BACKSTAGE WITH… Cellist Guy Johnston
As artistic director of the Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival, what have you got up your sleeve this year?
This year, we’ve gone for a combination of traditional programmes with something quite different! So, for instance, we’ve got the bandoneon player JP Jofre coming from Argentina, the guitarist Morgan Szymanski from Mexico, Nirmala Rajasekar, an Indian veena player, and Lodestar, a Scandinavian folk trio. In what is a bit of an experiment, we’re mixing the groups up in concert, which should be quite a change for our audiences!
How did you come up with the inspiration for it?
When I played in the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, which was run by the pianist Kathryn Stott, she put all these different styles together in one festival programme and I thought it worked incredibly well. It was there, too, that I met JP Jofre. He has written a Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bandoneon which he will be playing with clarinettist Julian Bliss, who comes from nearby in Hertfordshire. Kathryn is, incidentally, playing at the festival too.
You’re also paying homage to your home patch, aren’t you?
Yes. ORA Singers and their conductor Suzi Digby have an Elizabethan programme – works from the reigns of both Elizabeths – and I’ve always felt that we should include something that connects to the history of Hatfield House itself. The earlier works date from when the house was built, while the recent ones connect with the recent jubilee celebrations.
How much of Hatfield House do you stage concerts in?
We use the Marble Hall, the Old Palace and St Etheldreda’s Church. We’ve also been going full steam ahead with our education programme and have hundreds of children from local schools coming to a concert specifically aimed at them.
This is your 11th year since the festival began. How have you shaped it over that time?
Every year, the festival develops partly through planning, but sometimes also by chance. You are always thinking about the next year, and the festival board also has a say, but it’s amazing how it evolves. We’ve had some incredible performers over the years, such as pianist András Schiff, The Sixteen and the Endellion Quartet, so we’ve really covered some ground!