Royal College of Music
Contemporary Consort is a professional ensemble of young classical musicians that specialises in the presentation of music by British composers from 1900 to the present. Tonight’s concert is given by four members of the ensemble, Sarah Thurlow (clarinet), Alexandra Wood (violin), Sarah Suckling (cello) and Rhodri Clarke (piano).
The ensemble was formed in 1998 by Sarah Thurlow with current and former Junior Fellows of the Royal College of Music. The group made its Purcell Room debut in the 2002 Park Lane Group Series.
Contemporary Consort has performed for the Cheltenham, Brighton, and York Late Music Festivals, at South Hill Park in Berkshire, St Giles Cripplegate and for the Bromsgrove Mixing Music Series. They have been an ensemble in residence at the King’s Lynn Festival since 2001 and they have performed for the BBC Proms Composer Portrait Series, live on BBC Radio 3, every year since 2002.
All of the players work as freelance performers, both as soloists and with major orchestras, and all are RCM Alumni. They come together to create programmes which include classic works from the twentieth century alongside pieces by well established contemporary composers and music by emerging young composers, thereby integrating the music of three generations through live performance.
In 2000, Contemporary Consort joined the Royal College of Music's New Generation Scheme, supported by the Worshipful Company of Musicians' New Horizons Fund. This has enabled Contemporary Consort to give regular concerts at the RCM featuring works by student composers and professors, and to work with students on other special projects. The ensemble was recently awarded funding from the PRS Foundation to continue its work at the RCM and elsewhere. Performances scheduled for 2006 include appearances at festivals in Leamington Spa, Leasowes Bank, Dumfries and Galloway, Hampstead and Highgate, and King's Lynn.