Ian Carmalt MA, Pianist
01227 762547
Contact Ian
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Ian
has
been
playing
the
piano
for
the
Faversham
Choral
Society's
rehearsals,
and
piano
or
harpsichord
for
many
of
its
Christmas
and
summer
concerts,
since
November
1996.
From
spring
2002
until
the
choir
ceased
meeting
at
the
end
of
2005,
he
added
duties
as
accompanist
for
Chatham
Choral
Society
(a.k.a.
Medway
Cantabile)
to
his weekly work.
Here is a concert for Christian Aid in which Ian took
part in May, 2021, and here is a recording of an FCS
concert featuring Ian’s playing.
He
was
born
and
brought
up
in
Birmingham,
where
he
showed
early
interests
in
piano
playing
and
composition,
and
studied
music
up
to
A
level
at
King
Edward
VI
Camp
Hill
School
for
Boys.
After
leaving
school,
Ian
worked
for
the
NHS
Supplies
organisation,
keeping
up
his
musical
and
general
artistic
enthusiasm
by
singing
in
choirs,
helping
to
run
musical
organisations,
and
attending
a
large
number
of
concerts, festivals and summer schools.
Having
left
the
NHS
in
1993,
Ian
studied
at
Anglia
Polytechnic
(now
Ruskin)
University,
Cambridge,
whence
he
graduated
with
a
BA
(1st
Class
Hons)
in
Music.
During
this
period,
he
began
to
take
a
serious
interest
in
accompanying
and
playing
chamber
music,
which
led
him
to
move
to
Canterbury
to
study
at
Christ
Church
College
(now
University)
with
Kathryn
Page
and
Derek Hyde for his Masters degree in this subject.
Ian
is
now
a
freelance
ensemble
pianist,
who
works
as
accompanist
to
the
Faversham
Choral
Society,
and
as
pianist
for
ballet
classes
and
exams
at
the
Margaret
Giles
(Wye)
and
Page-Mason
(Broadstairs)
Schools
of
Dancing,
and
at
the
Ashford
branch
of
Dance
Warehouse
.
He
is
active
as
an
accompanist
and
coach
for
singers
and
instrumentalists
in
the
Canterbury
and
East Kent area.
National
lockdowns
as
part
of
the
coronavirus
pandemic
caused
(possibly
temporary)
retirement,
but
also
brought
a
new
interest,
namely
studying
pieces
of
music
published
in
International
Piano
magazine.
Here
are
Ian’s
recordings
of
several
of
these
and
a
few works from his own bookshelf.
In
2017
Ian
and
a
young
up
and
coming
singer
Jack
Naismith
formed
a
partnership
that
during
its
first
year
included
performances
in
Canterbury
and
Herne
Bay
of
a
programme
featuring
Schumann’s
Dichterliebe
.
In
August
2015,
Ian
was
the
music
director/pianist
for
the
Arden
Theatre
(Faversham)
production
of
The
Hollow
Crown
,
which
brought
back
memories
of
performing
a
similar
role
at
the
same
theatre
fifteen
or
so
years
earlier,
for
the
Young
Arden’s
performances
of
Lewis
Carroll’s
Alice
story,
with
music by Richard Addinsell.
Until
their
singing
and
instrumental
competitions
ceased
in
2011,
he
was
for
over
ten
years
an
official
accompanist
to
the
Kent
Competitive
Festival,
but
by
that
time
he
had
begun
to
appear
variously
as
pianist,
composer,
folk
singer
and
speaker
in
Under
the
Spotlight,
a
theatrical
offshoot
of
Faversham
Choral
Society.
He
is
also
the
regular
organist
at
Sturry
parish
church, near Canterbury.
Outside
school
term
time,
Ian
was
for
three
years
a
house
pianist
for
Music
at
Rendcomb
,
a
residential
singing
course
that
culminated
in
a
concert
of
staged
scenes,
and
was
re-instated
in
August
2012
as
part
of
the
International
Summer
School
of
Music
in
Shrewsbury
.
A
highlight
came
in
2005,
when
he
was
the
pianist
for
Georgina
Colwell's
English
Song
Weekend
,
in
which
Ivor
Gurney
and
Margaret
Wegener
were
featured
composers.
He
later
became
the
regular
pianist
for
these
weekends,
and
was
booked
for
a
music
theatre
course
(cancelled
because
of
insufficient bookings) in August 2008.
In
the
2002
Canterbury
Festival,
Ian
organised
and
performed
in
a
concert
featuring
Brahms'
Liebesliederwalzer
,
Joubert's
Divertimento
for
piano
duet,
and solo songs.
His
interest
in
unusual
and
unjustly
neglected
repertoire
(especially
British)
has
led
Ian
to
introduce
Alwyn's
Rhapsody
for
piano
and
string
trio
to
numerous
chamber
music
enthusiasts
at
summer
schools,
and
to
perform
the
piece
at
such
schools
in
Aberystwyth
(1999)
and
Winchester
(2003).
The
best
of
Ian's
compositions
are
available
from
www.scoreexchange.com
.
For
an
autobiographical
essay
about
his
compositions,
click
here
.
Here
is
a
video
of
an
extract
from
his
performance
of
Pretty
Ring
Time
, from his
Seasons in Ragtime
.
The
highlight
of
his
career
as
a
vocalist
was
performing
a
tenor
part
in
Berio's
Sinfonia
for
Anglia
at
West
Road
Concert
Hall,
Cambridge
(May
1996).
Ian
keeps
up
his
interest
in
singing
by
turning
out
for
the
City
of
Canterbury
Chamber
Choir
and
The
Canterbury
Singers
,
whose
librarian
he
was
for
sixteen
or
so
years
and
whose
catalogue,
along
with
those
of
many
other
choirs, is available from
www.gerontius.net
Stage
appearances
include
small
operatic
roles
such
as
Dr
Crabbe
(
Peter
Grimes
),
the
tenor
soldier
worker
in
Milhaud's
The
Abduction
of
Europa
,
and
the
sage
in
Hindemith's
Hin
und
Zurück
,
all
at
Anglia
Polytechnic
University.
Ian
has
also
acted
in
plays:
at
Anglia
in
plays
written
by
fellow
students,
and
as
a
pianist
in
Joshua
Sobol's
Ghetto
;
and
more
recently
as
Brother
Plasterer
in
Terry
Pratchett's
Guards!
Guards!
at
the
Arden
Theatre
,
Faversham.
He
appeared
at
the
Arden
again
in
May
2006,
as
Lady
Macbeth
in
the
Farndale
Avenue production of the Scottish play.
Essays
William Alwyn
Beethoven variations
Brahms
Piano accompaniment
Other links and interests
Canterbury Musicians
Finzi Friends
William Alwyn
www.musicteachers.co.uk
www.uk-piano.org
Humour
National Trust
Friends of the Earth
Scottish Country Dancing
Chamber music (summer school)
WELCOME
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