Sonatas and Songs: A powerful evening of New chamber music from this celebrated British-Hungarian composer, enriching the chamber repertoire with fresh poignancy. About The Show Join us for an unforgettable evening of world premieres by celebrated composer and pianist Michael Csányi-Wills , violinist and violist Charles Mutte r (Leader of the BBC Concert Orchestra), and internationally renowned soprano Ilona Domnich . This unique concert showcases a series of world premieres by Csányi-Wills, whose deeply personal compositions explore themes of memory, loss, resilience, and hope. The programme includes two major sonatas, three evocative Pushkin poem settings for soprano, violin, and piano, and two intimate interludes for viola and piano—works praised for their emotional depth and expressive power. About The Artists Michael Csányi-Wills Award-winning composer and Pianist Michael Csányi-Wills has written works ranging from Chamber music to Choral and Orchestral works to film scores. He was composer in residence with the Welsh Sinfonia from September 2013-2016 and his recent orchestral works have been widely performed throughout the UK and commissions have taken him around Europe, Australia, China, and the USA where in 2016 his Violin concerto was premiered in the Constella Arts Festival, by violinist Tatiana Berman with principal conductor of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Jose Luis Gomez. Recent works include 2 song cycles “The Long Lost Songs” and “12 Songs On Horizons Far” ( funded by the Arts Council/National Lottery), his second symphony written over lockdown in 2020, and a third song cycle set to words by Pushkin called “Songs in times of Pandemic” written for Soprano Ilona Domnich and violinist Charles Mutter. Also released in 2019, “Nocturne for Yodit” was written for Martin Anderson of Toccata Classics, recorded by the Ukrainian Festival Orchestra and conducted by Paul Mann. Michael has also written scores for over 40 films, including documentaries such as “The King of Nerac” and “Maestro”, a feature documentary about conductor Paavo Järvi and most recently a feature drama such as “Sideshow” starring Les Dennis and Anthony Head, which will have a theatrical release in March 2022. He won BEST SCORE at the Movie Maverick Awards, for his score to the short film “A Love Story in Milk” and was nominated at the World Soundtrack awards for Best Newcomer. His latest commercial success comes in the form of Meta Quest and Aardman’s “The Grand Getaway, a Wallace and Gromit VR game released in December 2023. As a pianist, Michael still performs and records regularly, having recorded the complete Weinberg Violin Sonatas with Russian Violinist Yuri Kalnits, all released by Toccata Classics to critical acclaim. Volumes 1 & 2 won a “Diapason d”Or” in the French Magazine “Diapason”. In 2021, Volume 3 was nominated for a much coveted ICMA award, and Volume 4 was released in 2022. Charles Mutter Charles Mutter was born in Sussex, England. After winning numerous prizes as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal College of Music, Charles read Music and English Literature at Jesus College, Cambridge. He made his London debut playing Giacinto Scelsi’s Anahit at St John’s, Smith Square while still a student. As a member of the Smith Quartet for ten years, Charles toured the world and made numerous broadcasts and recordings; the quartet’s contribution to the 2005 BBC film, “Holocaust: a Musical Memorial Film from Auschwitz” won an Emmy Award. Charles then led the Edinburgh Quartet, Scotland’s only full-time string quartet, for four years before moving back to London in 2007 to take up the position of Associate Leader (co- concertmaster) of the BBC Concert Orchestra, which he still holds. As soloist with the BBCCO, Charles has performed works by composers from Bach to Muhly, notably including Guy Barker’s violin concerto which was written for him and premiered in Bucharest in 2016. He is also in great demand as a guest concertmaster (Philharmonia, CBSO, Bournemouth SO, Ulster Orchestra), session musician, West End concertmaster and chamber musician. Charles also loves playing the piano and the viola, and is an avid arranger and orchestrator – his work in this field has been broadcast on all the main BBC radio channels. Ilona Domnich Ilona Domnich is a lyric soprano, described by Opera Now as” A memorable voice of silken beauty with a luminous edge to the tone, a sensitive musician and an actress of magnetic presence” and was chosen by Opera Now as one of the magazine’s Top 10 high flyers,” a new generation of sopranos who are having impressive careers”. Ilona Domnich was highlighted as ‘artist of the month’ in Opera magazine and is the Daily Telegraph’s choice of ‘best British-based talent’. Ms Domnich has worked in close collaboration with English National Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, Grange Park Opera, Buxton Opera Festival, English Touring Opera, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, and Southbank Sinfonia. In the socially-distanced summer of 2021, Ilona started an open-air concert series in Hadley Woods, Barnet. Now in its 5th year, “Music by Jack’s Lake ’ goes from strength to strength, bringing together international artists and young performers in a sylvan setting and delighting the richly diverse communities of North London. Many in the audience experience classical music here for the first time. As an emotional response to the horrific events of October 7th 2023, Ilona created a music video, ‘ The Hope – Hatikvah ’, with the help of arranger/violinist Charles Mutter, director Sebastian Harcombe and videographer Stewart French (Fly on the Wall) to show her solidarity with the Israeli and wider Jewish communities.