Musicians with a ‘mission’ to entertain

A violin virtuoso who has helped to create the soundtrack to many filmgoers’ lives is to perform in Rickmansworth on Wednesday, October 6.
Thomas Bowes and another exceptional musician, pianist Verona Maier, will be playing music by Mozart and Brahms and the 20th century Romanian composer George Enescu at a concert organised by Three Rivers Music Society.
Chamber music has been a major element of Thomas Bowes’ career but he has also contributed to some of the most famous film soundtracks of recent decades.
He was a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra that recorded Ennio Morricone’s classic theme for The Mission in the 1980s and has since collaborated with many other leading film composers. His long list of film credits -- as either soloist or orchestra leader -- includes The King’s Speech, The Hunger Games trilogy, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and the Bond films Spectre and Skyfall.
He has also made critically acclaimed recordings of violin works by Johann Sebastian Bach, William Walton and Samuel Barber. His violin was made by the Cremonese master, Nicolo Amati, in 1659.
Verona Maier, who is also a highly respected harpsichordist and organist, is the vice-rector of the National University of Music in Bucharest.
She and Thomas Bowes, who was the founder-leader of the eminent Maggini String Quartet, will be playing Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 21 in E minor. They will also perform the Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, nicknamed the ‘Rain Sonata’.
Their third piece, Enescu’s Sonata No. 3 in A minor, has echoes of Romanian folk music and is one of the composer’s most popular works. Enescu’s one-time student, Yehudi Menuhin, recorded the sonata in 1936 with his pianist sister, Hephzibah.
The concert will be held at the Baptist Church in High Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1EH. It will begin at 7.30pm. Tickets £16 via Eventbrite and also at the door. Reduced price for members. Free entry for under-25s.

For more information visit http://trms.uk/