Quatuor Agate & Jonathan Leibovitz (Clarinet quintet) | Hoylake Chamber Concert Society

About Quatuor Agate & Jonathan Leibovitz (Clarinet quintet) | Hoylake Chamber Concert Society

Programme

Sebastian Black, Clarinet Quintet (New commission)

Korngold, String Quartet No 3 in D major, Op 34

Brahms, Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op 115

Please note that this is a changed ensemble and programme from that listed in our brochure due to the unexpected withdrawal of the Atenea Quartet.

Quatuor Agate & Jonathan Leibovitz are supported in the UK by the Young Classical Artists Trust

Quatuor Agate

https://en.quatuoragate.com/

Adrien Jurkovic - Violin

Thomas Descamps - Violin

Raphaël Pagnon - Viola

Simon Iachemet - Cello

Formed in 2016, the Quatuor Agate derives its name from one of the most beautiful chamber music pieces, Johannes Brahms's Second Sextet, dedicated to his second love, Agathe von Siebold. Seven years later, this fascination with Brahms materialised with the release of their debut album in early 2024, featuring the complete String Quartets released on the Appassionato label. 

Distinguished in various international competitions and festivals for several years (including the Best Contemporary Interpretation Prize at the BANFF International String Quartet Competition 2022, Audience Prize at the Steels-Wilsing Competition 2020, and in the Verbier Festival 2019), the Quatuor Agate achieved a significant milestone in 2021 when they were a winner in the prestigious auditions of the Young Classical Artists Trust in London.

In 2023 the Quatuor Agate were honoured to be named as ECHO Rising Stars 2024/25, and during this season under the scheme will perform at the majority of Europe's major concert halls including the Philharmonie de Paris, Kölner Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus Dortmund. Other highlights this season include their debut at Leif Ove Andsnes’ Rosendal Chamber Music Festival in Norway, and returns to the Wigmore Hall in London. 

Recent highlights have included performances at renowned venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Prinzregententheater in Munich, Konzerthaus Berlin, Konzerthaus Dortmund, TauberPhilharmonie in Weikersheim, Brucknerhaus Linz, as well as participating in festivals like Verbier Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, Festival de Salon-de-Provence, Festival de Radio France, Leverkusen stART Festival, Britten-Pears Arts in Aldeburgh, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Lammermuir Festival in Scotland, among others. Further afield they had their debut tour of Colombia in early 2024. 

The quartet regularly collaborates with esteemed musicians and ensembles, including Emmanuel Pahud, Enrico Pace, Éric Le Sage, Frank Braley, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Marc Danel, Gabriel Le Magadure, Pierre Fouchenneret, the Kronos Quartet, the Quatuor Ebène, the Quatuor Modigliani, and the Jerusalem Quartet.

In addition to their recording of the complete Brahms’ quartets, other releases include a recording with Frank Braley and Gabriel Le Magadure featuring Concert de Chausson for Appassionato, and an album with American tenor Eric Ferring in Chicago for the Delos label. 

The group are passionate about bringing chamber music to diverse audiences, and just a few weeks after the quartet's inception, they embarked on their first venture - the creation of the CorsiClassic festival, an annual event in Ajaccio, Corsica. 

Currently, the quartet is an Artist-in-residence at the Fondation Singer Polignac, a Grand Resident of ProQuartet in Paris, and an Associate Artist at the La Brèche Festival. The Agates receive support from the Günther-Caspar Stiftung and the Fondation Banque Populaire.

The quartet has studied at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Eberhard Feltz, in Paris under the direction of Mathieu Herzog, and with the Quatuor Ebène at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich. 

Adrien Jurkovic performs on a violin attributed to Giuseppe Giovanni Guarneri, generously loaned by Dr. Hauber. Thomas Descamps plays a very fine Giovanni Battista Ceruti violin kindly loaned to him by Irene R. Miller through the Beares International Violin Society. Raphaël Pagnon plays on a Ferdinando Alberti viola generously loaned by the Fondation Boubo-Music. Simon Iachemet plays on a Giacinto Santagiuliana cello generously loaned by the Fondation Boubo-Music.

The Quatuor Agate are Lauréats of the Fondation Banque Populaire. They are grateful for support from the Günther-Caspar Stiftung.

Jonathan Leibovitz

https://www.jonathanleibovitz.com/

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1997, Jonathan’s musical education began with Eva Wasserman. He went on to study with Yevgeny Yehudin at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music, winning numerous awards including First Prize laureate of the Aviv Competition (2020) and the Israeli Wind Competition (2016 and 2018). In 2022 Jonathan completed his Masters at the Music Academy in Basel with François Benda, and is currently staying on in Basel to complete a 'Master soloist' degree.

Jonathan was recently announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship Award artist (2024) and was previously a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions in 2022. During the same year he went on to receive the prestigious Arthur Waser Foundation and Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Award and was also a top prize winner at major competitions in Israel and Europe, including First Prize at the prestigious Crusell Competition in Finland and a Special Prize at the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark. He was also nominated as a Classic FM ‘Rising Star’ 2022.

Jonathan made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 18 performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. He has since performed concertos with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Košice, Haifa Symphonic, Ostrobothnian Chamber, Lapland Chamber and Kuopio Symphony Orchestras.

An avid chamber musician, Jonathan has performed throughout Europe and beyond, including at the Kiel Musikfreunde, Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival in Australia and on tour to Colombia. 

Highlights of Jonathan’s current season include performances at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Berlin and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, plus numerous appearances in the UK, including at Saffron Hall, Wigmore Hall and St. George’s Bristol.

The Venue

OUR CONCERTS ARE HELD IN ST HILDEBURGH’S CHURCH, HOYLAKE, CH47 1HL

The venue is five minutes’ walk from Hoylake railway station on the Wirral Line and fifteen minutes from the motorway network.

TO HOYLAKE BY RAIL FROM LIVERPOOL

1. Arriving at Liverpool Lime Street mainline station, cross the concourse and descend to the Merseyrail Underground station. Trains are bound for several termini which are shown on the front of each train, and on electronic displays on the platform. Take the train for West Kirby.

2. Alight at Hoylake station (the penultimate stop on the line).

3. Cross the footbridge and continue straight ahead to a roundabout with a bird sculpture in its centre.

4. Cross the road and continue in the same direction along The King’s Gap.

5. After 200 metres at a crossroads, The Green Lodge Hotel is opposite you and St Hildeburgh’s church is on your left.

TO HOYLAKE BY ROAD

Corner of Stanley Road and King’s Gap, Hoylake CH47 1HL

1. Leave the M53 motorway at Junction 2

2. Continue to the end of the spur road, then take the second exit off the roundabout and follow the signs for Moreton & Hoylake.

3. At the end of the road take the first exit off the roundabout for Hoylake A553.

4. Stay on the A553 through Moreton, Meols and then into Hoylake.

5. In Hoylake you will reach a roundabout with a bird sculpture in its centre. Turn right on the roundabout.

6. After 200 metres you reach a crossroads with St Hildeburgh’s church on your left. Turn left here.

7. There is disabled parking available in the church car park and plenty of on road parking.

Our Annual Membership

Annual Membership is £85 per person.

Your membership gives you entrance to all six concerts, September – November 2024 and February – April 2025, and entitles you to attend AGMs. Tickets will be transferable.

To become a member of Hoylake Chamber Concert Society please go to: https://chamberconcert.co.uk/become-a-member/

Next concert

Our next concert will be on Monday 24^th March 2025 at 7.30pm