Avison Ensemble

He worked with figures such as the astronomer William Herschel who was leader of Avison's orchestra, the composer William Shield (his pupil from Whickham and to whom is owed the memory of Auld Lang Syne), the Newcastle glass enameller Ralph Beilby who was a bass player in Avison's orchestra, and the English wood engraver Thomas Bewick, who as a young lad engraved the concert tickets.

Despite having written over eighty string concertos, Avison's music had been rarely performed since his death, either on modern or period instruments.

Avison's second workbook contains autograph concerto transcriptions of Domenico Scarlatti's sonatas, scribal manuscripts of Avison's 12 Concerti Grossi Op.2, heavily revised and annotated in the composer's hand, and transcriptions in full score of Francesco Geminiani's Concerti Grossi Op.7 as well as his unpublished arrangements of Geminiani's Violin Sonatas Opp.

Both workbooks have been fully restored by a team at Northumbria University and have been placed on loan to the Newcastle City Library, now named the Charles Avison Building, for safe-keeping and preservation.

Members of the Ensemble appear regularly in principal positions with the Academy of Ancient Music, Fretwork (music group), The Gabrielli Consort, Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, and the English Baroque Soloists, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, English Concert, The King's Consort, and Les Arts Florissants.

The Ensemble has also performed under the conductors Benjamin Zander and Nicholas Kraemer, and with soloists such as the cellists Anner Bylsma, Jaap ter Linden, and Pieter Wispelwey, pianists Ronald Brautigam and Alexei Lubimov, and singers James Bowman, Robin Blaze and Catherine Bott.

In addition to numerous appearances in the other English regions – most recently at St George's Church, Brandon Hill, Bristol – the Ensemble has also appeared at St John's, Smith Square, London, the Foundling Museum, London (in conjunction with the Handel House Museum), at Trinity College of Music in the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, as part of the Greenwich Early Music Festival, and at the Handel Festival, Halle, in Germany.

At the core of the Avison Ensemble's activities is the strong programme of educational events including an established partnership developed with Gateshead Youth Orchestra and an annual project with North East schools.

The Ensemble also offers a training ground for young professional musicians to gain experience of period performance practice and styles, affording them the opportunity to work with outstanding directors and soloists.