Jonathan Powell Memorial Concert

Free entry (booking required)

The JdP Music Building at St Hilda’s College is holding an afternoon of concerts in memory of the great pianist and composer, Jonathan Powell. Jonathan was a featured artist at the JdP for the past fifteen years, in which time he made a number of extraordinary concerts and recordings of a huge range of repertoire. A significant composer in his own right, Jonathan was particularly acclaimed for his performances of a wide range of contemporary music and was renowned for his performances of Finnissy and Xenakis, as well as the music of many British composers. As a recording artist, Jonathan also made world premiere recordings of much neglected 19th and 20th repertoire, including Sorabji, Sabaneev, Rubinstein, Eiges, Kornauth, Medins and Winterberg.

Furthermore, Jonathan Powell had a strong connection with music students of the Faculty of Music here in Oxford. He was temporary director of performance for one term here in 2016, in which time he gave a number of composition and performance master classes. He is also greatly missed by pianist and composer students of St Anne’s and St Hilda’s College, with whom he worked closely in recent years.

The programme below has been spontaneously put together by an abundance of the remarkable musicians whom he has crossed paths with. Not only is it a unique opportunity to get to know more about Jonathan Powell and his legacy, but as a concert it really will be a remarkable opportunity to hear an incredible range of rare 19th, 20th and 21st century musical repertoire associated with the piano. It is an event not to be missed by anyone interested in classical music repertoire of this sort.

Concert 1 | 2.30 – 4.30pm

Sabaneev, “In the memory of Scriabin” – Abel Sanchez-Aguilera (piano)

Powell, Partita – Nicholas Hodges (piano)

Interval

Albeniz, Evocation – Julian Jacobson (piano)

Harry, SWF Baden-Baden (Powell), Finale: Ad Astra (Abschied). Julian Chen (piano), Anna de Bruin, Momo Ueda (violins), Joshua Hayward (viola), Joseph Spooner (cello)

Winterberg, Piano Sonata no. 4 (2nd & 4th movts) – Andreas Skouras (piano)

Finnissy, English Country Tunes (selection) – 3 movements Ian Pace (piano)

Fauré, Barcarolle no.1 – Ian Pace (piano)

Tea and cake served at the Pavilion. At 5pm excerpts will be shown of a video interview Jonathan made with Natalie Tsaldarakis in 2020.

Concert 2 | 5.30 – 7.00pm

Powell, Reminiscenza – Michael Finnissy (piano)

Lyatoshinsky, Piano Trio No. 1 op. 7, Allegro non troppo – Anna de Bruin (violin), Joseph Spooner (cello), Julian Chen (piano)

Szymanowski, Songs of a Fairytale Princess (songs 1 & 6) – Betty Makharinsky (soprano), Julian Jacobson (piano)

Hayes, Elemental (extracts) – Morgan Hayes (piano)

Hannan, Through the looking glass – Morgan Hayes (piano)

Sorabji, Gulistan – Abel Sanchez-Aguilera (piano)