Georgian Dialogues: English Sonatas from the time of Handel

Programme

Francesco Geminiani
Sonata in D, Op. 4, No. 1
Adagio

Giuseppe Agus
Sonata in Bb major, Op. 2, No. 2

Michael Festing
Sonata No. 6 in G minor, Op. 7, No. 6

Elizabetta da Gambarini
Minuet & Variations in A, Op. 2

Francesco Geminiani
Sonata in A minor, Op. 4, No. 5

Pieter Hellendaal
Sonata No. 2 in A major from ‘The Cambridge Sonatas’

George Frideric Handel
Sonata in D major, HWV 371
Affetuoso & Allegro

Performers

Dialogus1685 was founded in Cambridge in 2025 by harpsichordist Andrew Arthur and baroque violinist Rachel Stroud. Both specialists in historically informed performance, the duo is inspired by the concept of dialogue — between instruments, between performers and listeners, and between past and present. Their first cycle of Bach’s Sonatas for Violin and Obbligato Harpsichord was presented to sold-out audiences at Trinity Hall, throughout the 2024 – 2025 academic year and repeated in the Church of St Edward King and Martyr, Cambridge in September 2025. Further recent engagements include appearances at Wolfson College, Pembroke Auditorium, and the Edington Arts Festival.

Rachel Stroud is a violinist and musicologist specialising in historical performance. She completed a PhD at King’s College, Cambridge, exploring issues of notation and performance in Beethoven’s late string quartets in 2020 after formative studies at Cambridge and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

Rachel enjoys a busy international career, performing and recording in major concert venues and festivals all over the world. As well as working with leading period-instrument orchestras in the UK, she has been a member of the Swiss-based period instrument orchestra ‘Les Passions de L’Ame’ since 2014, and regularly appears more locally as the Director of baroque ensembles such as Norwich Baroque and Bury Baroque. She is also Artistic Director of her own group, The Geldart Ensemble, which has appeared with choirs in venues ranging from Snape Maltings to Trinity College Chapel, and made the first recording of Marianna Martines’ ‘Laudate Pueri’ in Bath Abbey in July 2023.

A keen chamber musician, Rachel is a founding member of the Cambridge String Quartet, which was appointed the first ensemble in residence at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, and is building a reputation for its creative and imaginative programming, including their popular series, ‘The Secret History of the String Quartet’. Rachel is also a violin teacher at the University of Cambridge, an ABRSM examiner, and a Council member of the Academy of Ancient Music.

Andrew Arthur enjoys a busy and varied freelance career that has seen him perform extensively throughout the United Kingdom and on tour across Europe, South Africa, Canada, Singapore and the USA. Best-known for his work in the field of historically informed performance, he is in regular demand as a director, keyboard soloist, accompanist and continuo player, and has worked with many of the UK’s leading period-instrument orchestras, vocal soloists and professional choirs.

Andrew is Musical Director of his own ensemble and vocal consort, Orpheus Britannicus, and a long-standing member of the Artistic Leadership Team at the Carmel Bach Festival in California, where he has served as a Director and as Principal Organist & Harpsichordist since 1999. From 2007-26, he held the position of Associate Director of The Hanover Band, with whom he undertook over 200 concert performances, including live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, numerous large-scale tours of orchestral, vocal and chamber repertoire and regular annual performances of Handel’s Messiah and of J.S. Bach’s Passions and Oratorios.

Andrew is a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge where, in addition to his primary College responsibilities as Director of College & Chapel Music and Director of Studies in Music, he is Coordinator of the University’s Organ Awards Scheme and Chairman of the Organ Scholars’ Forum.

Booking and cost

Tickets cost £15 standard, £10 concessions, and £5 students. All ticket prices include a complementary drink served after the concert (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). Please note that bookings will close at 12pm on Friday 1 May.

Once you have booked your seat(s) you will receive a booking confirmation which you will be asked to present on arrival. Please either print a copy or display using a hand-held electronic device. You will not be issued paper tickets.

Location

The Chapel, Trinity Hall, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ.

Please visit the Porters’ Lodge on arrival where they will direct you to the venue.

Cancellations

We are able to offer refunds for bookings cancelled five working days or more before an event. Requests for late refunds will be considered on an individual basis and refunds will be issued at the discretion of the Alumni & Development Office. We cannot accept responsibility if weather or disruption to travel prevents you from attending. Please let us know as soon as possible if you find you are no longer able to attend, as we have limited capacity for this event. Please email the office or call +44 (0)1223 332555 at the earliest opportunity, if you need to cancel a booking.

Photography

We like to take photos at our events to use in our digital and print communications. If you do not wish to have your photo taken, please let us know in advance or on the day.

Contact

If you have any queries, please contact us at arts@trinhall.cam.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1223 332555.