Classical Artists Worldwide - Jane's Minstrels

JANE'S MINSTRELS, who made their debut in July 1988 at the Ryedale Festival, were hand-picked from Britain's most gifted young musicians by Jane Manning, and represent an entirely new concept in ensembles, which cuts across barriers of generation and idiom.

MINSTRELS swiftly attained an enviable international reputation, acclaimed by Press and public. As well as a nomination for one of LEB's 'Brightening-Up London' Awards, their first full season featured 3 London appearances, 2 of them at the South Bank for the SPNM and the Park Lane Group, and a tour of Spain. Engagements at the Aldeburgh Festival and Dartington, and visits to Italy, Denmark Norway and Belgium quickly followed. Their programmes combine contemporary works with classics from the early 20th Century, with emphasis on British music.

Special highlights over the years have included Jane Manning's 25th Anniversary performance of Schoenberg's PIERROT LUNAIRE , and the SPNM's 50th Anniversary Gala, both at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a Vienna Festival programme of works by JUDITH WEIR and concerts in Poland (ISCM World Music Days) and Spain, plus return visits to Aldeburgh and Dartington. Their first visit to USA in 1991 took them to Buffalo, Harvard and Princeton Universities, and a tour of California in 1997 included a concert in the famed Monday Evening series in Los Angeles.

They continue to appear regularly in London. In recent seasons they have presented programmes at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the BBC Proms, and at the Spitalfields Winter Festival in the SPNM's 60th Anniversary season.

Notable premieres have included ALISON BAULD'S 'Pluto' (a Spitalfields 2000 commission - their 6th appearance at the Festival) ANTHONY PAYNE'S 'Scenes from the Woodlanders' (commissioned by Keele Concerts Society) and PAYNE'S 'Poems of Edward Thomas' (commissioned by Malvern Concert Club). Both the latter works are available on a new CD. In June 2006 they premiered PAYNE's Horn Trio at the Wallace Collection ( see photo).

Susanne Stanzeleit ( violin), Dominic Saunders (piano) and Roger Montgomery (horn) after the world premiere of Anthony Payne's Horn Trio at the Wallace Collection, London in June 2006, with the composer and Morton and Estelle Sosland, who commissioned the work in celebration of their Diamond Wedding

They regularly perform PIERROT LUNAIRE at a variety of venues, from Turku Castle, Finland (in the moonlight), to the Wigmore Hall. They recently presented it at Kingston University as part of an innovative project with young composers, promoted in conjunction with the SPNM, and their next performance will be at Hampton Court Palace in June 2007, in the context of a Harlequinade. In November 2006 they performed Walton's FAÇADE with actor Tim Pigott-Smith.

Their 4 CDs for NMC have won critical acclaim. The first , featuring music by ELISABETH LUTYENS, was selected as a Record of the Year by The Gramophone.

DISCOGRAPHY:

ELISABETH LUTYENS: Chamber music and vocal works. NMC D O11.
JANE MANNING. Works for voice and ensemble by Bauld, Connolly, Elias, Gilbert, Nash, Payne, Weir . NMC D O25.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MAYFLY (The Chamber Music of Anthony Payne). NMC D O56.
THE STONES AND LONELY PLACES SING (The Chamber Music of Anthony Payne). NMC D 130