The summer of 2013 will include a celebration of classical music at Mareel beginning with Around Britten on Tuesday 4 June; a concert by virtuoso cellist Matthew Barley in celebration of Benjamin Britten; followed the Edrom String Quartet on Friday 7 June; a performance from world-renowned musicians Lucy and Maeve Auer, Ferdinand Erblich, and Shetland resident Donald MacDonald; and finishing with a 4 day mini residency from the Scottish Ensemble from Wednesday 31 July; culminating in a concert at Mareel on Saturday 3 August; all as part of Shetland Arts’ Summer of Classical Music.

Matthew Barley is celebrating 100 years of Benjamin Britten with an ambitious national tour which will include a performance in Mareel in Shetland. In what promises to be a fascinating and intriguing solo performance, showcasing his ever-growing virtuosity as a world-renowned cellist, Barley places Britten’s powerful Third Cello Suite at the centre of a programme which also includes a suite by J.S. Bach, who greatly inspired Britten. The programme also includes solo cello music by Tavener and specially commissioned new works by Dai Fujikura, James MacMillion, and DJ Jan Bang. Tickets cost £18 and are available via Shetland Box Office.

The four musicians of the Edrom String Quartet first met over 40 years ago through studies in Vienna and Austria during 1968 and 1970 before going their separate ways to follow their careers. Maeve became a member of the Wiener Solisten and Professor of Violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna; Lucy performed a wide variety of music playing baroque violin with the Banquet of Musick and teaching at the R.S.A.M.D. and playing Scots fiddle with Scottish Borders Music and the Rowantree Company; Ferdinand became Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Hague Conservatoire of Music and his recordings with the Orlando and Parkanyi Quartets were awarded 2 Grand Prix du Disques; and Donald joined the Music Faculty of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and was Associate Principal Cellist in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

The four friends have met regularly over the years as Coaches at Spring and Summer Courses of the International Cello Centre (now known as the Edrom Casals Centre) a music school established by Pablo Casals in 1953. These courses took place for many years at Edrom House in the Scottish Borders and led to many performances by the Edrom Quartet. Tickets for their performance at Mareel cost £18 and are available via Shetland Box Office.

The Scottish Ensemble will take up a mini residency in Shetland from Wednesday 31 July to Saturday 3 August, engaging with the community in a bespoke programme of events including a silent movie screening and performance, a day of community events all around the Isles, an afternoon of ballroom dancing and cream tea, and culminating in a concert at Mareel which will feature a special composition about a sea journey from Dundee to Shetland – Seavaigers by Sally Beamish. Tickets for the concert cost £18 and will be available via Shetland Box Office from Saturday 18 May. More information on the mini residency is available at www.shetlandarts.org and www.mareel.org

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “Shetland Arts’ Summer of Classical Music is a celebration of the stunning musicianship and wide diversity of styles in the classical music scene. We know that there are a lot of classical music lovers in Shetland who will appreciate the chance to see these world-class musicians, and we expect that, by the end of the summer, there will be some new converts to the scene too.”

Tickets for Matthew Barley: Around Britten and the Edrom String Quartet are both available now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org Tickets for the Scottish Ensemble final concert will go on sale via Shetland Box Office on Saturday 18 May at 2pm, and tickets for the Scottish Ensemble’s residency activities will go on sale in the near future. Please check Shetland Arts’ and Mareel’s websites and social media for updates.

Source: Shetland Arts