A suggestion of £2.50 is kindly requested to support the cost of each coffee morning.

To confirm your place, please email Susan Conway on susan.conway@esu.org or call her on 020 7529 1582. 

Tickets: £15 to include a glass of wine, selection of nibbles and talk. Contact Susan Conway on 020 7529 1582 or email her to register your attendance.

Calling all Capitol Hill, Assembleé Nationale and Westminster Internship alumni! The 2012 Capitol Hill Reunion will take place at Dartmouth House on Tuesday 25 September at 6.30 for 7 pm.

The event has been generously sponsored by Braxton Moncure, former Chairman of ESU Washington, who will be in attendance at the Reunion, and will take the form of all-American “cookout” featuring a delicious selection of US-inspired mains, side dishes and desserts. A great selection of US beers and spirits will also be available with a free drink on arrival for all guests, with our compliments. 

Tickets: £10 for alumni, £12.50 for guests, free for students (on production of a valid student ID card)

Contact Susan Conway, Head of Alumni and Events on 020 7529 1582 or by email to book your place now! 

Enjoy a mid-morning coffee at October’s International At Home, an event that brings together members of the ESU and the international community, with H.E. Dato’ Sri Zakaria Sulong, High Commissioner of Malaysia to the United Kingdom as guest of honour and speaker. The event will also provide the opportunity to tour Dartmouth House, the Grade II* listed mansion which serves as our international headquarters.

At 12.30 pm, a lunchtime concert by pianist and recording artist, Boaz Sharon, will follow in the Long Drawing Room. Boaz is Professor of Piano at Boston University and Director of Piano Studies at Boston Tanglewood Institute. A frequent performer in the U.S., China, Czech Republic and numerous other counties around the world, Boaz has been heralded by The Washington Post, Spectator and The New York Times, where he has been described as a “pianist of superb technique........with a magic touch”.

Tickets to both events are complimentary; however a donation of £5 is kindly requested for those guests attending the lunchtime concert. Please ensure to register your attendance for either or both events with Paul Gordon, Head of Membership Development on paul.gordon@esu.org or 020 7529 1585. 

To view and download the conference agenda, please click here.

Ticket prices are as below and are available by contacting Paul Gordon, Head of Membership Development, on 020 7529 1585. 

Conference only ticket price: £20

Includes morning and afternoon refreshments and a sandwich lunch.

Evening only ticket price: £60

Includes a three-course dinner and the Churchill Youth Lecture.

Combined ticket price: £75

The event will take the form of a traditional Thanksgiving Supper in the form of hot sit-down buffet meal with tickets priced just £20. Wine will be available to order before Supper commences. The ESU bar will be open from 5.30 pm.

For tickets, please contact Mary Greer or call her on 020 7529 1590.

One of the highlights of the ESU's events calendar is undoubtedly the Christmas Carol Concert - an opportunity for members, alumni, guests and members of the public to come together in the spirit of festive cheer for mince pies, carols, and a glass or two of mulled wine!

This year is no exception, and we are delighted to welcome you all to Dartmouth House on the evening of Tuesday 11 December.

Introducing our Choral Scholars from the ORNC Chapel Choir with guest Director of Music, Timothy Teague.

Since 2001, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance has provided music at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel. Trinity Laban is the only Conservatoire in the UK to support a Collegiate Chapel Choir, which is one of the most outstanding sacred music ensembles in London. Many members of the choir are drawn from the Conservatoire, including a number of choral scholars (two sponsored by the Dame Susan Marden Charitable Trust), but there are also a number of places in the choir for experienced and outstanding local volunteer singers. The choir is supported by an Assistant Organist (James Grainger) and the Director of Chapel Music (Ralph Allwood).

The choir only gives approximately one hundred public performances each year. Its primary purpose is to enhance the liturgy and worship of the ORNC Chapel

Christmas Raffle

As ever, this year the ESU will be raising money to support its central charitable activities through the grand Christmas raffle. Previous prizes have included a Hamper from Fortnum & Mason, a selection of books signed by the author, a meal for two in the Revelstoke Restaurant, and £100 of John Lewis vouchers.

Prizes for this year's raffle will be confirmed closer to the event, and tickets will go on sale in Dartmouth House at the beginning of December.

If you would like to donate a raffle prize, please contact James Ward, Business Development Director, on 020 7529 1576 or by email at james.ward@esu.org.

Book Tickets

Following the success of the Dartmouth House Speakeasy fundraiser as part of the ESU May Fair, which featured a debate with the Central London Debating Society (CLDS) on the merits of gender-neutral education, both CLDS and the ESU have committed themselves to the shared goal of providing a free platform for ordinary Londoners to actively engage in debating.

CLDS will be recruiting volunteers from the general public to take part in the three debates, each of which will focus on a different theme, which will include, among other topics, education and the forthcoming US Presidential Election. ESU members, alumni and guests are very welcome to attend.

Evocative and elegantly written, Norinka captures the fascinating story of her family, a story moulded and shaped by the history of the twentieth century. The reader is transported back to the dark days of World War II and all that was ugly during that era, yet there remains a glimmer of hope, a candle of light in the form of love that illuminates the darkness.

Please ensure to register your attendance to James Ward no later than Friday 30 November. Admittance is £10, payable on the evening, in support of the English-Speaking Union Public Speaking Competitions for Schools Appeal.

Afternoon tea will be served and there will be also be an opportunity to socialise and network with Marsh Award entrants - including their publishers, agents and other attendees.

Sarah Ardizzone is an award winning translator, critic and journalist reporting on multicultural and multilingual issues. She won the Scott-Moncrieff Prize in 2007, and was awarded the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation in 2005 and 2009. Recent translations include School Blues by Daniel Pennac and Joann Sfar’s graphic novel version of The Little Prince.

Anthea Bell is a freelance translator from German and French. Her translations include works of fiction and general non-fiction, books for young people, and classics by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Freud, Kafka, and Stefan Zweig. She has won a number of translation awards in the UK and the USA.

Wendy Cooling is a highly respected figure in the children's book world, and a judge for the Marsh Award. A former teacher, she is the founder of the Bookstart programme and has edited story collections for Puffin, Orion and Collins, poetry anthologies for Franklin Watts and has retold traditional tales for Barefoot Books.

Barry Cunningham started his publishing career at Penguin. He later joined Bloomsbury where he famously signed J.K Rowling, publishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In 2000, Barry left Bloomsbury to start his own children’s publishing company. The result was Chicken House, an independent-minded publisher of children’s fiction with a particular skill in discovering talented new writers.

Tickets: £10 for ESU members and guests, £5 for students (on production of a valid student ID), which includes refreshments. Please email Neha Maktar to reserve a place or telephone on 020 7373 6642 to pay with a credit or debit card. Cheques are accepted and can be sent to 84 Drayton Gardens, London, SW10 9SB, made payable to the Society of Authors. All bookings will be confirmed in writing once payment has been received. 

The bar will be open from 6 pm, with the debate beginning at 6.30 pm. The event is free to attend, in return for a small donation on the evening. To register your attendance, please email Susan Conway.

Join the ESU for this most interesting talk as Andrei presents his views on today's situation in Ukraine from a cultural and linguistical standpoint. Click here to read a review by The Guardian.

Tickets: £15 to include a glass of wine, selection of nibbles and talk. This event is in association with the Embassy of Ukraine. Contact James Ward on 020 7529 1576.

Geoffrey is the managing director of Wartski, jewellers by Royal Appointment.  The firm made the Welsh gold wedding ring for the Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.

Tickets: £20 to include a glass of wine. This event is in aid of the Chilton Art History Scholarship. Contact Susan Conway on 020 7529 1582 to book your tickets. The lecture will begin at 7.15 pm.

This event has now sold out.

In 1964, he moved to Brussels then in 1967, to London, as chief executive of international, where he guided Burson-Marsteller’s expansion in Asia, Australia, Latin-America and the Middle East, and for two years (1986-1987), directly supervised Burson-Marsteller’s Asia/Pacific operations from Hong Kong, returning to his London base in 1988. He founded Robert S Leaf Consultants in 1997 and now specialises in advising corporations, government bodies and individuals on establishing a world wide public relations strategy.

Join the ESU for this most interesting Dartmouth House Lunch where Bob will talk about the changing world of public relations and its evolution toward "perception management". Copies of Bob's book - The Art of Perception: Memoirs of a life in PR will be on sale at the event.

Tickets: £40 ESU members, £45 alumni, £50 guests, to include a two-course lunch with wine and talk by Bob Leaf. Contact James Ward on 020 7529 1576.

The John Smith Memorial Mace ("JSMM") is one of the largest and most prestigious debating competitions in world, featuring over 200 teams across four national championships. Founded in 1954 the Mace is a UK and Ireland Championships, with England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland each holding competitions to choose a national winner, who then face each other in an International Grand Final.

Former winners include the late Donald Dewar, Charles Kennedy, Bob Marshall-Andrews MP, The Rt Hon the Lord Hunt of Wirral, Professor Anthony Clare, and the late Labour leader, John Smith, in whose honour the competition was renamed in 1995.

The England Leg of the JSMM will take place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 November at Dartmouth House, sponsored by Baillie Gifford with Chief Adjudicators Richard Robinson (EUDC semi-finalist 2012, Oxford IV finalist, ESU US Tour Delegate 2011) and Maria English (WUDC Semi-finalist 2011, Best Speaker at EUDC 2012, English Mace winner 2010). 

Founded in 1954, the John Smith Memorial Mace is one of the largest and most prestigious debating competitions in the world, featuring over 200 teams across four national championships.

Former winners include the late Donald Dewar, The Rt Hon Charles Kennedy, Bob Marshall-Andrews MP, The Rt Hon the Lord Hunt of Wirral, Professor Anthony Clare, and the late Labour leader, John Smith, in whose honour the competition was renamed in 1995.

The England Grand Final of the John Smith Memorial Mace will take place on Sunday 25 November at The Assembly Hall, Church House. The event will start at 2:30pm - doors will open at 2:00pm.

This year the John Smith Memorial Mace is part of Parliament Week a national initiative co-ordinated by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The aim of Parliament Week is to raise awareness of democracy and democratic institutions in the UK, and to inform people about how they can take an active part in them.

The event will feature the best four university teams in England debating the motion "This house believes that the press cannot be trusted to regulate themselves".

The Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, Lord Hunt of the Wirral, will chair the panel of judges.

From 2:30pm-3:30pm there will be a Pre Debate Public Forum which will explore the issue of press regulation in light of the Leveson Inquiry. The Public Forum will be your chance to hear the thoughts of a number of leading journalists, media lawyers and organisations who represent the victims of phone hacking. There will also be a Q&A session where you will have the chance to have your say!

Confirmed speakers

Chris Blackhurst (Editor of The Independent)

Professor Natalie Fenton (Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths College)

Charlotte Harris (Media Lawyer at Mishcon de Reya)

and more speakers to be confirmed soon!

The John Smith Memorial Mace is generously sponsored by Baillie Gifford.

The ESU is proud to be hosting this event in association with Parliament Week.

The ESU would like to invite members, alumni and their guests to a lunch at Dartmouth House on 12 December in honour of the occasion.

The Churchill medal of honour is awarded every year to those who have promoted the objectives of the ESU through their dedicated and distinctive commitment to the organisation.The ESU has close communication with the Churchill family who enthusiastically support the institution of the Churchill Medal.

Tickets cost £28 to include a drinks reception and three course meal.

To book your place at the lunch, please contact James Ward, Director of Business Development, on 020 7529 1576 or by emailing james.ward@esu.org.

Thorpe's 'Supermac: The life of Harold Macmillan' won the Marsh Biography award in 2011, with an awards ceremony at Dartmouth House, and has been described as "the best biography of a post-war British Prime Minister yet written" by Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at Oxford University. Thorpe has also written biographies of Sir Anthony Eden and Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

Tickets are £7 and include a glass of wine. We are also pleased to offer members and guests a 10% discount on the day of the event on lunch in the Revelstoke Restaurant at Dartmouth House.

To book your ticket, please contact Peter Jarrold on 020 7529 1582.

To book, please contact Peter Jarrold on 020 7529 1582.

His European experience includes five years as Head of the Foreign Office European Department; two years as Britain’s ambassador to Portugal; five years as UK Permanent Representative to the EU and four years as EU adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Head of the European Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. His book on Britain’s EU policy, ‘A Stranger in Europe’, was published in 2008. He has written The Official History of Britain and the European Community, 1963-1975, published in July 2012.
 
Tickets are £8 for members and alumni and £12 for guests. There will be a cash bar before and after Sir Stephen’s talk. To book, please email peter.jarrold@esu.org or phone him on 020 7529 1582.

The event, chaired by Paul Blezard, will see Kate Mosse in conversation with Antony Beevor, talking on writing about history and historical fiction.
 
Kate’s novels, ‘Labyrinth’, ‘Sepulchre’, ‘The Winter Ghosts’ and her new novel ‘Citadel’ were No 1.  Best sellers in the UK, USA, France and around the world – and have been sold by the millions and translated into over 40 languages.  She was Co-Founder of the Orange Prize for Fiction, and this is a fantastic opportunity to gain insight into the challenges and rewards of writing historical fiction.

For further information on how to book tickets, including securing a 10% discount if you are an ESU member, please contact Peter Jarrold on 020 7529 1582. Alternatively, you can email him at peter.jarrold@esu.org.

       
“Outstanding” – The Observer
     
The harmony of Messiaen mixed with the rhythmic pulse of George Shearing. Pearson is in shattering form – The Sunday Times
      
James Pearson is a pianist, composer and creative tour de force. He is the Artistic Director at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club where his trio is the house band and regularly sells out nights both here in London and in Birdland, New York. James is equally at home as a music expert, he is a regular contributor to BBC radio, and as a concert pianist. He has played concertos with the Philharmonia and the BBC Concert Orchestra amongst many others. His performance of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano Concerto was broadcast on Classic FM and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto and Rhapsody in Blue on BBC Radio 2. With collaborations ranging from Paul McCartney to Wynton Marsalis James is one of the country’s most sought after pianists.

To book tickets online please visit www.jazzpianolive.eventbrite.com 
 

  www.jamespearsonmusic.com

The ESU is delighted to welcome Trinity Laban to Dartmouth House for a series of three lunchtime concerts and invites members, guests and members of the public to join them free of charge.

Aliza Vicente, a final year student at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, presents an eclectic programme of music including works from baroque to modern eras.

PERFORMERS:

Aliza Vicente (violin & baroque violin) with Manuel Lopez Jorge (piano) Kristina Chalmovska (baroque cello) Toby Carr (the oboe)

PROGRAMME:

Sonata No. 6 in C minor, C.143 Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644 – 1704)

Performed by Aliza Vicente, Kristina Chalmovska & Toby Carr

Violin Sonata, JW VII/7 Leoš Janáček (1854 – 1928)

Performed by Aliza Vicente & Manuel Lopez Jorge

Homenaje a Navarra, Op. 102 Joaquín Turina (1882 – 1949)

Performed by Aliza Vicente & Manuel Lopez Jorge

After the Tryst James MacMillan (b. 1959)

Performed by Aliza Vicente & Manuel Lopez Jorge

BIOGRAPHY:

Aliza Vicente’s formative training took place at Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Tarazona, Spain, under Daniel Francés and privately with Teresa Echeverría. Now studying with John Crawford and Walter Reiter (baroque violin) on a TCL scholarship, she actively performs as a soloist, in chamber music groups and orchestras all over Britain and Europe. She is a founder member of the Pierrot Trio and the Musset Duo with whom she has performed in the Greenwich String Quartet Festival and the Wigmore Hall. She is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain, and the Netherlands Youth Orchestra, and she has also been part of the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra and Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra, String Ensemble, Sinfonia and Baroque Orchestra where she has appeared as leader and soloist. She has been selected to perform in masterclasses with prestigious violinists such as Gerhard Schulz, Mincho Minchev, Stephanie Gonley, David Ballesteros, Andrew Haveron and Mi-Kyung Lee. She has participated in festivals such as the International Greenwich Early Music Festival, the Dartington International Summer Music Festival, Aurora Chamber Music Masterclasses in Sweden and as soloist in the London Handel Festival.

To book tickets please visit www.trinitylaban.eventbrite.com

Bob Leaf has been at the forefront of the PR industry for fifty years.

Jacqueline Leung is one of the most active pianists in Hong Kong. Described as a player who possesses ‘musicality, intelligence and technical finesse’, recent engagements have taken her to a concerto premiere at the Bogota International Piano Festival; solo recitals at the 'Oscar Buenaventura' International Piano Festival; the Costa Rica International Piano Season and the American Liszt Festival as guest artist. 

The power of a song is undeniable - from the unity of the songs of the football terraces to the protests roared by generation after generation. No stranger to politics, Tom Robinson talks of his own journey through music from the unlikely alliances of gay rights protestors and miners in the 80s to the Rock Against Racism that united artists universally to a common cause. With a carefully chosen collection for the ESU, Tom will talk and sing through songs with a message and why we are now in a golden era for both the artist and listener.

Sir Alan Munro Joined the Diplomatic Service in 1958 and went out to Lebanon to learn Arabic. For the major part of his subsequent diplomatic career he was involved with Britain’s ever-active relations with the countries of the Middle East and Africa, serving in a variety of posts across the world and taking in a number of roles in Whitehall.

Peter has performed extensively as a recitalist and concerto soloist throughout Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Austria, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Denmark (eight recital tours), Latvia, Estonia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Australia (four recital tours), China, India, Kuwait, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States of America and Russia. Notable successes in Europe include his recital on the opening night of the Heilbronn International Piano Forum, a recital which was enthusiastically reviewed in papers and journals in Germany and Italy, and his 1994 recital in the International Masters of the Keyboard series in Bruges, Belgium. One of the few British pianists ever to be invited to perform in this major European piano recital series, his performances of Bach's Goldberg Variations and Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Sonata were rapturously received with a prolonged standing ovation. 

Formed in late September 2010, The Bookshop Band write songs inspired by books, and play them in bookshops. The band began as a collaboration with Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, in Bath (Independent Bookshop of the Year 2008 / 2011) as part of a plan to help Mr B’s rejuvenate its traditional ‘author evenings’. The band would read the forthcoming author’s book in advance and write two songs based upon it, to be performed at the start of the evening. Their performances are inextricably linked to the booksthemselves, as the members of the band take it in turns to describe where the inspiration for each song came from. Over this period they have been featured on 6Music / The Today Program / Front Row / BBC 1 News / The Guardian among others.

The ESU is delighted to welcome Trinity Laban to Dartmouth House for a series of three lunchtime concerts and invites members, guests and members of the public to join them free of charge.

To book tickets visit www.trinitylaban.eventbrite.com

The ESU is delighted to welcome Trinity Laban to Dartmouth House for a series of three lunchtime concerts and invites members, guests and members of the public to join them free of charge.

To book tickets visit www.trinitylaban.eventbrite.com

On Tuesday 23 April at 7pm the Razumovsky Ensemble: Stephanie Gonley (violin), Oleg Kogan (cello), and Benjamin Frith (piano) will play Schubert Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat and Mendelssohn Andante from Piano Trio in D minor.

Tickets cost £90 and include the concert, supper and wine.
All proceeds go towards the ESU Music Fund.
To book tickets please email peter.jarrold@esu.org

The World Members’ Conference brings together members, friends and alumni of the ESU from all over the ESU’s international network to listen to keynote speakers, to participate in panel discussions and workshops and to enjoy social and cultural events.

This will be the first time the World Members’ Conference has been held in a non-native English speaking country. Traditionally ESU USA, ESU Australia and ESU England & Wales host this conference; to recognise the rapid international expansion of the ESU in recent years, ESU Turkey, one of our newest ESUs will be hosting the 2012 conference in the stunning setting of Istanbul.

The World Members’ Conference is an opportunity to renew old friendships from across the ESU family worldwide and to make new ones. The WMC 2012 will also have a special programme for young members and alumni exclusively organised for them by the young members committee of ESU Turkey.

Please visit http://www.esuwmc2012.org/en/ for the full schedule and details of how to register.