Sunrise to starlight

Join Harriet Mackenzie and Huw Watkins MBE for a musical day and night, from sunrise to starlight, a programme linked to our new exhibition Edwin Austin Abbey: By the Dawn’s Early Light.

The concert is structured as a musical reflection on the cycle of the day, from the first light of dawn through to nightfall and the timeless sky beyond.

Featuring works for violin, the programme draws on English and American composers, resonating with Abbey’s strong ties to both Gloucestershire and Philadelphia, and evokes the pastoral, mythological and celestial themes often found in his paintings, as well as his connection with Shakespeare.

Abbey's admiration for Shakespeare's work shaped a significant part of his artistic career, and he became one of the most prominent illustrators of Shakespearean scenes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This programme also draws inspiration from Titian's paintings and explores themes featured in Room 8, where the concert is being held.

The programme has been curated by Harriet Mackenzie in collaboration with Music in Action a Jersey charity that uses the power of music to inspire, create and educate.

Harriet Mackenzie is an internationally renowned soloist, composer, arranger and curator. She has performed across five continents. Recordings include concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestra Nova and English Symphony Orchestra. These have received international acclaim, including five star review in The Times, Editor's Choice in Gramophone Magazine and a nomination for 'Recording of The Year' in Music Web International.

A pianist and one of Britain's foremost composers, Huw Watkins, who was born in Wales, performs with orchestras, in chamber collaborations, and in festivals around the globe. He is deeply committed to the performance of new music and has had piano concertos written for him. His own compositions have been commissioned and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales among others. He won the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's 2016 Elise L. Stoeger Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of chamber music composition. He is regularly featured on BBC Radio 3, both as a performer and as a composer. He has made many recordings for Chandos and Signum Records and NMC has devoted two CDs to Watkins’s own music. He was awarded the MBE in 2021 for services to music.