We’ve been very fortunate to start the new year by entering a new chapter of the Villiers, with our newest member, cellist Leo Melvin. Like most of you, we’ve been watching all the events in the world unfold with great drama. Little did we expect that as January came upon us, we’d find ourselves in yet another lockdown in the UK!
We have come to accept that our usual offerings of live concerts would be paused for a bit. A lot of our concerts that had been cancelled in the March 2020 lockdown were rescheduled for this year, only for those concerts to once again be delayed. We remain hopeful, and we are determined to be able to perform for some of you again in person, when we are all on the other side of this pandemic.
In the meantime, we’ve been busy dreaming up our own projects, and finding ways to keep collaborating with other artists. On the horizon is our “From Home” Commissions, where we have commissioned new works from 6 dynamic UK-based composers. We are pleased to announce that Rob Fokkens, Philip Herbert, Alexander Ho, Soosan Lolavar, Jasmin Kent Rodgman, and Florence Anna Maunders – all British composers with fresh musical voices – will be writing new quartets for us! You can learn more details about our “From Home” Project here:
Our hope is to create a new body of music, reflecting what it has been like to experience these surreal pandemic times “From Home.” We have just over a week to reach our goal to help raise funds in our ‘indiegogo’ crowdfunding campaign, and we are almost halfway there!! Please consider supporting our project, and help us reach our total goal of £3000! Aside from supporting artists & composers, you will also be contributing to this journey with us. You can donate here!
You may have seen on some our social media pages, various posts and photos of what we’ve been up to, including our #21daysFromHome where we share more details about the VQ and each of our composers. We’ve also been able to have short blogs from each of us, talking individually about how we’ve been dealing with life in the pandemic.
We are always so grateful to you for your continued support and encouragement. While the world seems to be going through a relentless tailspin, we take comfort in the music that brings us together, and being able to revel in this great experience of chamber music. We’re continuing to push through and see what innovations we can bring to string quartet, so please stay tuned and in touch with us!
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