Beethoven - Sonata Op 14 No.2
Prokofiev - Visions Fugitives (selection)
Prokofiev - Sonata No.4

Ferguson - Five Bagatelles
Debussy - Estampes
Liszt - Ballade No.2

One of the most respected young artists of his generation, Bobby Chen, born in Sandakan, Malaysia, burst on the scene in 1996 with a sensational season of concerts, which included a British tour with Lord Menuhin in a performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto and a recital at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the South Bank Prokofiev Festival.
Since then, regular appearances in mainstream London and British venues such as Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Purcell Room and the Wigmore Hall as well as venues in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Europe have contributed to Chen's remarkably fast rise as a household name in Britain and the Far East. "His playing is truly beautiful" - Lord Menuhin

Our celebration of Howard Ferguson's centenary includes a rare performance of his Five Bagatelles. Their composition came about during a creative block, when he jokingly said to a composer friend that "if someone would give me some notes," he could get to work. His friend obliged, wrote down six notes and from them the second Bagatelle arose. Four more sets of notes were given and, thus Five Bagatelles. This anecdote, combined with his response to the question of why he had written so few works, in which he quoted Shelley: "Rarely, rarely, comest thou, spirit of delight", suggests something other than courageous determination in his cessation of musical composition.