CANCELLED: Jess Gillam / Rising Stars

Saxophonist Jess Gilliam knows no boundaries: the young British musician plays with captivating virtuosity, combining Bach and Bowie, Shostakovich and Kate Bush, and she also presents her own weekly show on classical music on BBC Radio 3. She already became the first [female?] sax player to win the contest BBC Young Musician of the Year at the age of 17, and just two years later she made a stir at the prestigious Last Night of the Proms, where the BBC described her as »the undisputed highlight of the evening«. At the Elbphilharmonie the vivacious Gilliam does her reputation justice with a selection of her favourite pieces as part of the »Rising Stars« festival.

The »Pequeña Czarda« inspired by Hungarian folk music is followed by the sonata that Francis Poulenc originally wrote for oboe, a piece that oscillates between different moods. »Rant!« on the other hand is an exuberant dance written for Jess Gilliam by British composer Johne Harle, which is based on folk songs from her native Cumbria. »›Rant‹, says the composer, »means »to make happy, and that’s exactly what Jess does with her boisterous and fearless live performances.«
 
The centrepiece of tonight’s concert is the premiere of a work written specially for Jess Gilliam by the Oxford-born Edmund Finnis. And the programme is rounded off by Astor Piazzolla’s »Histoire du tango« that tells the turbulent story of the tango, starting with its disreputable beginnings in night clubs, cafés and brothels.