Lovers of music living in the Romsey area have been fortunate for some years as the town's Summer Chamber Music Festival has been able to attract top-class musicians from all parts of the globe. 

Under the guiding hand of dynamic local violinist Laura Rickard, the musical fare offered to audiences has never been less than stimulating, and is often inspiring. Nevertheless, these are challenging times, prompting Laura to organise a complete weekend of concerts and workshops appropriately called 'Winterfest'.

The first two days of the four-day event focussed on what Laura refers to as 'side-by-side', a scheme enabling talented young local musicians to be mentored by internationally acclaimed virtuosi - in this case violinists Laura herself and Luke Hsu, violist Marthe Husum and cellist Rainer Crosett. Eight talented students were given the opportunity to take part in workshops, and the professional soloists also visited local schools, introducing the children to music they might otherwise not normally access.

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The first of two public concerts in Romsey's United Reform Church on Friday January 19 comprised three pieces. In the folk-inspired and basically light-hearted Divertimento by Hungarian composer Leo Weiner, the young performers were asked to join the professionals on the stage. The experience prompted one of the students, viola player Hannah Leary, to state how incredible it was to be given the opportunity to play alongside such high level musicians, and that they had learned a great deal about different styles of music.

The opening item of the concert, the short but technically demanding Trois Strophes of Henri Dutilleux received a virtuosic and intensely emotional rendering from cellist Rainer Crosett, while the second half was devoted to the first of Schumann's string quartets. Perhaps a slightly greater range of dynamics would have been welcome here, but the qualities of technical brilliance and intensity that summed up the evening provided more than enough compensation, a view shared by the large and suitably captivated audience. 

Review by Jeremy Neville