70th Birthday Year Concert - Jennifer Bate

[JohnW]

A special 70th Birthday Year Concert by Jennifer Bate will be held at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

on Saturday, March 1st at 6:30pm following on from The London Organ Day. A St David's Day buffet will

be available beforehand and all are welcome to join in the celebration. The programme includes the UK

première of Jennifer Bate's Suite 'Veni Creator Spiritus'.

Free Admission - Collection - Buffet

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Sonata No 3 in A, Op 65

i. Con moto maestoso

ii. Andante tranquillo

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Two Chorale Preludes:

1.Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645

2. Wir glauben all' an einen Gott Vater, BWV 740

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Fantasia and Fugue on 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam'

Jennifer Bate (b.1944)

Suite on Veni Creator Spiritus (U.K.première)

i. Processional

ii. Intermezzo

iii. Aria

iv Toccata

Jennifer Bate is in the top rank of international organists and has long been a favourite at all the world’s

great festivals. Many composers have written for her, inspired by her phenomenal technique and ability

to bring out the colours of the organ. In 1990, Jennifer’s artistry and outstanding contribution to music

received international recognition with the Personnalité de l’Année award by the French-based jury.

She was only the third British artist to achieve this distinction, after Sir Georg Solti and Sir (later Lord)

Yehudi Menuhin. In 1996, Jennifer was granted Honorary Citizenship of the Italian province of

Alessandria for her services to music in Northern Italy over 20 years. In 2002, she was elected a Fellow

of the Royal Society of Arts, in 2007 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University

of Bristol and in 2008 she was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In April 2011,

the French Minister of Culture made her an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In July 2011,

President Sarkozy appointed her to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur,

France’s highest order.

Jennifer is recognised as the world authority on the organ works of Olivier Messiaen, with whom she

worked extensively. Her world première recording of his last masterpiece for organ, Livre du

Saint Sacrement, won a Grand Prix du Disque. In 1995, Jennifer opened the Messiaen

Festival at l’Eglise de la Sainte Trinité, Paris, where his complete organ works were performed and

recorded. Among numerous awards for her CD, were the Diapason d’Or and Preis der

Deutsche Schallplattenkritik.

Regis Records reissued the complete works of Franck and Messiaen and her historic

anthology, From Stanley to Wesley, in budget boxed sets. All were awarded the Penguin

CD Guide’s “Top Recommendation”. Her CD of recently-discovered works by Samuel

Wesley and its sequel, The Wesleys and their Contemporaries (both recorded from

first editions, on an historic organ), received great critical acclaim, as did her 5-CD

set of The Complete Organ Works of Felix Mendelssohn. More recently, Naxos

released The Complete Organ Works of Peter Dickinson. Please visit Jennifer’s

web page: www.classical-artists.com/jbate for further information.

Jennifer gives master-classes worldwide (including Oxford and Cambridge Universities),

lectures on a wide range of musical subjects and particularly enjoys working with young

people. Her pioneering education programme – A Guide to the King of Instruments -

which she delivers in any of five languages, is in great demand for all age groups. She

will open the first series of recitals on the refurbished organ in the Royal Festival Hall on

29 September 2014.

www.bloomsbury.org.uk

 

[JohnW]

We have just heard the news that Jennifer Bate will be interviewed live on Radio 3's 'In Tune' this afternoon (Wednesday) between 5:20 and 5:40. We don't have much other information at the moment but "watch this space."

There seems to be more 'organist awareness' on the radio at the moment which can only help our cause.

 

JohnW