Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) will have made an international first by the end of this week after giving two performances at the US Library of Congress in Washington DC.
Part of Oliver Knussen’s US Library of Congress residency, the BCMG’s first concert took place last night (Tuesday 8 April) at the Coolidge Auditorium.
The programme included works by Stravinsky, Knussen and Schoenberg.
The second concert will take place this Friday (11 April) with pianist Huw Watkins joining the ensemble for an evening of British and American chamber music. The programme celebrates a varied programme of twentieth–century works and will include the Washington premiere of Elliott Carter’s final work Epigrams.
Other works include Britten's Phantasy Quartet, Neikrug's Piano Trio, Knussen's Cantata and Bridge's Piano Trio No. 2.
Co–founder and principal cellist, Ulrich Heinen, and principal violinist, Alexandra Wood, have been given the opportunity to perform on Library of Congress Stradivarius instruments.
Holly Harrison