Festival
Cantilena Festival on Islay 2019
The 2019 Cantilena Festival was held from Sunday 7th July to Friday 12th July 2019.
Another successful Festival is over! Our grateful thanks go to everyone who was involved in making 2019 a great success. Our concerts were very well attended and everyone enjoyed the music, especially to hear how our two returning young professionals, Yuan Li (viola) and Alex Webber Garcia (violin) had added yet more to their talents. We were delighted to introduce four new recruits from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Annabel Kidd (violin), Diarmaid Heffernan (violin), Cameron Smith (cello) and Sophie Butler (double bass) to highly appreciative audiences. And later in the week we were joined by two trumpet players Ana Romero and Rebecca Wilson. Wednesday evening saw the welcome return of piano student Daniel Silcock who astonished us with his mastery of Debussy. Everyone will have their favourite highlights of the week, and the Festival ended with the regular light-hearted Classical Ceilidh.
As ever, the Festival relies on hard work from many people and we give special thanks to Rona Fisher and her team of the Friends of Cantilena, to Martine Nouet for her tireless work on our behalf, and in particular for creating and presenting her very popular Whisky Tasting, and to the amazing and unflappable Ishbel Capper who kept us fed and watered throughout the week. Special thanks also go to Lance Green for his hard work and support.
A gallery of this year's photos taken by Peter Ramsden and Alistair Simpson is available HERE.
Cantilena Programme 2019
| Sunday 7th July | Columba Centre | |||
| Mozart | Piano Trio in Bb K502 | |||
| Interval | ||||
| Schumann | Piano Quartet in E flat | |||
| Shostakovich | Piano Quintet in G minor Op.57 | |||
| Monday 8th July | Laphroaig | |||
| Young Professional Musicians Showcase and works from the full ensemble | ||||
| Tuesday 9th July | Lagavulin | |||
| Corelli | Concerti Grosso Op.3 no. 8 (Christmas Concerto) | |||
| Vivaldi | Concerto for 2 Cellos in G minor | |||
| Rossini | String Sonata no. 1 in G | |||
| Interval | ||||
| Erskine | Quartet in A | |||
| Mendelssohn | String Symphony no. 9 | |||
| Wednesday 10th July | Columba Centre | |||
| Debussy | Preludes Book 2 (Daniel Silcock - Piano) | |||
| Interval | ||||
| Brahms | Viola Sonata in F minor Op 120/1 | |||
| Beethoven | Piano Trio in E flat Op 1/1 | |||
| Thursday 11th July | Ardbeg | |||
| J C Bach | Quartet in C | |||
| Telemann | Concerto for Two Violas | |||
| Bach/Vivaldi | Concerto for Trumpet in D | |||
| Interval | ||||
| CPE Bach | Sinfonia in A | |||
| Handel | Suite for Trumpet and Strings | |||
| Bach | Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G | |||
| Friday 12th July | Bruichladdich Village Hall | |||
| Vivaldi | Concerto for Four Violins in B minor | |||
| Puccini | Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums) | |||
| Vivaldi | Concerto for Two Trumpets in C | |||
| Bartok | Romanian Folk Dances | |||
| Interval | ||||
| Classical Ceilidh (featuring our 2 trumpet soloists) | ||||
*Please note that this is an outline of the Festival and some details may be subject to change
Additional Events in 2019
Thursday July 4, a short lunchtime free concert at Ardnahoe Distillery.
Thursday 4 July, 8pm Rhinns Hall Portnahaven: an evening of light classical music. Tickets £7 at the door
Whisky Tasting
Our dear friend Martine Nouet has arranged a Whisky Tasting at Islay House Hotel on Wednesday 10 July 3.30pm -5pm. This is a very popular event, where Martine, a well-known food and whisky writer, marries our classical music to samples of special Islay malt whiskies. Tickets are £20 and can be reserved by emailing .