Bangkok--Mar 9--Tamnak Prathom
Two of Britain’s most-sought after young musicians, harpist Catrin Finch and flautist Juliette Bauser are coming to Thailand on their own special mission to help raise funds to help the disaster victims in the south by giving a gala benefit concert on Monday, March 14 at the Thailand Cultural Centre, Small Auditorium.
H.R.H Princess Galyani Vadhana, Krom Luang Naradiwas Rajnagarindra, will preside at the event,organized by the Tamnak Prathom Harp Centre,in association with the Thai Red Cross Society and the Office of the National Cultural Commission.Supported by the Nation Multimedia Group, the two artists will be flown in by EVA Air.
“We know that what we are doing will be just a drop in the ocean,”said Catrin, “but we would like to contribute what little we can”.In Wales, Catrin had been one of the musicians to take part in the fund-raiser held at the Millenium Centre for the tsunami victims.
And just January last year, the then newly-wed Catrin and Hywel Wigley had spent their ten-day honeymoon in Krabi.
“So we feel personally involved,” said Catrin.
The two artists had taken time off from their amazingly busy schedule to come to Thailand. Just on Tuesday, Catrin had appeared in a duo recital with violinist prodigy, Chloe Hanslip, at the Wigmore Hall in London, before going on in April to debut at New York's Carnegie Hall. Juliette, on the other hand, is just settling down as principal flautist of the Northern Sinfonia, while her woodwind quintet, the Linos Quintet,had just won the ensemble prize in the Royal Overseas League competition, leading to a performance in London’s Royal Festival Hall last autumn.
In December 2003, Catrin and Juliette were also in Thailand to give benefit concerts in Bangkok and Chiangmai, with proceeds going towards the Thai Red Cross Society and the Save the Northern Elephants Fund. With already quite a large group of followers and admirers, their upcoming concert on March 14 is expected to attract unprecedented audience.
“ Having the opportunity to perform in Thailand is such a pleasure, and it is even more so if we can do some good as well. And I feel the tsunami tragedy had really touched us all in the same way,” added Juliette.
The programme they are presenting will include Gabriel Faure’s Fantasie;Maurice Ravel’s Pavane; Damase’ Early Morning Variations,Nino Rota’s Sonata for Flute and Harp plus two Hispanic pieces —Astor Piazzola’s Histoire du Tango, and Carlos Salzedo’s Fantasie on the themes from Carmen.The last will be played solo by Catrin, who will also be playing a whimsical, but technically challenging piece, “Bugs” written for her in her graduation year by Paul Patterson, Head of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music.
Prior to the concert, Catrin and Juliette will be holding a “workshop” entitled “Harp and Flute: the perfect duo instruments” at Chulalongkorn University on Friday March 11, organized jointly by the Tamnak Prathom Harp Centre and the university’s Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts to help launch the opening of the Faculty’s Harp Studies Department, the first to be opened in Southeast Asia. End.