The Schubert Ensemble (28–30 January 2011)
From Vienna to Prague

The Dante Quartet (18–20 February 2011)
Great Last Works

The Wihan Quartet (18–20 March 2011)
German & Czech Romantics

The London Haydn Quartet (1–3 April 2011)
Haydn Quartets, Mozart Quintets

Emma Johnson & Friends (29 April – 1 May 2011)
Schubert Plus

A Music Weekend arranged by Martin Randall Music Management is a very special experience. There is the pleasure, first, of hearing music performed by musicians of the highest calibre, artists who are among the very best in their fields. Many come from mainland Europe and America.

Second, the music is played in an intimate setting, a small hall little bigger than a large drawing room – just the sort of size which composers used to have in mind for chamber music. The audience is rarely more than a hundred and often fewer, and consists mainly of those who stay throughout the weekend and attend all four concerts. Some tickets for individual concerts are also sold locally.

Third, the weekends are based at hotels, The Castle at Taunton and Jesmond Dene House at Newcastle, which rank among the finest in England. Both are famous for comfort, character, and both have award-winning restaurants. We have exclusive use of the hotels during these music weekends, and there is opportunity for artists and audience to mingle throughout the weekend.

While these events are undeniably indulgent and leisurely retreats, they are also intended to stimulate the mind and enchant the aesthetic sensibilities. Within an over-arching theme, the music is carefully chosen and programmed to provide an illuminating sequence – while each concert is satisfyingly self-sufficient. Some weekends include pre-concert lectures, and musicians often talk as well.

Literary weekends, introduced at The Castle in 2009, follow a similar format, with five or six highly distinguished writers in a particular field giving talks and leading discussions. For the November 2010 slot we have gathered some of the finest historians in Britain.
The price for the weekend packages covers almost everything, from the concerts themselves to interval drinks, via luxurious accommodation and memorable dinners. Even gratuities for hotel staff are included.

There have been music weekends at The Castle since 1977, and Martin Randall Music Management have been organising them since 2003. The weekend at Jesmond Dene House in March 2011 will be their first.

The Castle Hotel, Taunton
The Castle at Taunton is one of the finest hotels in England, renowned for its excellent and caring service, for comforts traditional and modern and for its superb restaurant. It has been owned and run by the Chapman family for sixty years.

Music weekends have been held here since 1977, and Martin Randall Music Management took over the running of them in 2003. Concerts and talks are held in the air-conditioned Music Room.

Bedrooms are individually and charmingly decorated and well equipped. The majority have a bath with a shower above. Most are a good size, and the largest, with a sitting area and separate dressing room, overlook the garden in the remains of the twelfth-century castle. Single rooms – for which there is no supplement – are fairly small and have a singe bed. 
Taunton lies on the doorstep of Exmoor and the Quantocks, areas with some of the loveliest countryside in England.

Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle
Jesmond Dene House is a nineteenth-century mansion in a quiet wooded suburb about two miles from the centre of Newcastle. It opened as a luxury hotel in 2005 and in 2009 was awarded Hotel of the Year, Northern England.

The public areas are stylishly decorated and include a Tudor-style wood-panelled hall where the concerts take place. There is an excellent restaurant and a garden. Service is attentive and efficient.

Bedrooms are well designed in a modern idiom with good lighting, attractive textiles and modern comforts such as a cd/dvd player. Some of the bedrooms are in the adjacent ‘New House’ and some bathrooms have a shower only (across all room categories). Single rooms comfortably fit a double bed.

The hotel is close to glorious Northumberland countryside, the setting for great castles, country houses and Hadrian’s Wall. The city centre boasts some of the finest Georgian streetscape in Britain as well as the spectacular riverside and modern arts centres.


Comments from participants on previous weekends: