Rodewald Concert Society
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The Rodewald Concert Society is a promoter of chamber music in the Liverpool and Merseyside area of England. The Society was established in 1911, in memory of Alfred E Rodewald (1861–1903), a well-respected amateur conductor in Liverpool, and a close friend of Edward Elgar.
For many years the Society has brought some of the finest chamber music ensembles to Liverpool, including string quartets such as the Amadeus Quartet, the Smetana Quartet, the Janacek Quartet and the Melos Quartet, and other chamber groups such as the Beaux Arts Trio. More recently, the Skampa Quartet, the Belcea Quartet and the Florestan Trio have visited the Society. Recent seasons have offered audiences quality series of quartet concerts, lieder and piano recitals by Stephen Hough, Paul Lewis, Nikolai Demidenko and Llr Williams.
The Society has also a record of commissioning new works, including a work by Hugh Wood to celebrate Liverpool as European Capital of Culture in 2008.
It went through some financial difficulties during the 1990s, but the present chairman, committee and members of the public re-established it, allowing it to resume its activities. The Society relaunched its programme with the Beethoven Series Quartets Concerts and the Endellion Quartet in 2000. Today, it is entirely reliant on the support of its members and patrons for its continuing survival.
While it is an independent charity, the Society enjoys a close working relationship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, with whom it plays a major role in completing the provision of a full range of classical musical performances for audiences in the Merseyside area.
Concerts were for many years held in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, but in 2007 the Society is holding its concerts in the newly refurbished Small Concert Hall at St. George's Hall, Liverpool.
