Concerts take place at Os Agostos, near Santa Bárbara de Nexe
For the grand finale of this season, the Amigos de Música are bringing “four exceptional artists from England” to perform on June 4 and 6 at Os Agostos country estate, near Santa Bárbara de Nexe.
They are Alissa Firsova, piano, Andrew Marriner, clarinet, Tim Hugh, cello, and Katerina Nasarova, violin.
On Tuesday, June 4, the artists will play the “Quartet for the End of Time” by Olivier Messiaen, and Alissa Firsova’s own composition, “Algarvia” op 42, for violin and piano.
On Thursday, June 6, they will present the “Arpeggione” Sonata by Franz Schubert, the clarinet trio by Johannes Brahms, the “Reunion” clarinet trio op. 49 composed by Alissa Firsova herself, and “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” by Astor Piazzola.
Alissa Firsova is a British-Russian pianist, composer and conductor. Together with her composer parents, Alissa Firsova fled Moscow to London in 1991, where she enjoyed her musical studies at the Purcell School and Royal Academy of Music.
As a solo pianist, she made her Wigmore Hall and Proms debuts in 2009 and has enjoyed collaborations with Camerata RCO, Daniel Rowland, Tim Hugh, Andrew Marriner, Mark Padmore and many others.
Since winning the BBC Proms Young Composer Competition in 2001, she received three commissions for the Proms, writing for the Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic and Southbank Sinfonia.
Tim Hugh is the Principal Cello of the London Symphony Orchestra. Following his success at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Tim enjoys an international career as a soloist. He has worked and recorded with many of the greatest conductors including Valery Gergiev, André Previn, Bernard Haitink, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin and Sir Colin Davis.
Andrew Marriner held the position of principal clarinet in the London Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 2019, having succeeded the late Jack Brymer in that post. During his orchestral career, Andrew maintained a presence on the worldwide solo concert platform, in the field of chamber music, and as a teacher.
He has given recitals in London, New York, Portugal, Beirut, and has recorded much of the piano trio repertoire with the Solomon Trio. As a soloist, Andrew has been a regular performer in London, both at the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall. As both performer and teacher, his career is worldwide in its reach, taking him regularly from Europe to the Americas, Asia and Australia.
Born in Tasmania, Katerina Nasarova began playing the violin and piano at a very early age. In 2012, she won Australia’s most prestigious music competition performing Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1. Subsequently, she has gone on to make her debuts with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
As an active chamber musician, Katerina has performed across Europe and Asia. As soloist, she has performed in the Royal Albert Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Cadogan Hall, LSO St Luke’s, the Bridgewater Hall Manchester, and in Italy, Germany and the Kennedy Center in the USA, where she was invited to lead a chamber orchestra working closely with conductor Lorin Maazel.
All concerts will take place in the Auditorium of Os Agostos. Doors will open at 6pm and the concert will begin at 7pm. Wine, fruit juices and canapés will be available for self-service before the concert.
Entry donation including refreshments is €30 per person for guests and non-members, payable in advance by bank transfer (see website www.amigosdemusica.org).
For concert bookings, email reservasconcertos@gmail.com
The Amigos de Música is an international group of around 120 members who stage musical activities by internationally renowned musicians and also sponsor young Portuguese musicians. It is a non-profit organisation and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021.
For more information, visit website www.amigosdemusica.org
For membership enquiries, email helga.hampton@gmail.com
