Welcome to “TBS”! We run chamber music concerts in Farnham with top professional musicians. All our concerts are open to the public and you can register to attend from this website. We are a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
Entrance to our concerts is FREE and our concerts are funded primarily through retiring collections and donations. We especially welcome young people and their attendance is supported by CAVATINA.
Conservatoire Concerts in Godalming, which used to be part of TBS, is now a separate charity, see conservatoireconcerts.org.uk , as is Farnham Sinfonia see www.farnhamsinfonia.org.uk
The original Tilford Bach Society, with its current Music Director Adrian Butterfield, runs the Tilford Bach Festival and is a separate charity.
Musicians: Please read: A word to our musicians
Please always check the website shortly before the concert in case of any last minute changes beyond our control.
Our Next Concert at the Spire Church
Please note that evening parking charges of £2 have been introduced Mon-Sat in Central and South Street car parks, but not in Waggon Yard
4-00 pm Sunday 6 April 2025
(note later time than in winter)
Tessa Uys & Ben Schoeman – Piano 4 hands
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for Piano 4-hands
Transcripton by Franz Xaver Scharwenka (1850 -1924)
If there is one work for which Beethoven is best known, it must surely be his monumental ninth symphony, arguably the most profound and moving of his symphonies. Although its revolutionary form and extreme technical difficulties meant that full appreciation of this iconic work was slow to form, by the 19th century, the symphony was fully established and many of the great composers considered it to be the central inspiration for their creative voices. Its influence continues unabated today; when the Berlin wall fell in 1989, Leonard Bernstein conducted a legendary performance with a composite cast of musicians from all over the world.
In 2010, Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman established a duo partnership after being invited to give a two-piano recital at the Royal Over-Seas League in London. Ever since, they have performed regularly at music societies, festivals and at the BBC and in 2015, they embarked on their journey with the nine Scharwenka/Beethoven Symphonies transcriptions.
Born in Cape Town, Tessa Uys was first taught by her mother, Helga Bassel, herself a noted concert pianist. At 16, she won a Royal Schools Associated Board Scholarship and continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she studied with Gordon Green. In her final year she was awarded the MacFarren Medal. Further studies followed in London with Maria Curcio, and in Siena with Guido Agosti. Shortly after this Tessa Uys won the Royal Over-Seas League Competition and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. During the past decades, Tessa Uys has established for herself an impressive reputation, both as concert performer, and as a broadcasting artiste, performing at many concert venues throughout the world and with such distinguished conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Walter Susskind, Louis Frémaux and Nicholas Kraemer.
Also born in South Africa, Ben Schoeman studied piano with Joseph Stanford at the University of Pretoria and then received post-graduate tuition from Boris Petrushansky, Louis Lortie, Michel Dalberto, Ronan O’Hora and Eliso Virsaladze in Florence, Imola and London. He obtained a doctorate from City, University of London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He won 1st Prize in the 11th UNISA International Piano Competition, the Gold Medal in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, the contemporary music prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the Huberte Rupert Prize from the South African Academy for Science and Art. He has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican Centre and Queen Elizabeth Halls in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Gulbenkian Auditorium in Lisbon, and the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Ben Schoeman is a Steinway Artist and a senior lecturer in piano and musicology at the University of Pretoria.
Please register to attend. It is not essential but helps us to plan and we can contact you in case of any last minute problems
The following links are provided for anyone who prefers not to donate by cash at the concert or who wishes to make an additional ad hoc donation.
Donate £5Donate £10 Donate £20 Donate £30 Donate £40 Donate £50Donate £100
If you do not wish to use Paypal please post a cheque payable to “Tilford Bach Society CIO” to TBS, 1 Adams Drive, Fleet GU51 3DZ or make a transfer to Tilford Bach Society CIO Account at Lloyds 38264060 Sort Code 30-90-89. Please put “Farnham” in the reference box.
Further TBS concerts at the Spire Church
2025
Ben Schoeman & Tessa Uys: Beethoven 9th Symphony for piano four hands
Mithras Trio: Haydn, Mendelssohn, Bonis, Ravel
Natalia Lomeiko piano trio: Ysaye, Debussy, Bruch
Other concerts
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Donations to support Farnham Concerts
The following links are provided for anyone who prefers not to donate by cash at the concert or who wishes to make an additional ad hoc donation.
Donate £5 Donate £10 Donate £20 Donate £30 Donate £40 Donate £50 Donate £100
If you do not wish to use Paypal please post a cheque payable to “Tilford Bach Society CIO” to TBS, 1 Adams Drive, Fleet GU51 3DZ or make a transfer to Tilford Bach Society CIO Account at Lloyds 38264060 Sort Code 30-90-89. Please put “Farnham” in the reference box.
Please click HERE to sign a Gift Aid Form increasing the value of your gift by 25%, if you have not already done so. The forms are valid for ALL Farnham and Godalming concerts, including the Sinfonia, and need to be completed only once as they remain valid until you tell us to stop using them.
Next Godalming Conservatoire Concert
See their website: www.conservatoireconcerts.org.uk
Major Sponsors
We are hugely grateful to our major sponsors:
