Enjoy an exclusive, private concert series featuring internationally famous pianist Dame Imogen Cooper, who will be joined by two of the most outstanding alumni of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust
Stay at Crathorne Hall, one of the UK’s largest Edwardian country houses and previously host to four Prime Ministers and royalty
Visit local historical landmarks and admire the countryside that inspired Delius and Vaughan Williams
“The Tour Director was the best I have been with”
- ACE customer on a previous music tour led by Russell Keable
“Imogen is one of the greatest musicians England has produced”
– Sir Simon Rattle
In partnership with the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, we are delighted to invite you to a celebration of the very best music-making in the elegant surroundings of Crathorne Hall Hotel, built between 1904 and 1906 with entertaining in mind at the behest of James Lionel Dugdale, whose family had made its fortune in the Lancashire cotton trade.
The musical programme has been devised by Imogen Cooper, who will herself perform a signature concert. Indubitably one of the finest pianists of her, or any other, generation, Imogen left England at the age of 11 to study at the Conservatoire de Paris, and, after briefly returning to London, continued her studies with Alfred Brendel in Vienna. As well as a soloist, she has had an outstanding career in chamber music and lieder, and is sure to delight us with her virtuosity and musicality in a concert featuring Beethoven, Schubert and Bach.
The first steps in a professional musician’s career are arguably the most difficult, and it is to support this transition that Imogen Cooper founded her eponymous trust, which provides intensive coaching and mentorship to some of the best postgraduates from leading music colleges in the UK and abroad.
Imogen will introduce two outstanding alumni of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, which was founded by Imogen to support young musicians at the beginning of their professional careers. Our musical programme will commence with a concert by the talented young Lithuanian pianist Kasparas Mikužis with works including Haydn, Chopin and Schubert, together with Liszt’s sublime Hungarian Rhapsody No 12 in C sharp minor.
Our second concert will be performed by Imogen with arrangements of Bach by both Kempff and Busoni complemented by Schubert’s Impromptus Nos 1 & 2 and climaxing in Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat major, Op 110. Our tour also includes a rare opportunity to experience a high-level masterclass with Imogen Cooper and Kasparas Mikužis, who himself has already performed as a soloist at the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw and the Purcell Room.
The musical programme continues with a recital by the exciting Canadian pianist Élisabeth Pion, who will introduce us to the lesser known but intriguing compositions of Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836) together with Schubert’s Impromptus Nos 3 & 4 and the composer’s Sonata in C minor, D 958. Our final concert will feature both Imogen and Élisabeth in a virtuoso four-hands performance.
Complementing and illuminating the concert series, our Tour Director and resident musicologist, Russell Keable, will provide an introduction to the composers and compositions being performed. We will also take the opportunity to visit local historical landmarks including Mount Grace, a 14th century Carthusian priory, adjoined by a beautiful Arts & Crafts manor house and 13 acres of lovely gardens.
We will stay throughout at the four-star Crathorne Hall Hotel, one of the UK's largest Edwardian country houses. The original owners had in mind a ‘party house’ which would help find their daughter an advantageous match. In this they were successful and Beryl Dugdale married the Earl of Rothes in 1926. Their son, Thomas, became the first Lord Crathorne in 1959. Distinguished musical visitors during this period included Yehudi Menuhin and Benjamin Britten. Now converted to a luxurious hotel combining historical interiors with contemporary amenities, Crathorne Hall is one of the most interesting places to stay in the north of England, located on the edge of the North York Moors with beautiful views of the Leven Valley. The reception areas include an elegant drawing room, where a Steinway piano will be installed for our recitals. The hotel also enjoys a comfortable lounge and relaxing reading gallery, as well as an on-site restaurant awarded an AA Rosette, providing the ideal setting for our stay.
This tour will be led by Russell Keable, BA, MMus, who trained at the universities of Nottingham and London and studied conducting with George Hurst and Norman Del Mar at London’s Royal College of Music. Russell currently teaches at the University of Surrey, and is active as a composer, arranger, lecturer, broadcaster and performer.
The Imogen Cooper Music Trust
“The experiences I had of being intensively mentored by Alfred Brendel, Arthur Rubinstein and Clifford Curzon have never left me. Time seemed irrelevant, the sessions had no boundaries and the immersion in great works with those artists has resonated with me throughout my performing life”
– Imogen Cooper
The Imogen Cooper Music Trust was formed in 2015. Its primary mission is to offer gifted young musicians the opportunity to spend time in intensive study with the renowned concert pianist Imogen Cooper and other distinguished musicians, such as Felicity Lott and Wolfgang Holzmair. Imogen’s great hope is that scholarship holders will benefit from one-to-one guidance at a critical time in their artistic development.
Previous scholars include Alim Beisembayev, winner of the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition, and the Australian mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, who will be making her debut with the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2024.
You can read more about the Imogen Cooper Music Trust at:
https://www.
Click the video below to watch a snippet of Imogen Cooper performing Bethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Theme: Vivace at Wigmore Hall:
4
£1495
ICMT-24
We have availability in various room types - please contact the office on 01223 841055 to enquire.
Included: accommodation based on sharing a deluxe twin or double bedded room, performances as described, three breakfasts, two lunches with water & coffee, three dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.
Not Included: travel insurance, classic double room for single use supplement £275, superior double room for single use supplement £375, double feature room supplement £75 per person, junior suite (double occupancy) supplement £200 per person, master suite (double occupancy) supplement £300 per person. Please note that the final group size will be limited to 50 participants to preserve an intimate atmosphere for this exclusive series of concerts.
