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Concert Focus
Wednesday 7
October 7.30pm
Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra - 'The Spirit of England'
A quintessentially English programme of evocative music from
four of the country’s finest composers. Beginning with Vaughan Williams, we hear two of his best-loved works, ranging
from the angry buzzing of The Wasps Overture to the soaring Lark Ascending. Elgar’s ever-popular Cello
Concerto, with its sweeping themes and elegiac beauty, combines perfectly with the charming Chanson de Matin. The concert
is completed with rich melodies from Delius’ The Walk to the Paradise Garden and Coates’ London Suite,
containing the well-known Knightsbridge March.
STEPHEN BELL - CONDUCTOR
Born in Bury, Lancashire, Stephen Bell studied conducting
at the Royal College of Music under the renowned conductor Norman Del Mar, before taking up the position of Principal French
Horn with the BBC Concert Orchestra. In more recent years, he has found himself increasingly in demand as a conductor for
a wide variety of European orchestras such as the Britten Sinfonia, BBC Philharmonic, London Concert, Brighton Philharmonic
and Ulster orchestras. A progressively
challenging conducting schedule now affords him the opportunity to conduct both at home and abroad, in cities such as Istanbul, Toronto, Athens and London.
His recent discography includes critically
acclaimed CDs on the ASV, Naxos and Dutton labels, including two with the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra and most recently, three world première recordings with Roger Chase and the BBC Concert Orchestra. He also has extensive
broadcasting experience, frequently conducting orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Concert
Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra for BBC radio, Classic FM and BBC television.
His diverse repertoire, astonishing versatility
and aptitude for communication with audiences of all genres has led to exciting conducting projects with an eclectic range
of artists from Guy Johnston, Xuefei Yang, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Mark Simpson, Stephen Hough and the BBC Singers, to Katie
Melua, Alfie Boe, Tony Hadley, Hayley Westenra and G4. Previous seasons’ highlights include the Queen’s Jubilee
Concert at Chatsworth House, the Royal Festival Hall tribute concert for Stanley Black, conducting at Windsor Castle for Prince Charles, the Westminster
Abbey Memorial Concert for Alastair Cooke, and the award-winning Pitch Perfect
at Wembley for BBC Television’s Children in Need.
Whilst 2005, 2006 and 2008 saw Stephen Bell conducting the televised BBC Proms in the Park in Manchester
with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the highly successful 2008 Doctor Who Prom
represented his Royal Albert Hall Proms début. A busy 2008-2009 season has included further engagements with the BBC National
Orchestra of Wales, Royal Philharmonic, Ulster, ERT Contemporary Music
(Athens), Manchester Concert, Guildford Philharmonic, Hallé
and the BBC Scottish Symphony orchestras.
CLIO GOULD - VIOLIN
Clio Gould enjoys a
varied career as
a violinist, and performs as
a soloist, director and leader throughout Britain and Europe.
She made her BBC Proms concerto début in 1999 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and has made concerto appearances with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the London Philharmonic Orchestra,
the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales,
the Ulster Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of
Ireland and the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra.
These concerts cover a broad repertoire, and include many
newly-commissioned works, some written especially for her.
In 2002, Clio Gould was appointed leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming
the first female leader of a symphony orchestra in
London. She holds the position of Principal Violin of the
London Sinfonietta, and was Artistic Director of
the Scottish Ensemble from 1993-2005.
Increasingly involved in the performance of contemporary solo repertoire, Clio Gould has worked with many leading composers. UK
premières given include John Adams’ Road Movies for Violin and Piano, David Horne’s Double Violin Concerto, and Anthèmes II
for Violin and Live Electronics by Pierre
Boulez at the Southbank Centre’s celebration of the composers 75th Birthday. Clio Gould gave the UK première performance of Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto with
the BBC Symphony Orchestra at
the 2003 Aldeburgh Festival, and
has since performed the concerto in Japan, Finland, Sweden
and Budapest.
Clio Gould plays
the Rutson Stradivarius of 1694, which has been generously
lent to her by the Royal Academy of Music where she regularly directs the Royal Academy Soloists. In 1999 Clio Gould was awarded an Hon RAM.
TIM GILL - CELLO
Tim Gill began to play the cello at the age
of eight, subsequently studying with Dimitry Markevitch in Paris, Christopher Bunting at Cambridge and David Strange at the
Royal Academy, where he won the Suggia Award. In 1989-1990, he was resident artist at the Banff Centre, Canada.
As a result of winning the Banff Concerto Competition, he was invited to play the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Calgary Philharmonic
Orchestra and later to tour Canada as
a recitalist.
His Purcell Room début in 1990 was met with
critical acclaim and resulted in an invitation from the Park Lane Group to give the Priaulx Rainier recital the following
year. Tim Gill has since given recitals and played concertos throughout the UK,
Europe and India. In 1995 he recorded
Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano for Dutch radio with Marietta Petkova, and in 1996 he gave his Wigmore
Hall début and released two CDs on the Guild label with pianist Fali Pavri.
Tim Gill is currently based in London. He has been invited to play guest principal with all of the London orchestras. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Cello of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
and in 2003 he was appointed Principal Cello of the London Sinfonietta. He has played frequently as soloist with both organisations
and is in much demand as a concerto soloist and chamber musician. Earlier this year he was made an FRAM.
‘Timothy Gill and Fali Pavri
elicit a searing lyricism bringing tremendous sense of direction to the melodic invention which can so easily meander in lesser
hands.’ - Classic CD
Saturday 7 October
7.30pm
Fairfield Halls,
Croydon
Stephen
Bell Conductor
Chlio
Gould Violin
Tim Gill
Cello
Programme to include:
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Wasps Overture
ELGAR Piano Concerto No. 2
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Lark Ascending
ELGAR Chanson
de Matin
For further information
and ticket enquiries on the forthcoming RPO concert , please click the links below:
Click here to book now
www.rpo.co.uk
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