We look forward to welcoming Bob to Goodnestone for what will be our first Classical Guitar concert. Like many guitarists of his generation, Bob Drury was hugely inspired by the music of the great Spanish guitarist Andrs Segovia. In his summer concert programme this year, Bob will play music arranged, performed or recorded by Segovia during the artists incredible eighty-year career. Bobs programme will consist of music from John Dowland, Dominico Scarlatti, JS Bach, Fernando Sor, Francisco Trrega, Federico Morena Torrobo Isaac Albniz, and Heitor Villa-Lobos including pieces from the seminal album A Portrait of Andrs Segovia, My Favourite Works released in 1987. Bob began playing folk guitar in his mid-teens and migrated to Pop and Rock music in his late teens/early twenties. He then turned to the classical guitar and began formal lessons. Progressing through the music grade system, he entered a full-time music education in 1995. He graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University College in 1998 with a BA in Music and again in 2000 with a Masters Degree in Music Performance. In 2015 Bob presented a programme to Trinity College London and was awarded the ATCL Performance Diploma. Whilst still very active performing with both the electric and acoustic guitar, Bob has presented a Summer Concert of classical guitar music in Kent venues for the past four years

Dr Jon Williams and Dr Chris Price are two singers who shared not only a stall in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral but also a delight in some music which never echoed in the venerable vaults. Accompanied by the dexterous (and infinitely patient) Dr. David Flood, former Cathedral Organist and Master of the Choristers (i.e., their boss at the time, with the unenviable job of keeping them in line) they have been delighting audiences for several years with their rediscovery of the wit and wisdom of a few of England's greatest musical humourists. Starting with the songs of Flanders and Swann, their repertoire now includes songs by Noel Coward, Richard Stilgoe and Peter Skellern, and Tom Lehrer, exploring issues such as the state of the nation, love and romance, ecclesiastical matters, and the national economy - though the original "Budget Song" has had to be rewritten for every performance, which goes to show just how seriously the three performers take the need for freshness and relevance. Chris remarks, We love the quicksilver wit and deft composition to be found in these songs, and their appeal is timeless. Theyre also surprisingly topical. They fully intend to bring their customary joie de vivre to Goodnestone once again in July, and favourites such as The Gasman Cometh and Joyce the Librarian will, inevitably, make an appearance but the trio has one requirement: that their audience should be prepared to roar the chorus of The Hippopotamus Song with as much gusto as is humanly possible. You are assured of an enjoyable evening

Following his wonderful solo Jazz piano concert in 2024 Will returns to Goodnestone with Jazz vocalist Sylvie Noble for what promises to be a fantastic evening of Jazz Further details to follow soon

We are delighted to welcome David and Alasdair to Goodnestone for this concert of piano duets Bach [arranged by Mary Howe] Sheep May Safely Graze Thomas Tomkins A fancy for two to play Warlock Capriol Basse-Danse Pavane Tordion Bransles Pieds-en-l'air Mattachins (Sword Dance) Mozart Andante and variations in G K.501 Hamish MacCunn Highland Memories By the Burnside Harvest Dance Faur Dolly Berceuse Mi-a-ou Le jardin de Dolly Kitty-valse Tendresse Le pas espagnol DAVID KNOTTS Pianist and composer David Knotts studied at the Royal Academy of Music, Kings College, Cambridge, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the University of Sussex. In 2007, David was made an honorary associate of the Royal Academy of Music where he taught for over twenty years. He holds teaching posts at Kings junior and senior schools, Benenden and Canterbury Christchurch university. David first came to public attention as a finalist in the 1994 Young Musician of the Year Composer Competition and has gone on to write music for many of the countrys finest soloists, orchestras and chamber-music ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Singers, the Endymion Ensemble, English National Opera, the Composers Ensemble, the Lawson Trio and the Schubert Ensemble. David was a featured composer in Canterbury cathedrals Palimpsest project and his new guitar concerto, The Alabaster Chambers, was recently premiered at the Southbank by Craig Ogden and the BBC Concert Orchestra and broadcast on BBC4. Alongside his work as a composer, David also gained a reputation as a pianist and recital partner working regularly with the BBC singers, Friday Night is Music Night and the BBC Symphony chorus. Davids performing work is very varied ranging from film and television work, [I Capture the Castle/ Miss Potter] recordings, recital and concert work and broadcasts for BBC radio 3. Recent engagements have included performances as part of the St Magnus International Festival in Orkney, recitals with Sam Corkin as part of the Victoria International Arts Festival in Malta and playing at the launch of the BBC Proms with saxophonist Jess Gilliam. ALASDAIR NICOLSON Alasdair Nicolson was born in Inverness in 1961 and brought up on the Isle of Skye and the Black Isle. His first musical experiences were in traditional music before going on to study at Edinburgh University. An award-winning composer, he is now regarded as one of Scotlands most important musical voices and a significant figure on the UK music scene both as composer, performer and programmer. He has written music for many of the leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists in the UK and abroad and his music has been performed and broadcast all over the world from New York to Rome, Tokyo to Sydney. Premieres have been given by many of the worlds leading ensembles and soloists including the Nash Ensemble, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, BBC Singers, Trondheim Soloists and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has a strong commitment to work within education, with amateur performers, and particularly with young composers; and has made a television programme with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra about composition and written two books to encourage and develop composition. His Sound Inventors project which developed young composers across the UK project was an RPS Award winner. Nicolson is currently Artistic Director of the St Magnus International Festival and formerly Bath International Music Festival and works with many organisations in the UK as mentor and programme advisor. Although he has a busy schedule writing music he has always maintained a career as a performing musician and works as conductor and pianist. In his early career he worked extensively as a repetiteur and accompanist, particularly for singers, as well as working with dance companies and theatre and was on the music staff of the Opra de Monte Carlo.

It will be great to welcome Greg and Spencer to Goodnestone for this lovely song recital featuring Finzi's A Young Man's Exhortation and pieces by similar composers. Greg was brought up on a hop farm near Tunbridge Wells in Kent and was a chorister at Durham Cathedral. He studied music at Exeter University, becoming a choral scholar at Exeter Cathedral under Andrew Millington. After a two-year stint working at a publishing company in London, Greg won a place on the post graduate diploma course at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied under David Lowe and Ryland Davies. Whilst at the RAM he reached the finals of both the London Handel Competition & London Bach Prize and was runner-up at the inaugural John Kerr Award for Early English Song. On the opera stage, Greg has performed chorus and various small roles with English Touring Opera, being the first to ever play the role of Badger in Tobias Pickers Fantastic Mr Fox. He was also part of ETOs award-winning education programme, presenting opera to special needs children. Greg has since performed with Opera a la Carte and more recently, with Nova Music, creating the role of David in Charlotte Brays contemporary three person opera, Entanglement. Greg is much in demand as a soloist on the oratorio platform. At Christmas and Easter Greg can be found somewhere in the UK performing Handels Messiah, Mozarts Requiem, Bachs passions (arias or evangelist), Brittens St Nicolas and other seasonal favourites. He also regularly performs unusual repertoire such as Macmillans Gloria, McDowalls Some corner of a foreign field, Monteverdis Vespers and Buxtehudes Jesu Membra Nostri (see repertoire list for a full history). In 2024 he sang the title role in The Dream of Gerontius for the first time. Aside from his solo performances, Greg is a founder member of professional chamber choir Sonoro (www.sonoromusic.com) He also teaches singing at St Edmunds school Canterbury and is very proud to conduct the wonderful Thanet Chamber Choir (www.thanetchamberchoir.com). Spencer Payne is currently Director of Music at St. Edmund's School, Canterbury. He holds a Masters degree and diplomas from the Royal College of Music, Royal College of Organists and Trinity College, London He is an accomplished performer, accompanist, teacher and examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

We look forward to welcoming Caritas back to Goodnestone for what will be a fantastic concert of choral music.

Following their fantastic concert last year we are delighted that the Cygnus Trio are returning to Goodnestone for what will be another wonderful concert . Beethoven Trio Op.97 in B flat major "Archduke" Mendelssohn Trio n.1 in D minor, Op.49 The Cygnus Trio was formed in 2012 by three students at the Royal Academy of Music. Having played together as a duo in Spain, violinist Javier Montaana and pianist Csar Saura met cellist Hannah Lewis, with whom they discovered a like-minded approach and a shared love of chamber music. Over the last ten years the trio has studied with internationally renowned performers, competed successfully in various competitions and performed widely in Europe and the UK. From 2017 to 2020 they participated in the specialised chamber music courses run by the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona, working closely with members of the Quartetto di Cremona. They have attended many other chamber music courses and masterclasses in the UK and Europe, and have been coached by musicians such as Pascal Devoyon, Raphael Wallfisch, Krzyzstof Smietana and Sergei Bressler. In 2019 and 2020 the trio was invited to take part in a series of masterclasses with Alfred Brendel in Pistoia, Italy. The trio has received prizes in international competitions including the Anton Garcia Abril chamber music competition and the Ecoparque de Trasmiera competition. The trio has also performed in numerous festivals and concert series including the Santander International Festival, the Panticosa International Festival (as resident ensemble in 2017), the Archipelago series at the Auditorium Lo Squero in Venice, and the Omaggio a Cremona series at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona. The trio has been invited to join Le Dimore del Quartetto, and as members have performed in venues throughout Italy. Following an invitation to participate in the opening of an art exhibition in Spain, where they paired a Schubert programme with illustrations of his song cycle Winterreise, the trio has become fascinated with linking music to other art forms and sometimes use art and poetry to shape their concert programmes. In 2024 their debut albumImpressions of Iberiawas released on the labelDa Vinci Classics. The album features works by Enrique Fernndez Arbs, Joaqun Turina and Maurice Ravel and seeks to explores the cultural crosspollination between Spain and France around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in particular the relationship between Spanish folk music and French impressionism and their influence on the music from both countries.