Sacred + Modern: Chamber Side by Side with Stephen Upshaw

In this programme, Trinity Laban viola faculty Stephen Upshaw is joined by string, wind and piano students for a concert of chamber music exploring the links between sacred music and contemporary composition.

Through the lens of two queer American composers closely linked to the thriving downtown scene in New York City across different generations, these works will resonate through St. Alfege Church and ask us about what the  process of communal music making means today.

Written in 1979 Julius Eastman’s Gay Guerilla acknowledges the centuries old function of music as amplifier of highly charged feelings of conviction. Eastman puts his own spin on this spiritual fervour in works such as Our Father and Holy Presence of Joan D’Arc. In Gay Guerrilla, Eastman quotes Martin Luther’s famous hymn A Mighty Fortress is our God and creates a contemporary minimalist Choralfantasie.

Further illuminating the Anglo-American connection, Nico Muhly’s “Gibbons Suite”, is an arrangement of the great 17^th century English composer Orlando Gibbon’s sacred choral works for chamber ensemble. Imbuing each instrument with specific vocal qualities, Muhly’s glowing music translates text into sound.

Performers

Victoria Churcher clarinet (Muhly only)

Chun He Yu Piano (Muhly only)

Christina Schuetz violin

Mariapia Ferreri violin

Grace Byrne violin (Eastman only)

Stephen Upshaw viola

Dana Concear viola (Eastman only)

Gabriel Falcade cello

Max Lamprecht double bass (Eastman only)

American violist Stephen Upshaw regularly appears in festivals around the world including the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Lucerne, Huddersfield, Aix-en-Provence, Wien Modern and Glastonbury, where he recently collaborated with Max Richter and Tilda Swinton. Much in demand as a chamber musician, he is a member of the award-winning Solem Quartet – praised for their ‘“immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and recognized as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Tai Murray, the JACK Quartet, Gary Hoffman, Jess Gillam, Philippe Graffin, Jennifer Stumm and Garth Knox. Recent engagements have taken him to The Paris Philharmonie , London’s Barbican, Wigmore and Royal Festival Halls, Tokyo Opera City, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw and Concertgebouw.

A noted interpreter of contemporary music, Stephen is also a member of London’s Riot Ensemble  – winners of the inaugural Ernst von Siemens Foundation Ensemble Prize and cited by the Guardian as “the supergroup of top soloists playing new music.” He has worked closely with many of today’s leading composers, including Chaya Czernowin, John Adams, Thomas Adès, George Benjamin and Helmut Lachenmann. Expanding the repertoire of the viola through the commissioning of new music has always been a feature of Stephen’s work. He has taken part in over 300 world premieres including chamber music of Georg Haas, Sally Beamish (alongside the composer), Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Edmund Finnis and solo works of Mark Simpson, Simon Holt, Oliver Leith, Michael Finnissy and Errollyn Wallen.

In 2016 Stephen was awarded a prestigious soloist Fellowship from Trinity Laban. Stephen  serves on the faculty at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior Department, Switzerland’s  Lucerne Festival Academy (where he also co-curates the annual ‘Festival Forward’) and has been  invited to adjudicate past editions of the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and the  Royal Overseas League Competition. He plays a fine  1715 Daniel Parker viola currently made available to him by the Stradivari Trust.