Bliss in Bradfield: ‘Sir Arthur Bliss 50th Anniversary Concert’- Part of the Bradfield Festival of Music 2025

Mark Bebbington – piano, Rebeca Omordia – piano, Chu-Yu Yang – violin.

Bradfield Festival is delighted to participate in the “50 for 50” concert project coordinated by the Arthur Bliss Society commemorating the 50th anniversary of the life of Arthur Bliss. As a composer Bliss had modernist and more traditional phases. He composed not only concert works, but also film scores and ballet accompaniments. In this concert, we can experience the range of his works in the context of his contemporaries and those who took inspiration from him.

Mark Bebbington is a remarkable pianist with a keen interest in British music. He has recorded, performed and toured extensively and has received unanimous critical acclaim and awards for his recordings.

Rebeca Omordia last performed in Bradfield in 2019 and is described by Julian Lloyd Weber as ”a pianist whose technique knows no bounds but, more importantly, she plays with a depth of insight and understanding which is all too rare today” (photo- Four Chiefs Media Productions)

Chu-Yu Yang is a young Taiwanese violinist who is notable for his interest in British music. He will perform a Violin Sonata composed by Bliss in the trenches of the first world war. He is the artistic director of the British Music Festival in Taiwan and also freelances with the LPO, BBC NOW, the Royal Northern Sinfonia and the CBSO.

Programme to include
Arthur Bliss: Masks
Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Little Piano Book
Arthur Bliss: Violin Sonata
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves adapted from the opera Sir John in Love (piano duet)
John Ireland: Mai-Dun – 1934 (composer’s arrangement for 4 hands)
Arthur Bliss: Suite
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending (1914)
Ian Venables: Pastorale Op 11 No 1
William Alwyn: Sonata alla Toccata

Further details about the concert programme and the Festival are on the Festival Website