A committed chamber musician, Libby relishes partnerships with a range of string and woodwind players, collaborates regularly with The Berkeley Ensemble, and has performed in The Sacconi Quartet's festival. In 2013 she established Konstellation, which presents programmes exploring the intersection of song and chamber music; this combined interest is reflected in her discography, which ranges from The English Oboe: Rediscovered with James Turnbull, released in 2013 to excellent reviews, to a forthcoming disc featuring songs of madwomen with mezzo-soprano Clare McCaldin.

Born in Sussex, Libby read music at Oxford, where she was the first female organ scholar at Christ Church Cathedral, before specializing in piano accompaniment with a postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. Here she was awarded numerous accompanist prizes and graduated with the DipRAM for an outstandingly high final recital mark, subsequently being awarded both the Shinn and Lucille Graham fellowships.

Libby's passion for working with singers extends beyond the piano: she has conducted Britten and Mendelssohn operas for Ryedale Festival Opera, and is highly regarded as a chorusmaster, in which role she collaborated with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in the premiere of his Kommilitonen!

She is regularly asked to give choral workshops and be a guest conductor for choirs throughout the country, and is in demand as a vocal coach. Libby is resident accompanist on courses ranging from Dartington International Summer School to the annual Cello Gathering, gives masterclasses at schools and universities across the UK, and since 2014 has been Head of Keyboard at Eton College.