Rachel Helleur-Simcock is a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and The 12 Cellists of The Berlin Philharmonic. Together with International piano sensation Gwilym Simcock they will be presenting a program of French music and original pieces for cello & piano.
5:00pm Pre-concert Early Bird meal at La Casa Mia (not included in the ticket)
Why not make an evening of it and book your pre-concert dinner at La Casa Mia who are kindly helping to sponsor the concert series
Programme
6:30pm Doors open
7:00: Spotlight Concert
Music performed by talented young people from Sandbach
7:30 Intermission
Art Exhibition by Dot Burgess and Linda Coleing from Sandbach Art Club
Refreshments
raffle in aid of HANFA [a charity which provides holiday activities in Sandbach for Disabled Children]
8:00 Main Concert
Claude Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Gwilym Simcock: Poem for Cello and Piano
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Rachel Helleur-Simcock has been a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 2009. Born in 1980 in Ipswich, Rachel studied at the Purcell School of Music, The Royal Academy of Music and the Hochschule für Musik 'Hanns Eisler' in Berlin, before becoming a member of the Karajan Akademie of the Berlin Philharmonic. She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the European Union Youth Orchestra, where she was principal cellist. Rachel has worked as guest principal cellist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Orchestra and the NDR Radio Orchestra of Hamburg. Her first full-time appointment was as the principal cellist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she worked for two years. Rachel is also a member of 'The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic', a chamber group made up of the Berlin Philharmonic cello section who recently received an Echo Klassik award for their latest recording.
Gwilym Simcock has carved out a career as one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the European scene. He moves effortlessly between jazz and classical music, with a ‘harmonic sophistication and subtle dovetailing of musical traditions’. Gwilym has been hailed as a pianist of ‘exceptional’, ‘brilliant’ and ‘dazzling’ ability, and his music has been widely acclaimed as ‘engaging, exciting, often unexpected, melodically enthralling, complex yet hugely accessible’, and above all ‘wonderfully optimistic’. Gwilym has worked extensively with many British and international jazz artists including Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Brian Blade, Bob Mintzer and Bobby McFerrin, and has worked with classical orchestras including the LSO, BBC Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia and City of London Sinfonia. He has also toured with Classical virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, and is currently touring with guitar legend Pat Metheny.