Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra, Martin James Bartlett

Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra lines up another exciting season of concerts.

Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Brahms: Symphony No 4

Soloist: Martin James Bartlett Piano
Conductor: Roderick Dunk

Our concerto this month is Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, a thrilling and lively work written in the 1920s, full of jazz-inspired musical ideas set against a beautiful and tranquil Mozart-like slow movement. The ballet Appalachian Spring, with music by American composer Aaron Copland, is about early 19c American pioneers and quotes the famous Shaker tune ‘Tis the Gift to be Simple’. We are performing the suite from the ballet made for the concert hall. Our concert ends with Brahms’s memorable Fourth Symphony, his last and in many ways his most ambitious symphonic creation.

Martin James Bartlett (Piano)

Martin James Bartlett possesses a fearless technique and plays with a wisdom and elegance far beyond his years.

He is an exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics. Bartlett won BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2014 since when he has performed with orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2018/19 season Martin James Bartlett will participate in the Verbier Festival’s short winter residency at Schloss Elmau, Germany and has been invited by Sir András Schiff to participate in a public masterclass at the Salzburg Mozartwoche. He makes his debut with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Philharmonia, and will also perform in recital in the UK, at St John Smith’s Square and the new Birmingham Conservatoire and in many other venues across the country.

At the beginning of the season Bartlett competed in the Bad Kissingen Klavier Olympiad competition, winning both second prize and the audience prize.