At the time of writing, with less than 48 hours to the concert, it is thought that her programme will be a selection of songs by Grieg, Schumann and Brahms (including two songs for contralto and viola). Also …

The Steinway concert piano is supplied and maintained by Steinway & Sons, London

Jess Dandy
Shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the category of Young Artist, Cumbrian contralto Jess Dandy has been praised for her instrument of velvety plangent timbre, and her artistic maturity of remarkable immediacy.

This Summer, Jess was the contralto soloist at the First Night of the Proms 2021, singing Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music and a new commission by Sir James Macmillan. Other recent highlights include a series of BBC Radio 3 broadcasts which included Jess’s Wigmore Hall debut, and a solo recital with Malcolm Martineau at Perth Concert Hall. Jess also appeared at Wigmore Hall in a Vivaldi and Ariosti programme with La Serenissima.

Jess has appeared on the concert platform with the Orchestre révolutionnaire et romantique, The English Concert, Florilegium, BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Dunedin Consort, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Les Arts florissants; collaborating with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Bicket, Trevor Pinnock, John Butt William Christie, Kristian Bezuidenhout and Stephen Layton.

Highlights of the 21/22 season include Bradamante in Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso at the Teatro Real Madrid and the Seine Musicale Paris; Messiah with the Hallé, Britten Sinfonia and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; and appearances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Academy of Ancient Music and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, as well as Jess’s return to Wigmore Hall for both a new commission by Huw Watkins, and also a solo evening recital.

Malcolm Martineau, recognised as one of the leading accompanists of his generation, has worked with many of the world’s greatest singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Janet Baker, Olaf Bär, Barbara Bonney, Ian Bostridge, Angela Gheorghiu, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Della Jones, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager, Magdalena Kozena, Solveig Kringelborn, Jonathan Lemalu, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, Karita Mattila, Lisa Milne, Ann Murray, Anna Netrebko, Anne Sofie von Otter, Joan Rodgers, Amanda Roocroft, Michael Schade, Frederica von Stade, Sarah Walker and Bryn Terfel.

He has presented his own series at the Wigmore Hall (a Britten and a Poulenc series and Decade by Decade – 100 years of German Song broadcast by the BBC) and at the Edinburgh Festival (the complete lieder of Hugo Wolf). He has appeared throughout Europe (including London’s Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Opera House; La Scala, Milan; the Chatelet, Paris; the Liceu, Barcelona; Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus; Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein), North America (including in New York both Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall), Australia (including the Sydney Opera House) and at the Aix en Provence, Vienna, Edinburgh, Schubertiade, Munich and Salzburg Festivals.

Recording projects have included Schubert, Schumann and English song recitals with Bryn Terfel (for Deutsche Grammophon); Schubert and Strauss recitals with Simon Keenlyside (for EMI); recital recordings with Angela Gheorghiu and Barbara Bonney (for Decca), Magdalena Kozena (for DG), Della Jones (for Chandos), Susan Bullock (for Crear Classics), Solveig Kringelborn (for NMA); Amanda Roocroft (for Onyx); the complete Fauré songs with Sarah Walker and Tom Krause; the complete Britten Folk Songs for Hyperion; the complete Beethoven Folk Songs for Deutsche Grammophon; the complete Poulenc songs for Signum; and Britten Song Cycles as well as Schubert’s Winterreise with Florian Boesch for Onyx.

This season’s engagements include appearances with Simon Keenlyside, Magdalena Kozena, Dorothea Röschmann, Susan Graham, Christopher Maltman, Thomas Oliemanns, Kate Royal, Christiane Karg, Iestyn Davies, Florian Boesch and Anne Schwanewilms.

He was a given an honorary doctorate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2004, and appointed International Fellow of Accompaniment in 2009. Malcolm was the Artistic Director of the 2011 Leeds Lieder+ Festival.