Classical and Jazz: Preview - The Franklin Ensemble at Lauderdale House on June 11
Published: 9 June, 2011
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
THE Franklin Ensemble, a new grouping of young music graduates, is playing a fundraiser for the Jerusalem Interest-free Microfinance Fund on Sunday evening at Lauderdale House, Highgate. It’s an all-Brahms programme: his lovely String Sextet No1 and exciting Piano Quartet No1.
The JMF charity was set up three years ago by Muslim and Jewish Londoners. It’s a cross-communal initiative to alleviate poverty and mitigate inter-communal tension in Jerusalem.
Donald Franklin, a senior economic adviser to the government and long-standing member of the Golders Green United Synagogue, is a founder-trustee and chairman of the fund.
His daughter Alisa Franklin has put together the ensemble of young graduates from the top UK conservatoires. She herself is a versatile cellist having graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music. She got into music at Camden School for Girls. “The school’s music department is very strong and that’s where I really got my inspiration to be become a musician,” she says. “I led the school orchestra for a time.’’