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Angela Richey was born in Edinburgh and introduced to the violin 'accidentally' when she discovered one hidden underneath a cabinet at her grandmothers house.
In 1949 she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London where she was a student of the celebrated Frederick Grinke. She won numerous prizes including the Charles Oldham Scholarship enabling her to study for a further three years. After graduation at the age of 23 she joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and was their youngest member, but left in 1957 for a further years training in Siena, Italy.
From there she freelanced widely in the West Midlands playing regularly with Orchestra Camerata, the Delphos Ensemble and the Element String Quartet.Angela-8-webAngela Richey
In 1967 she founded the Richey String Quartet with Dennis Avery, Peter Bridle and Kathleen Walker, but continued to freelance with the Boyd Neel, Sadlers Wells, Stratford-on-Avon Theatre Orchestra, the Birmingham Bach Society as well as attending engagements in BBC Radio with the Midland Light and Midland Radio Orchestras.
Angela was a passionate and dedicated teacher, teaching at various schools in Birmingham, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. She remained open to new technical ideas all her career, tirelessly supporting the West Midlands branch of ESTA (the European String Teachers Association) before her death in 2009. She founded Volante Strings in 1999 with Megan Webb.

Like most of her Welsh primary school class, Megan Webb received violin lessons as a matter of course; indeed free group lessons continued to Grade 8 level. The encouragement of music in those days led to a plethora of excellent school and county orchestras culminating in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. Megan read music at Exeter University, studying violin with Colin Sawyer of the Dartington String Quartet, leading the university Orchestra and studying composition with Nicholas Maw.
Three happy and adventurous years studying African music at the University of Ghana  followed, where her husband had a lecturing post in the Maths department, the violin being replaced by drums, xylophone and one-string fiddle.
Megan WebbMegan WebbA move to Worcestershire and the sudden appearance of a family (3 children under the age of 5!) led to a revived interest in the violin - teaching, working with the elderly and performing. Megan met Angela  after moving to Abberley, the start of a life-long friendship, and was fortunate to be invited to play in her quartet on occasion. With a wealth of musical friends in the area they formed Volante Strings in 1999, having great fun along the way.
Megan now spends much of her week teaching violin, viola and cello but makes sure there’s plenty of time left for playing both chamber music and folk music.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 April 2011 16:04

 
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REVIEWS

Great Witley 2011

Thank you very much for the wonderful  concert last night. It was pure music

all the way!  I was standing at the door as people were leaving and

everybody was enthusing about hearing such lovely playing in such a

beautiful setting. Thanks to you all. Here's to the next time!

John Jenkin, Great Witley

18 September 2011

St John in Bedwardine

 

Well presented and visually pleasing, Volante Strings is a versatile string orchestra which played music from the Baroque Period through to the twentieth century with ease and a discerning grasp of style. The orchestra is all the more pleasing to watch for its dependence not on a conductor but on the musical skills of its fifteen players to listen and respond together to the ebb and flow of the music. Under the leadership of Kathy Holmes but with input from all players, the ensemble is tight and the tuning impeccable.

The concert started with Vivaldi’s  String Concerto in D minor; this music is bread and butter to Volante Strings and it flies along with a fine string tone and well graded terraced dynamics. Grieg’s Holberg Suite was complementary and started with some crisp playing in the Prelude followed by the nicely balanced lush harmonies of the sarabande. The orchestra captured the fluent lines of the Air and the Rigaudon presented some excellent contrasts between sections. It was good to hear some music from Avison, a lesser- known northern contemporary of Handel and we heard some stylish playing from Graham Longfils and Josie Bedford-Davies as soloists.

Arensky’s Variations featured much attention to fine detail in its phrasing, articulation and dynamics; particularly enjoyable was the beautiful and expansive cello solo played under an intricate accompaniment.

The group is indeed lucky to have several arrangers/composers and Graham Gunter’s arrangements of some Shostakovich piano preludes were a nice addition to the programme. Bob Thomas’ Worcester Brawls Remixt is an excellent mixture of dances past and present, and was played with verve and relish providing an exciting and witty conclusion to a very enjoyable summer afternoon of music.

Rob Porter  June 2011

St Edburga's Church

At their second visit to St. Edburga's Church,  Volante Strings presented a beautifully polished recital of music of a less well known character including Avison, Arensky and Dag Wirén. More familiar were pieces by Grieg (The Holberg Suite) and a Trio Sonata for two cellos masterfully played by Corinne Frost and Hilary Summers.

Reference was made to Sir Edward Elgar and his involvement in the locality. It was therefore most appropriate for the orchestra to play part of the delightful suite from his one and only attempt at comic opera - The Spanish Lady.

The good sized audience rightly showed their appreciation for a delightful evening.

 

Bruce Tasker, Bransford

Leominster

"Thanks for making this week end visit a real treat for me. I think you all did some really excellent playing in the concert and I certainly enjoyed playing those wonderful concertos together!"  Charles Owen, March 2009

Oostende and Brugge

'I see Volante Strings as a touch of home,  a vehicle for Elgar and his country. They have an extremely wide repertoire and their concerts have something for everyone in the audience'.

Clifford Owen, priest-in-charge of Oostende and Brugge.


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