at 7.30pm
William Stafford
~ clarinet
Hiroaki Takenouchi
~ piano
Brahms: Rhapsody in B minor, Op.79 No.1
Saint Saens: Clarinet Sonata
Poulenc: Clarinet Sonata
Brahms: Rhapsody in G minor, Op.79 No.2
Brahms: Clarinet Sonata in E flat, Op.120 No.2
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William Stafford graduated from the University of Manchester in 2007 with a First-Class Honours degree in music and from
the Royal Northern College of Music in 2008, receiving the much-coveted Gold Medal, the highest award that the College offers
for performance. While studying at the RNCM, William was taught by Nicholas Cox (principal clarinet, RLPO) and John Bradbury
(principal clarinet, BBC Philharmonic).
William embarked upon a postgraduate course of study at the Royal College of Music in September 2008. He has received funding for this from the RCM, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund. Other awards include the Granada Prize for chamber music (RNCM), the Procter-Gregg Prize for performance (University of Manchester), and the Trevor Wye Prize for wind chamber music (RNCM).
An experienced orchestral musician, William has worked with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and is currently on trial for the positions of principal clarinet with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra. He has appeared as concerto soloist with the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra and RNCM Concert Orchestra, and has given recitals at various music clubs across the UK as part of the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. A committed chamber musician, William has performed with the London Winds, and appeared alongside the legendary oboist, Maurice Bourgue, at London’s King’s Place.
Hiroaki Takenouchi was born in Japan but is now based in London, where he came in 1997 to study piano with Yonty
Solomon and Andrew Ball, composition with Edwin Roxburgh and fortepiano with David Ward at the Royal College of Music.
On completion of his studies, he received the RCM's The Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rosebowl presented by
HRH The Prince of Wales.
With wide interests that embrace core repertoire and less well-known names like Medtner and Sterndale Bennett, he has developed a special relationship with contemporary music, collaborating with composers like James Dillon, Dai Fujikura, Keiko Harada, Helmut Lachenmann, Ichiro Nodaira, Jeremy Dale Roberts, Edwin Roxburgh and Sachiyo Tsurumi. In recent seasons he has appeared at festivals in Bath, Cheltenhem, Husum and Salzburg and has given recitals throughout the UK, Japan, Austria, Canada, Germany and Italy.
His CDs include the world première recordings of James Dillon’s Black/Nebulae for 2 pianos (with Noriko Kawai) on on a recent NMC release the soadie waste, Six Etudes by Edwin Roxburgh on Reflets dans la glace (NMC), Oggetti – Omaggio a Morandi on The Music of Jeremy Dale Roberts (LORELT), and most recently his first solo CD Cosmos Haptic: Contemporary Piano Music from Japan (LORELT).
Takenouchi has received guidance from and collaborated with many eminent artists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Emanuel Ax, Imogen Cooper, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Robert Levin, Sir Roger Norrington, Howard Shelley and Raphael Wallfisch. Since 2007, he has been a Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellow (RCM) supported by the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Countess of Munster Musical Trust
