Programme - 12 April 2019

The relationships between three of the greatest musicians of the 19th century, Johannes Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann are amongst the most deeply felt in classical music. The courtship and marriage of Clara and Robert, their friendship with Brahms and after Robert's early death, the passionate artistic friendship between Clara and Brahms are revealed through their songs and cello music with readings from their letters. 

The Ridgeway Ensemble was formed in 2008 to bring both popular and less widely performed music to churches and communities within Bucks, Beds and Herts. More recently, the ensemble has performed further afield, including a concert tour of the South of France  They have performed at National Trust property Claydon House, and recent engagements have included concerts for the Aylesbury Festival, Buckingham University, Girton College, Cambridge, Hampstead Music Club and West Lodge Park, Hadley Wood.

Judith Sheridan (voice) studied in Manchester and Lancaster before heading for Germany where she spent ten years happily treading the boards as an Opera Diva! Since returning to the UK she has performed regularly at home and abroad with the Midgard Ensemble, Duality and Twenty21. She has taught voice at Exeter University, Queen’s University Belfast and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.  She currently teaches in London and Berkhamsted.  She regularly leads workshops with ”Counterparts” and conducts the Beacon Community Choir and Ivinghoe Singers and Sing Wilstone. Judith is vocal consultant to and associate conductor of The Amade Players and, as Artistic Director and conductor of Toccata €Musical Productions for Charitable Causes, has toured India, Kenya, Zambia and Sri Lanka. Her special interest in the music of Jewish composers banned by the Nazis has led to performances and lectures in the UK and USA, and a CD entitled ”Forbidden Voices”€� is available on the Divine Art label.

Margaret  Richards (cello) was born in London and educated at Girton College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. For 6 years she played opera, operetta and symphony concerts  in the orchestra of the Staatstheater Darmstadt, Germany, before returning to the freelance world in London to pursue her interest in baroque music in particular. She has given concerts both at home and touring abroad  as a member of many orchestras including the London Festival Orchestra, the London Classical Players and the Hanover Band, and has appeared as both cellist and viola da gamba player with numerous chamber  ensembles such as Florilegium, the New London Consort and the Cambridge Baroque Camerata. She plays regularly with the Holborne Players in Cumbria. With the Apollo Consort she has recorded works by the 17th century composer John Jenkins. She now lives in Buckinghamshire, teaching in London and giving concerts at home and abroad.

Daniel King-Smith (piano) performs internationally as both soloist and accompanist. A finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year, he went on to win the Harold Craxton and Max Pirani prizes as a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and prizes for both solo and accompaniment at the Haverhill Sinfonia competition. Formerly staff accompanist at both the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music Junior Departments and at the Purcell School, he has performed at the Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall, and now works entirely as a freelance chamber musician. Daniel has recorded a number of CDs, including releases with Anna Hashimoto on the Meridian label.

William Winfield (reader) is a modern languages graduate of Cambridge University. The former head of a London independent school, William is an accomplished violinist and chamber music player.  He has forged strong links with a school in India and returns regularly to teach the students and to mentor individuals.

William combines his lifelong passions for chamber music and languages as reader for many Ridgeway concerts