Boxwood & Brass
Eva Caballero - flute
Emily Worthington - clarinet
Anneke Scott - horn
Robert Percival - bassoon
Poulenc - Sextuor
I. Allegro Vivace
II. Divertissement: Andantino
III. Finale: Prestissimo
Steven Devine combines a career as a conductor and director of orchestral, choral and opera repertoire with that of a solo harpsichordist and fortepianist. He is Conductor and Artistic Advisor of The English Haydn Festival; Music Director of New Chamber Opera, Oxford and Director of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s “Bach the Universe & Everything” series.
He is the Principal Keyboard with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and performs regularly with many other groups around Europe. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Chandos Records) wa described by Gramophone magazine as “among the best”. He is currently engaged in recording the complete harpsichord works of JL Krebs, Bach’s favourite student.
Steven Devine was educated at Chetham’s School of Music before reading Music at St Peter’s College, Oxford.
Founded in 2013, Boxwood & Brass brings together the emerging generation of British period wind-instrument players to advocate for neglected wind chamber music and harmoniemusik of the Classical and early-Romantic periods. Members of the group work regularly with top orchestras from across Europe, including the Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Gabrieli, L’Orchestra de Champs-Elysees and Spira Mirabilis. In-depth scholarly research into style and repertoire is important to us, as is promoting the highest standards in period wind playing. A determinedly disrespectful attitude to the music canon manifests itself in our programming, which often features new arrangements made for the group in the best historical traditions. Since 2013, we have brought our exuberant performance aesthetic to concert halls, churches, stately homes and gardens, and academic conferences up and down the country, as well promoting free concerts in our local communities.
Our repertoire ranges from the military band music of England, through the virtuosic Parisian salon repertoire, to the vast libraries of music created for the harmonie ensembles of the Central European nobility, as well as our own specially-created arrangements.
Praised for ‘spectacular playing’ (Early Music Today) and ‘button-bright performances’ (Gramophone), the ensemble’s programmes regularly include modern premieres and new arrangements made for the group in the best historical traditions. Boxwood & Brass recently released its debut CD Music for a Prussian Salon to unanimous critical praise. Previous appearances have included St John’s, Smith Square, and the Holywell Music Rooms in Oxford, and 2018 will see them making their debut appearance at the York Early Music Festival as well as concerts as far afield as Dartmouth and Durham. 2018 sees Boxwood & Brass taking up the position of Ensemble-in-Association at the University of Huddersfield. The ensemble is also a Making Music ‘Selected Artist’ for 2018–19.