Carmen Gypsy Suite

Come for an unforgettable evening indulging your senses with some of the most beloved arias from Bizet's Carmen. This exceptional program also features further gypsy-inspired music along with two sets of magnificently crafted lieder from Brahms and Loeffler. Interpreted by mezzo Ute Lepetit-Clare, violist Sarah-Jane Bradley and pianist Marie-Noëlle Kendall, this is a concert absolutely not to be missed!

• Brahms Two songs for mezzo, viola and piano op 91
• Brahms Sonata for viola and piano no 2 in E flat op 120
• Loeffler 4 poèmes for mezzo, viola and piano op 5
• Brahms Gypsy Songs for mezzo and piano op 103
• Dvorak Gypsy Song & Slavonic Dance for viola and piano
• Bizet Carmen Gypsy Suite for mezzo, viola and piano

Ute Lepetit-Clare

German mezzo Ute Lepetit-Clare has performed many of the principal mezzo-soprano opera roles - such as Cherubino from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Dorabella from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Muse/Niklausse from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman, Hansel from Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Olga from Tschaikowsky's Eugen Onegin - at such iconic opera houses as Schauspielhaus Leipzig, Hebbel Theater Berlin, Sorbischen Volkstheater Bautzen, and Theater Görlitz. Alongside her work in opera, Ute has also given many concerts in some of Germany’s most celbrated venues, including Gewandhaus Leipzig and Frauenkirche Dresden. She was also engaged as soloist at Theater Eisenach and at the Saxony Theatre, Dresden.

In 2010 Ute moved to Cambridge and since then has performed all over England in such works as the Bach Christmas Oratorio and St John Passion, Handel The Messiah, Haydn Nelson Mass, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle as well as many song recitals. In 2015, she sang the role of Rupert Brooke’s mother in the world premiere of David Earl’s opera Strange Ghost in Cambridge. Trained at the University of Music and Theatre, Leipzig and at the Liszt School of Music, Weimar, Ute is the director and producer of the new founded Lepetit Ensemble and has created many works including Hansel and Gretel for children and an Emily Dickinson inspired programme.

Sarah-Jane Bradley

Since her debut with the Philharmonia in 1992 and at the Wigmore Hall in 1997, Sarah-Jane has established a distinguished international reputation as a soloist and chamber musician. Sarah-Jane has performed and recorded as a soloist with major orchestras such as the Philharmonia, Hallé, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia, including live broadcasts on Radio 3.

Sarah-Jane is in high demand as a recitalist and chamber musician; she regularly plays in recital with pianists John Lenehan and Martin Roscoe. She is a founder member of Karolos and the Rossetti Ensemble and a frequent guest with other chamber groups including I Musicanti. A founder member of the Leopold String Trio, Sarah-Jane has also been a member of the Sorrel Quartet, Fidelio Piano Quartet, London Soloists Ensemble and Artistic Director of Sound Collective. She has toured widely as well as making frequent broadcasts on radio 3 as both soloist and chamber musician. Her work as a chamber musician has taken her around the world to festivals such as Kuhmo and Marlboro where she performed with pianist Richard Goode and violinist Robert Chen.

Following studies at the Royal Academy of Music with John White, and the Mozarteum Salzburg with Thomas Riebl, Sarah-Jane won an array of awards, and in 1995 was first prizewinner at Capellades and St. Joan de Vilatorrada. A prizewinner at the 1994 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Sarah-Jane was on the jury in 2013 and is on the executive committee of the Competition. She is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and also teaches viola at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and The Purcell School. She plays on a G.A Chanot viola of Manchester, 1896.

Marie-Noëlle Kendall

Marie-Noëlle Kendall is a pillar of the Cambridge musical community. Not only is she one of that rare group of local musicians who regularly perform around town, she has also made her mark on the city by touching countless aspiring musicians from all walks of life. She has a deep passion for chamber music and takes great pleasure in collaborating with fellow musicians.

A finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Marie-Noëlle has since enjoyed a successful international solo career, performing in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Estonia, Russia and Hungary with such ensembles as the Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Australian String Quartet, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra and Manchester Camerata. Her concerts have been broadcast in the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia and Colombia.

Marie-Noëlle was a Cambridge undergraduate before going off to further her studies in Hungary. She later returned to settle here and has delighted local concert goers ever since. She is a founding member of the Cambridge Chamber Academy where she coaches chamber music and gives masterclasses.

Host or Publisher Cambridge Chamber Academy