Biography:
Ian Shaw – Organist, Pianist, Composer, and Music Director
Ian is a freelance musician who lives in South-East London and has often played for services at St John’s.
Although a first-study organist, he’s spent much of his life as a pianist in ballet, music, theatre and, especially, opera. His work has been described as ‘redoubtable’ by The Scotsman and ‘sometimes amusing’ by the Dean of Durham.
Random highlights from recent years include playing his organ transcription of Smetana’s Vltava at the Smetana Hall in Prague, conducting the world première of Dominique Le Gendre’s Jab Molassie in Trinidad and singing the title role in Madama Butterfly for Nederlandse Reisopera, mercifully only in rehearsals.
While COVID made such endeavours impossible, he focused instead on composition and has since been awarded for a number of works – though Kiss my ass!, a recent setting of some words of Donald Trump in the style of Dvořák, is not one of these.
More prize-worthy have been settings of the laws of thermodynamics, a BBC news report on gender conversion therapy in the Catholic church and Solomon and the Gnat, one of an expanding series of tone-poems for organ inspired by the parables of Rumi. His most notable success is probably the orchestral cantata La Lluna, to Jacint Verdaguer’s surreal poem, which won the El Cor Canta competition and was performed at the Auditori in Barcelona.
Tonight’s programme combines two of his life-long passions: the late works of Bach and the symphonic cycles of Petr Eben, which he first encountered while a pupil of John Scott
Program:
Passacaille
Frank Martin (1890-1974)
Sonata from The Musical Offering
– Largo
– Allegro
– Andante
– Allegro
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Sunday Music
– Fantasia I
– Fantasia II
– Moto ostinato
– Finale
Petr Eben (1929-2007)
Find us:
St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood
Sylvan Road, SE19 2RX, London
Free Parking
Available on Auckland Road, Sylvan Road, and the surrounding areas.
Public Transport
Bus Routes: 249, 410, SL6, N68, 196
Closest Train Station: Crystal Palace (approximately 0.6 miles away)
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