Below is our archive of newsletters, sent to members on a quarterly basis. Please click on a date heading to download a newsletter PDF.
This issue celebrates a Gramophone Award for Songs for Peter Pears featuring Berkeley’s songs, and reports on performances of his music in Poland and Cambridge. The committee discovers two works by Michael Easton paying tribute to his teacher. Adam Pounds performs Berkeley’s Divertimento in B♭ with the Academy of Great St Mary’s and the aid of beautifully typeset orchestral parts that the Society commissioned.
Marking its 25th anniversary, the Lennox Berkeley Society reflects on its growth from a small meeting in 2000 to an active organisation supporting recordings, performances and research worldwide. Recent news includes upcoming concerts, arrangements of Berkeley songs, newly discovered correspondence, and the recording of Adam Pounds’s Symphony No. 4.
At the Society’s AGM at the Razumovsky Academy, members enjoyed a concert of early Berkeley works for guitar and piano. Online Journal articles continue attracting international readers, while concerts, festivals and young performers are helping introduce Berkeley’s music to wider audiences.
Berkeley’s music has been included widely in recent concerts. Performances at the Wigmore Hall highlighted guitar and vocal works, while pianist John Mark Rose toured northern England with Berkeley programmes supported by the Society. A new Yorkshire chamber orchestra will also include the Serenade for Strings in its inaugural concert.
A year on, Berkeley’s Divertimento in B♭ is gaining new popularity thanks to the Sinfonia of London recording and newly typeset orchestral parts funded by the Society, with further performances planned. Meanwhile, plans progress for a Lennox Berkeley Composition Challenge at Pembroke College, Cambridge, encouraging students to compose works inspired by Berkeley.
The Society celebrates growing momentum for Berkeley’s Divertimento in B♭, with new orchestral parts now in use and upcoming performances, including by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. A new recording of the Five Housman Songs wins praise, while the Society considers moving its printed Journal online to ease workloads and broaden access.
A delightful summer AGM at the Razumovsky Academy featured a memorable concert, new members, and lively recollections of Lennox Berkeley. Adam Pounds returns as Chair. News also includes a generous donation, acclaimed recordings of Berkeley’s songs, upcoming performances in Poland, and a new album from composer Michael Berkeley.
Celebrating the successful Chandos release of Berkeley’s Divertimento in B♭ with John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London, praised by critics and topping the Specialist Classical Chart. Plans advance for clearer orchestral parts, while work continues on online Journal articles and a proposed Composition Challenge for young composers.
The Lennox Berkeley Society introduces the first edition of its newsletter for members. Current initiatives include publishing Journal articles online, improving the orchestral parts for Berkeley’s Divertimento in B♭ ahead of a new recording, and exploring a composition challenge to support young composers at A-level standard.