Modernism and More Recently: music for viola and piano

The viola is perhaps best known as the butt of the classical music world's jokes! And while a handful of composers and soloists have championed the instrument from the 18th century onwards, most of its repertoire has been written since the start of the 20th century, which, given the stereotype of music of that era as being dissonant, 'difficult', or downright bad, may not have helped the viola's image much! In this whistlestop tour from before WW1 to never-before-performed music, Jo and Martin will show that both modernist, postmodern and contemporary composers and the viola can be expressive, exciting, moving, uplifting and humorous (and can avoid being long-winded!).

Martin Ash is a freelance violist and fiddler (and sometime Fidelio Orchestra extra!) with interests in genre-crossing, rethinking performance norms and improvisation. Jo Giovani recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, studying chamber music with Amandine Savary and Ian Brown.