Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra (ESO), who gave the highly acclaimed premiere of British composer Deborah Pritchard’s violin concerto Wall of Water this past October at LSO St. Luke’s, bring the work to the National Gallery in London, where Pritchard’s inspiration – a new series of paintings by the celebrated contemporary artist Maggi Hambling – is on exhibit until mid-February. The performance, on 30 January 2015, will feature violinist Harriet Mackenzie, and will be proceeded by a discussion of the project by Hambling, Pritchard, Mackenzie and Woods, moderated by Colin Wiggins, special projects curator of the National Gallery.

Wall of Water was commissioned by Woods and the ESO, and written for Mackenzie. The premiere, which included projections of Hambling’s paintings behind the orchestra, was universally praised for Pritchard’s “uncommonly interesting work … superbly judged in terms of consolidation, unity and contrasts,” according to Classical Source, who continued, “one must pay tribute to the players’ musicianship … and to Kenneth Woods, whose skill and undemonstrative mastery of the music was a joy to behold.” Musical Opinion admired Pritchard’s “lovely, elegiac work with a beauty all of its own”, “Hambling’s marvellous large scale images, so full of dynamic movement and restrained colour”, and Mackenzie, who “poured a beauty of tone into the labyrinth of sound that the audience is drawn into in what is an ambitious work, full of nuances and colours.”

Both the premiere and the National Gallery performances are supported by the Britten-Pears Foundation and Arts Council England.

The premiere performance was captured by Nimbus Records and has been released as a special-edition single in celebration of the National Gallery’s exhibit of Maggi Hambling’s Walls of Water paintings, which will be on display until 15 February 2015.

Pritchard, whose synaesthetic approach to composition results in many of her works being written in?response to visual art, was inspired by the intense power, movement and depth of Hambling’s paintings. In Wall of Water, “each wave is depicted musically as it transforms regarding architecture, energy and colour in an expressive dialogue between soloist and orchestra,” explains the composer.

Maggi Hambling CBE is one of Britain’s most significant and controversial artists. Her Walls of Water paintings have their origins in the artist’s experience of gigantic waves crashing onto the sea wall at Southwold in Suffolk. These expansive works, measuring over six by seven feet, are being displayed for the first time at the National Gallery exhibit.

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For any media enquiries, interview and image requests, please contact Melanne Mueller, melanne@musiccointernational.com, +44 (0) 20 8698 6933 or +1 917 907 2785

Follow the project on Twitter via #WoW

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
Friday, 30 January 2015 – 6:30 pm (discussion and performance)
The National Gallery, Sainsbury Wing Theatre
Deborah Pritchard Violin Concerto “Wall of Water”
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Discussion with Maggi Hambling, Deborah Pritchard, Harriet Mackenzie and Kenneth Woods, moderated by Colin Wiggins, special projects curator of the National Gallery

Performance by Kenneth Woods, English Symphony Orchestra, and violinist ?Harriet Mackenzie