​SUNDAY  1st March 2026
​Pitchford Hall, Pitchford, SY5 7DN.  2.30pm
HAYDN & BACH
AFTERNOON CLAVICHORD RECITAL
​Soloist:   Steven Devine - clavichord

​Steven Devine combines a career as a conductor and director of orchestral, choral and opera repertoire with that of a solo harpsichordist and fortepianist. He is Conductor and Artistic Advisor of The English Haydn Festival; Music Director of New Chamber Opera, Oxford and Director of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s “Bach the Universe & Everything” series.

On the concert platform he has directed Purcell, Blow, Bach, Handel and Mozart with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Bach Easter Oratorio with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Haydn, Handel, CPE Bach, JC Bach, Dittersdorf and Viotti with the English Haydn Orchestra; Handel, Vivaldi and Porpora with Ann Hallenberg and Trondheim Barokk; Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble; Handel Solomon with Victoria Baroque Players, British Columbia and Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks with Arion Baroque Ensemble, Montreal; He has also directed programmes with the Academy of Ancient Music, Academie d’Ambronay, the Mozart Festival Orchestra and St Paul’s Chamber Orchestra, Devine’s opera repertoire includes works by Purcell, Cavalli, Handel, Haydn and Mozart as well as rarities by Galuppi, Salieri and Cimarosa. His recordings include Dido & Aeneas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Sarah Connolly in the title role.

As a keyboard player, he is the Principal Keyboard Player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and also the principal keyboard player for The Gonzaga Band, The Mozartists and performs regularly with many other groups around Europe. He has recorded over forty discs with other artists and ensembles and made many solo recordings. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Chandos Records) has received critical acclaim – including Gramophone magazine describing it as “among the best”. The complete harpsichord works of Rameau (Resonus) has received five- star reviews from BBC Music Magazine. Steven has recently completed recording the complete harpsichord works of Johann Ludwig Krebs, Bach’s favourite student and is about to embark on solo music by CPE and WF Bach and Buxtehude.

Steven Devine was educated at Chetham’s School of Music before reading Music at St Peter’s College, Oxford. He was Director of Opera Restor’d from 2002-2010 and Kurator and Conductor of the Norwegian Wind Ensemble from 2016-2018.

​                                                                                                         www.stevendevine.com

PITCHFORD HALL

Pitchford Hall is Grade I listed and one of England's finest Elizabethan half timbered houses. The first record of the estate is in the Domesday Book (1081 - 86) and then named "Piceforde" is described as follows:
Pitchford Hall has a long and largely peaceful history, having passed between many owners in its time and seen many alterations and renovations. Royalty have been infrequent guests, sometimes on pleasant vacations and sometimes on more urgent business. Boasting architectural oddities, wandering cigar-smoking ghosts and the weight of centuries, there's plenty to discover on the Pitchford Estate

The Hall's History
There has been a manor house on the estate since at least 1086, although it's likely that older estates were present on the site well before that. A section of the Watling Street runs through the estate, an ancient trackway that runs from the Kentish ports through Canterbury, London, St Albans and all the way to Wroxeter on the Welsh border. The Romans paved the route and used it to connect Dubris (Dover) Rutupaie (Richborough) Lemanis (Lympne) and Regulbium (Reculver) to their bridge over the Thames at Londinium.

In 1284, the house was recorded as being in the possession of the De Pykeford family, with the Crusader Geoffrey De Pykford recorded as Lord of the Manor in 1272. he built the Church of St Michael which stands near the manor today, and contains an oak statue of him. The De Pykfords had to sell the estate to the church in 1330 to pay debts.
In 1473 one Thomas Ottley bought the Manor of Pitchford, with his descendent Adam Ottley, a wool merchant, building the building that stands today, possibly as an extension of a much larger manor.

Make a difference and preserve a piece of living history.
Pitchford Hall in Shropshire, considered one of England’s finest Tudor half-timbered houses, was owned by the Colthurst family (and their ancestors) for over 500 years before being sold in 1992. Rowena Colthurst and her husband, James Nason, bought back the historic estate in 2016 after 25 years of neglect, currently restoring it and opening for exclusive tours.

https://www.pitchfordestate.com/