Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

A message from Alun: unfortunately circumstances have prevented me from spending as much time as usual on organising and publicity for our next season of concerts over the past few weeks. As the first concert is only a few days away now it’s looking increasingly unlikely I’ll be able to produce the usual poster and flyer, and details on this website about each concert are likely to appear later and be sketchier than usual.

All the concerts should go ahead as normal, and I  should be able to resume normal service within a month or two.  The first season of concerts went very well,  so I’m hopeful that the lack of publicity won’t affect numbers too badly, especially if some of you can help by sharing details about the concerts on social media or you tell friends and family about what’s coming up.

The line-up for the next couple of months of Tuesdays Till Two looks like this:

16th April: Alastair Penman and Jonathan Pease (Saxophone & Piano)
23rd April: Alexander Ardakov (Piano)
30th April: Krassimira Jeliazkova Jones and Svetlana Kalinichenko (Violin Duo)
7th May: Simone Alessandro Tavoni (Piano)
14th May: Oliver Morrell and Will Sims (Tenor & Piano)
21st May: Becky Rea Chevis and Tom Jesty (Flute & Piano)
28th May: Katharine Parsons, Leon King and Fergus Black
4th June: Eira Lynn Jones (Harp).
11th June: Dana Morgan and Charles Matthews (Flute & Piano)

There will also be a Sunday Serene Sounds concert at 3.30pm on 21st April when pianists Frances Wyatt and Ivan Garford will be giving an unusual and exciting concert involving two pianos.

Plans for 2024

We’re still in the process of booking performers for the year ahead, but our Tuesday concert programme is starting to take shape, with all of the dates in the first season now filled.

Here’s the line-up so far:

13th February: Pennyless Folk (Violin & Guitar)
20th February: Steve Bean (Classical Guitar)
27th February: Chris Brown (Organ)
5th March: Serenity Flutes & Fergus Black (Flutes & Piano)
12th March: Jean-Samuel Bez and Gina Kruger (Violin & Piano)
19th March: Viola Lenzi & Isabella Gori (Piano Duet)

There will also be one Sunday Serene Sounds concert before Easter:

25th February at 3.30pm: Ida Pelliccioli (Piano)

You can download the poster/flyer as a PDF: Spring 2024 Concerts.

The line-up for the second season is also almost complete

16th April: Alastair Penman and Jonathan Pease (Saxophone & Piano)
23rd April: Alexander Ardakov (Piano)
30th April: Krassimira Jeliazkova Jones and Svetlana Kalinichenko (Violin Duo)
7th May: Simone Alessandro Tavoni (Piano)
14th May: Oliver Morrell and Will Sims (Tenor & Piano)
21st May: Becky Rea Chevis and Tom Jesty (Flute & Piano)
28th May: Katharine Parsons, Leon King and Fergus Black
4th June: Eira Lynn Jones (Harp).
11th June: Dana Morgan and Charles Matthews (Flute & Piano)

We’ll be adding more details for our second season of concerts soon.

Be Heard!

Peterborough Cultural Alliance wants to hear from every Peterborough resident aged 16+ about what you do and where you go to have fun and be creative. It has commissioned the “Be Heard!” survey, which takes about ten minutes to complete, and which will help the alliance make good decisions about how to make Peterborough a great place to find fun and creative things to do. Completing the survey also gives you a chance of winning one of six £150 shopping vouchers.

St John’s is one of the venues listed in the survey, so if you’re someone who comes along to concerts or exhibitions here or takes part in our craft activities you should definitely make your voice heard!

The survey is running all this month so don’t worry if you don’t have time to take part right now.

19th March: Lunchtime Concert: Viola Lenzi and Isabella Gori (Piano Duo)

For our final lunchtime concert before we take a break for the Easter holidays we welcome two London-based Italian pianists, Viola Lenzi and Isabella Gori, who have been playing together as a piano duo since they met as students at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Viola and Isabella will be bringing us a programme of French piano duets by 19th and 20th century composers. It is a return visit for Viola, who performed here last year with clarinettist Hannah Shilvock, but it is Isabella’s first appearance here.

As ever the church will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks.

The concert will begin promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but those who are able to afford it are asked to make a donation. The suggested amount is £6.

Programme:

  1. “Ma mere l’oye” by Maurice Ravel
  2. “Petite Suite” by Claude Debussy
  3. “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saëns
  4. Sonata by Francis Poulenc

About Viola Lenzi:

Italian-born Viola Lenzi started studying piano at the Pietro Mascagni Conservatoire in Livorno, where she received a first-class Bachelor’s degree under the guidance of Monica Cecchi and a Master’s in Piano Performance with Maurizio Baglini. Viola moved to London in 2018 to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where she completed her Postgraduate Advanced Diploma with Sergio De Simone and Tirimo. Viola participated in many masterclasses given by prestigious pianists such as Micha Dacic, Daniel Rivera, Sergio De Simone, Jeffrey Swann, Pascal Rogé, Martino Tirimo, Megumi Masaki, Stephan Loges and Dr Emily Kilpatrick. Viola took part in the New Lights Contemporary Festival, London Film Festival, won the Elizabeth Schumann Lieder Competition with the soprano Anna Marmion and was highly commended in the semi-final of the Soloist Competition at Trinity Laban for her performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto in A Minor. As passionate collaborative pianist, she has an active music duo with bass clarinettist Hannah Shilvock and a piano duo with Isabella Gori. She has worked for the Livorno Classical Music Festival, as répétiteur of “All Aboard Opera!” company and given professional recitals in venues around the UK including Westminster Music Library, Poole Lighthouse, St George’s Bristol and Chichester Cathedral.

About Isabella Gori:

Isabella Gori is an Italian pianist based in London. Isabella started her musical path at the age of eight, taking her first piano lessons at the local music school of her home-town in Italy. As she was graduating at school, she had lessons with the pianist David Bacci, preparing to join the music university. After school, she studied classical piano at L. Boccherini Conservatoire in Lucca (Italy) with Riccardo Peruzzi. At the Conservatoire she attended a series of masterclasses with the pianists Aquiles Delle Vigne, Benedetto Lupo, and Vincenzo Balzani. She spent her third year of undergraduate studies in Katowice, Poland, at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music. Here she studied with Joanna Domanska and had chamber music lessons with Joanna Galon Frant. After graduating with honours, she decided to move to London to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Here she studied with Margaret Fingerhut, Douglas Finch and Martino Tirimo and attended the annual masterclasses with Pascal Rogé and Rolf Hind. London and its cultural heterogeneity gave her the opportunity to broaden her interests in music and art. Thanks to Douglas Finch, who holds improvisation classes at the Conservatoire, she took an interest in classical and jazz improvisation, using it in multidisciplinary and collaborative performances with the dance department of the Conservatoire.

This interest led to collaborations with dancers and visual artists also outside the university: in 2018 she took part in the inauguration of various exhibitions by the artist Marco Nereo Rotelli in Forte dei Marmi (Italy) and she performed at the New Lights Festival in London, proposing her own project “Elements”, which involved an extemporaneous dialogue between music and dance. After being selected as a Trinity Laban Scholar for the academic year 2018/19, she graduated in 2019.

Since 2013, Isabella has worked as an accompanist in various settings including ballet and opera. She played for the production of “La Rondine” by Puccini at Teatro del Giglio and played for the performance of “The Little Sweep” by Benjamin Britten at P.zza Del Suffragio in Lucca; she has performed on many occasions as a soloist and in ensembles at the Royal Chapel and St Alfege Church in Greenwich, Southwark Cathedral, Westminster Library and at the Borough New Music and New Lights Festival of contemporary music and more. Isabella was commended at the John Halford Competition for her performance of Six Encores by Luciano Berio and at the Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Competition, playing in duo with the singer Bethan Terry.

Isabella currently lives and works as a musician and piano teacher in London. She keeps studying classical piano repertoire with Fabrizio Datteri alongside taking jazz piano classes with the pianist David Kikoski.

12th March: Lunchtime Concert – Jean-Samuel Bez and Gina Kruger (Violin & Piano)

Jean-Samuel Bez is an outstanding young violinist with a varied international career that includes both classical and non-classical projects. In this concert, his second at St John’s, he’ll once again be performing with pianist Gina Kruger. Last time Jean-Samuel performed sonatas by two composers, one female, one male, and this year he will be doing the same, but this time opting for French rather than Scandinavian composers.

As ever the church will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks.

The concert will begin promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but those who are able to afford it are asked to make a donation. The suggested amount is £6.

Programme:

Sonata for Violin and Piano Opus 114 – Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
Violin Sonata No.1, Opus 13 – Gabriel Fauré

About Jean-Samuel Bez:

Born in Pontarlier (France), Jean Samuel attended the Royal Conservatory of Music of Brussels (Belgium) where he passed his diplomas with High Distinction and was granted the Pappaerts Prize in 2016. He then attended the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (Performing Arts) in Vienna.

Jean Samuel is a laureate of numerous prizes, scholarships and international competitions, appearing as soloist including the Ensemble Orchestral of Dijon (France), the University Orchestra of Burgundy (France), the Budweis Philharmony (Czech Republic) and the Sotiropoulos Camerata of Brussels (Belgium).

As a chamber musician, Jean-Samuel plays regularly within various groups throughout the world. During the last few years he had the opportunity to play with Jean-Claude Vanden Eyden, Hagaï Shaham, Gil Sharon, and Istvan Varga. Reflecting his interest in contemporary repertoire, in 2015 Jean Samuel was the laureate of the Young Bozar Project within the Alternative Violin Duet 2Väinö. With this duet he explores new alternative formulas to traditional concerts, mixing arts and means of expression. He also plays regularly within the Icelandic folk rock/chamber pop group Arstiđir.

About Gina Kruger:

Gina holds degrees in piano from the United States and a post-graduate diploma from the Royal College of Music, London. During her studies at the Royal College of Music, she won the Fossat Award for Chamber Music which resulted in performances for the Queen of Denmark and a residency in France. She continues to appear as a recitalist locally and internationally. Her performance in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, featuring Spanish repertoire was deemed a ‘finely turned performance’ by the Irish Times in 2010. Other international venues have included solo performances in Altdorf Switzerland and in the Vienna Conservatory. She has performed extensively in Croatia, as a soloist, and with guitarist Igor Paro.

Performance engagements in the United States have included two broadcasts of solo piano works (Messiaen, Beethoven, and Schumann) on Nebraska Public Radio, and appearances at such prestigious venues as Merkin Concert Hall and The Juilliard School.
After completing studies in musicology, the result of which was a National Endowment for the Humanities grant (through Columbia University, NY) Gina has continued to develop her interest in church music as an organist, choral director, and soprano (singing regularly with choirs for Evensong and as a soloist in church settings). Having held posts in several boarding schools, chapels, and churches in London and further afield, she is currently music Director at St Mary with All Souls Church, Kilburn. She is also on the organist rota at Notre-Dame de France, Leicester Square.

5th March: Lunchtime Concert – Serenity Flutes (Flute Duo & Piano)

Tuesdays Till Two continues with a sparkling concert of vivacious flute duets from two local flautists, Ann Wright and Julie Dearden from Thurlby, with support from Fergus Black at the piano. The programme covers a wide range of music, from a classical duet by Quantz all the way to La Alborada de la Esperanza by contemporary Mexican composer, José Elizondo. There is a Spanish Dance, a Waltz, a Tarantella and a Polka. None of the composers in the programme may be a household name, but don’t let that put you off – the emphasis is on a lively tunefulness and toe-tapping rhythms that make for enjoyable lunchtime fare.

As ever, our pop-up café offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks will be open for the hour before the concert. After the concert the St John’s Community Support Hub will be open until 4.30pm, and will be serving a light meal from 2.30pm.

Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is now £6, but if that’s more than you can afford please don’t let that put you off from coming along.

Programme:

Andante and Rondo Op 25 – Franz Doppler 1821-1883
Spanish Dance Op 437 No 4 – Wilhelm Popp 1828-1902
Trio Sonata in C minor, QV 2:Anh.5 – Johann Joachim Quantz 1697-1773

  1.  Andante moderato
  2.  Allegro

Polka in E flat Op posth – Bedřich Smetana 1824-1884
Allegro from the Sonata No 1 in A minor – Jean Baptiste Loeillet, ‘Loeillet de Gant’ 1688 — ca.1720
La Alborada de la Esperanza (Dawn of Hope) – José Elizondo b.1972
Xenia and Tarantella – Eugene Magalif b.1957
Valse des Fleurs Op 87 – Ernesto Kohler 1849-1907

About the musicians:

Following an early career in primary school teaching, where Ann Wright’s flute playing took increasing prominence in her life, she studied with David Nicholson in Aberdeen, and Judith Mellor in Sheffield, gaining a diploma in flute teaching, and ultimately changing career. Firmly established, for many years, in South Lincolnshire – as flautist and tutor with the County Music Service; and as a recorder-playing member of the Early Music group, Freshe Ayre – she is enjoying the freedom since her recent retirement, to develop and share her love of flute and its repertoire.

Julie Dearden has been teaching flute for over 40 years, with her career beginning in some of the leading music departments in Cambridge schools. She now has a thriving private practice teaching both flute and piano. She has recently revived her love of performing, particularly in chamber ensembles.

Fergus Black was born in Scotland. After taking his degree at St. Andrews University, he studied music in the USA at the University of Pennsylvania and at UCLA, before returning to the UK. He is semi-retired, and chooses to play in concerts he enjoys with people he likes, and teaches only a few hours each week. He continues to conduct the St Martin’s Singers. He lives in Peterborough with his wife, Helen. His web site is at www.fergusblackmusic.uk

27th February: Lunchtime Concert – Chris Brown (Organ)

Our Tuesdays Till Two season continues with a concert of organ music – our first since July 2022 – brought to us by organist Chris Brown. It’s Chris’s first lunchtime concert here, though he performed here with flautist Abigail Fletcher last September when he played both the piano and the organ.

Chris’s programme will feature the Sonata Eroica by Joseph Jongen, plus music by J.S Bach, César Franck and Herbert Howells.

As ever, our pop-up café offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks will be open for the hour before the concert. After the concert the St John’s Community Support Hub will be open until 4.30pm, and will be serving a light meal from 2.30pm.

Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is now £6, but please don’t worry if that is more than you can afford.

About Chris Brown:

Chris Brown grew up in North Lincolnshire. He studied music at Durham University and organ with James Lancelot. He was organ scholar at Ripon Cathedral before becoming Director of Music at St Oswald’s, Durham and then Halifax Minster. He is Music Director at Priory Church, Deeping St James, and now lives in Stamford where he is much in demand as an accompanist.

25th February at 3.30pm: Sunday Serene Sounds – Ida Pelliccioli (Piano)

Our first Sunday Serene Sounds concert of the year will be given by Italian pianist Ida Pelliccioli. She will be playing a programme inspired by the work of unjustly neglected Spanish composer Manuel Blasco de Nebra. An heir in some ways to Scarlatti, his expressive world is far more searching, a quality that may sometimes recalls Haydn or Mozart, and prefigures Schubert or even Chopin. Ida’s programme will take us on a journey from Spanish keyboard music to the Viennese Classic Style through Manuel Blasco de Nebra’s work, starting with three sonatas by Scarlatti, who though born in Naples spent much of his working life in the service of the Spanish and Portuguese royal families.

We are dependent on your donations to keep running these concerts, and the suggested donation amount is £8, but please don’t worry if that’s more than you can afford.

There won’t be a full café at this concert, but tea, coffee and cold drinks will be available for twenty minutes before and after, and any profits from that will also go towards future concerts.

Programme:

Domenico Scarlatti – Sonata in D major K.492
Sonata in B minor K. 197
Sonata in F minor K. 386
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Fantasia and Fugue in C Major K. 394
Fantasia in C minor K. 396
Manuel Blasco de Nebra – Sonata n° 10 in C Major
Sonata n° 1 in C minor
F. Schubert – Drei Klavierstücke D946

About Ida Pelliccioli:

Ida Pelliccioli was born in Bergamo, Italy. She studied at the Nice Conservatoire de Région and at the École Normale de Musique de Paris – Alfred Cortot in the class of Serguei Markarov, Unesco Artist for Peace. During her studies, Ida Pelliccioli was awarded several scholarships, amongst them, one from the Zygmunt Zaleski Foundation and one from Fondation Albert Roussel.
Ida Pelliccioli participated in number of master-classes, among others with Jean-Claude Pennetier, Gerard Wyss and received a double diploma in interpretation and pedagogy, at the École Normale in Paris.

She received artistic guidance from Norma Fisher who teaches at the Royal College of Music in London, Stephen Gutman, and she is one of the rare pianists to have received guidance from the Cuban concert pianist Jorge Luis Prats.

Ida chose to avoid the international competition circuit and, before becoming a full-time pianist, received a double master diploma at the Sorbonne University – in Italian Literature and in Ancient Greek History, specializing for the latter in the practice of music during the Hellenistic period.

Ida has been performing throughout Europe, Canada and South Africa. In 2024 she will début in Sweden, Lithuania, Austria and Australia.

Ida shows a great interest in contemporary music: in September 2023 she performed music by Polish composer Elżbieta Sikora with soprano Joanna Freszel live on French radio – France Musique.

Ida has always been open to other forms of art and to collaborations. She appeared on screen, playing the role of a pianist, for the American TV Series “Find me in Paris” – Season 1 and 2 (2017/2018) and the French one “Munch” (2018).
In 2019, she was cast to double the role of the pianist in the short movie „Quand on ne sait pas voler” directed by Thomas Keumurian and produced by FILMO.

In 2022 she performed a quintet programme and in 2023 she collaborated with clarinettist Ann Lepage during a tour in the Netherlands.

Since 2021 Ida also has had a teaching position at Paris Conservatoire du 8ème arrondissement, where her class currently has 35 students.

20th February: Lunchtime Concert – Steve Bean (Classical Guitar)

For our second Tuesdays Till Two concert of 2024, we’re delighted to welcome back guitarist Steve Bean, who last played for us in November, when he accompanied singer Gabriella Pineda-Rodrigues. Steve was our first solo performer of the year in both 2022 and 2023, and his concerts always attract a large and appreciative audience.

Steve’s playing style as a solo guitarist is predominantly Classical with a Flamenco influence. His work over the years has allowed him to absorb many genres into his unique performances, giving way to varied repertoire encompassing compositions by artists such as John Williams, Einaudi & Albeniz to more popular pieces by The Beatles & Queen (Check out this Youtube video, which has now been viewed more than fifteen million times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfZmMJKIBec)

As ever, our pop-up café offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks will be open for the hour before the concert. After the concert the St John’s Community Support Hub will be open until 4.30pm, and will be serving a light meal from 2.30pm.

Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is now £6, our first increase since 2018.

13th February: Lunchtime Concert – Pennyless (Violin & Guitar) – Folk/Roots

Our Tuesdays Till Two lunchtime concerts return on Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) with a first appearance by local folk/roots duo Pennyless.

As ever, our pop-up café offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks will be open for the hour before the concert. After the concert the St John’s Community Support Hub will be open until 4.30pm, and will be serving a light meal from 2.30pm.

Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is now £6, our first increase since 2018.

About Pennyless:

Penny Stevens on violin and Les Woods on guitar form a distinctive and powerful sound as they range through the world of original and roots folk/world music. Pennyless have 6 albums to date after working together for 13 years. Expect a varied mix of up-tempo instrumentals and fanciful songs, high energy and fun!

“gorgeously quirky stuff, essential and eccentric folk rock at its best..” FATEA

“a highly enjoyable mix of English rebel folk and gentle musings” Musicians Union magazine.