Azure Quartet

#weekendsatknma

Date: 10 Dec 2024

Time: 7.30pm onwards

Venue: KNMA Saket

Azure Quartet came together in September 2022 to perform Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The group emerged out of previous partnerships and consists of Thomas Knollys, Hoda Jahanpour, Elana Kenyon-Gewirtz and Joel Banerjee. They gave their first public performance in a sold-out Spotlight Concert at the Royal Northern College of Music, and then went on to perform at the Hammond Theatre in London and schools in the North-West of England. They’ve enjoyed bringing this unique piece into educational settings where it is rarely otherwise heard. The group has a strong educational background and looks forward to engaging with this further in more varied settings. The name Azure Quartet is a reference to Messiaen’s synesthesia (seeing music in colour). Azurite is a semi-precious gemstone that reflects the shifting blues in the sky, which coheres to the consistent reference to “cascading orange-blue chords” that Messiaen makes throughout the Quartet for the End of Time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 About the Artists -

Thomas is a freelance clarinettist and instrumental teacher based in Manchester and has recently completed his postgraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied most recently with Katherine Lacy and Ausias Garrigos Morant. During his time at RNCM, Thomas performed with the Orchestra of Opera North and Manchester Camerata and performed in numerous orchestral concerts and operas on both clarinet and bass clarinet. Thomas is also a keen chamber musician. In addition to the Azure Quartet, he is a founding member of the Azalea Wind Quintet, which specialises in bringing works by emerging and lesser-known composers to UK audiences.

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Hoda is an Iranian-Slovak cellist, songwriter and composer interested in musical experiences that generate energy and bring people together. Coming from a background in western classical music, she has performed side-by-side with notable orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé and Manchester Camerata. She has also enjoyed bringing string quartet music to diverse venues like Manchester Art Gallery, HOME Theatre, and Old Trafford Stadium. She currently studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London as a postgraduate student.

Hoda loves to explore how the cello can be used to express various musical languages. Last July she performed with Abel Selaocoe at Stauffer Summer Music Festival in Italy and was invited to Denmark in November to create and perform new music showcased at festivals in Aarhus and Aalborg. Other career highlights to date include participating in a collaborative music making residency led by saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia and developing a new music theatre piece as part of Oedipa Company at the Barbican Pit. Hoda looks forward to performing with guitarist and santur player Pedraum Agahi in Manchester Jazz Festival 2024 where they will weave together jazz with middle eastern music.

Joel is a pianist based in South Manchester. Having graduated with first-class honours from the University of Manchester, he is now in his final year of postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Ben Powell. Joel is fascinated by contemporary repertoire and has recently performed works by Camden Reeves, George Crumb and a UK premiere by Molly Joyce. Joel is the staff accompanist at The King’s School in Macclesfield after having worked as part of the music department there. He is looking forward to performing as the soloist in Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques at the RNCM in Summer 2024.

Elana is a violinist currently studying for her masters at the Royal Northern College of Music after graduating with a first-class degree in music from the University of Manchester. An avid chamber musician, Elana is also a member of string group, Quartet Tesni, who recently performed in the Bridgewater Hall. In 2022, she had the privilege of taking part in a chamber music masterclass with contemporary composer Huw Watkins on his horn trio. As an orchestral player, she has performed side-by-side with the BBC Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, as well as playing alongside soloists Tai Murray and Henning Kraggerud.  In addition to classical music, Elana is passionate about folk, in particular klezmer. As part of groups Klezmer Klassica and Irish/klezmer theatre project Amid the Mirk over the Irk, she has performed in arts and literature festivals across the northwest of England and will soon be sharing this fusion project with audiences in Wales.