Part of the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society 23/24 season.
ABOUT THE HAFFNER WIND ENSEMBLE
The Haffner Wind Ensemble is one of Britain’s leading chamber ensembles and one of the most established wind quintets in Britain. Each member of the ensemble is a chamber musician and a soloist as well as a principal of the Britten Sinfonia; in addition, all are experienced teachers in the UK and abroad. The breadth of their musical experience as individuals and their extensive work together in the Britten Sinfonia combine to create a secure and fluent ensemble, one which plays with freshness and vivacity and which excels not only in the classics of the wind repertoire but also in contemporary music.
In addition to playing wind quintets, the ensemble brings together colleagues and guests to play larger scale chamber music, including quintet with piano, octet and nonet as well as works such as Mozart’s Gran Partita for thirteen winds and the new arrangement by Maurice Hodge of Mozart’s Piano Duet Sonata K497 for the same forces with flute. Pianists with whom they have worked include Imogen Cooper, Paul Lewis, Angela Hewitt and Julius Drake.
The Haffner Wind Ensemble’s repertoire includes many standard classics as well as contemporary works, old and new arrangements and music for education programmes and workshops. The ensemble can boast an impressive list of new commissions from such leading composers as Michael Berkeley, Martin Butler, Gary Carpenter, Phillip Cashian, Colin Matthews, Anthony Powers and John Woolrich. The ensemble enjoys an enviable reputation for imaginative programming, juxtaposing the classic and the contemporary, for championing contemporary music, for outstanding musicianship and, above all, for its warm and engaging performances.
ABOUT NICHOLAS DANIEL
Nicholas Daniel OBE has long been acknowledged as one of the world’s great oboists and is one of Britain’s best known musicians. He has significantly enlarged the repertoire for his instrument with the commissioning of hundreds of new works.
Nicholas dedicates his life to music in many varied ways. He records and broadcasts widely, including regular recordings on the Harmonia Mundi Label, and he boasts a huge following internationally on social media. He is proud to support and patronise many important initiatives, charities and trusts, and has directed several music festivals and concert series, most notably in Germany and Dartington, and has been Music Director of the Leicester International Music Festival and lunchtime series for many years. He is highly sought after as a teacher, being Professor at the Trossingen Musikhochschule in Germany.
He has been a concerto soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors,
performing a huge range of repertoire from Bach to Xenakis and beyond, premiering works written for him by composers including Harrison Birtwistle, Henri Dutilleux, James MacMillan, Thea Musgrave, John Tavener and Michael Tippett, as well as encouraging many younger composers to write for the oboe. His recording of concertos by Vaughan Williams and MacMillan was awarded the BBC Music Magazine Premiere Award in 2016.
Image credit: Eric Richmond
Manchester Chamber Concerts Society
