Finchley Chamber Choir and Finchley Chamber Orchestra with George Holloway

Finchley Chamber Choir (accompanist, John Winter) was formed in 1973. Its membership consists of around 35 local singers interested in performing a wide repertoire which, in recent years, has encompassed all relevant periods and styles, from the Middle Ages to the present day, including commissions and first performances. FCC has performed in Germany and the Czech Republic; it has sung at the Royal Festival Hall and in broadcasts for BBC R3 and R4 and was selected for Pick of the Week. The choir has received three PRS/NFMS Awards for Enterprise and during 2002 took part in a documentary for LWT. In 2007 FCC gave the London premiere of a new work by David Bedford.

Finchley Chamber Orchestra (leader, Anna Dryer-Beers) was formed in 1954 as Finchley Orchestra. Its repertoire ranges from small-scale Baroque works and music of the Classical period to large-scale Romantic works and music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The orchestra has worked with many of the country’s leading soloists, including Nigel Kennedy, Tasmin Little, Raphael Wallfisch, Alice Neary, Natalie Clein and Valeriy Sokolov. FCO encourages young soloists by giving them the opportunity to play concertos, and in recent years has collaborated with the Hastings Music Festival, accompanying the finals of its Piano Concerto Competition and promoting, in Finchley, a concert that is part of the prize. In 2006, as part of Radio 3’s Listen Up initiative, FCO was broadcast performing a movement from Beethoven’s Symphony No 7.

George Holloway is a Sound and Music shortlisted composer, a conductor, singer, pianist and horn player.  George studied Classics at Oxford, having private lessons with Robert Saxton, before officially beginning his composition studies with Michael Finnissy in Southampton.  From 2004-9 George was a member of Schola Cantorum of Oxford, the university’s leading chamber choir.  George conducts the Southampton University String Orchestra and the Southampton University Contemporary Music Group; he is also a teaching assistant and leader of the CoMA South Composers’ Group.  George’s music has been performed by the violinist David Alberman, the pianist Taina Niemela, mezzo-soprano Lucy Williams, the Hola, Sounds Underground, the Forum London Chamber Symphony, the Southampton University Contemporary Music Group, Southampton University Strings, Gemini and the Lithuanian ensembles Vilniaus Fagotynas and Music Is Very Important.

“I was very keen to participate in the Adopt-a-Composer scheme not least because of my own very valuable experiences as a performer in “amateur” ensembles, and my enthusiasm and admiration for the amateur music-making that takes place in the UK.  I hope that the project will result in an enriching exchange of ideas and expertise, new and important musical relationships with talented and interesting musicians, and a wonderful performance of something new that will challenge and surprise the audience.”

Colinton Amateur Orchestral Society with Nina Whiteman

Colinton Amateur Orchestral Society is a community orchestra which began life in 1928 and is named after the area of Edinburgh in which it rehearses.  In its 80 years it has met and performed in many different church and school halls, and even been run as an evening class by the Education Department in Edinburgh.  The orchestra settled in Colinton in 1978 and is now run solely by members for members; at present there are around 40, with ages ranging from 17 to over 80.  No auditions are held so the orchestra welcomes people of varying abilities and a lot of members are either adult learners, or those who played at school and have come back after “a wee break”.  The orchestra performs two concerts a year with conductor, and sometime soloist, Hector Scott and pieces ranging from the contemporary Eddie McGuire (with bagpipes!) to Beethoven.

Nina Whiteman (b. 1981) is a composer and singer living in Manchester. She studied music at Oxford University and went on to postgraduate study in composition at The University of Manchester (MusM and PhD), studying with Robert Saxton and Philip Grange respectively. Many of her compositions take their inspiration from extra-musical sources including visual art (Out hunting teeth: a set of piano pieces inspired by Goya’s Los Caprichos) and poetry (Distant voices: a work for 14 players, 6 solo singers, and electronics setting poems by C.P. Cavafy), reflecting her activities as a painter and her interest in vocal techniques.  As a singer, Nina specialises in challenging repertoire composed in the last fifty years and sings with Trio Atem (flute, voice, ‘cello), who are committed to high quality, engaging performances of new work and pieces from recent repertoire. Nina has experience of education work with groups of all ages and abilities: she was composer for a schools education project, The Tempest Transformed, and has worked as Assistant Composer on spnm Sound Inventors and Bar One and Beyond projects.

“I am very excited about working with a non-professional group, getting to know the players, and writing a piece with some input from the group!”

www.myspace.com/ninawhiteman
www.myspace.com/trioatem

The St Albans Rehearsal Orchestra with Paul Fretwell

The St Albans Rehearsal Orchestra was founded in 2002 to provide an opportunity for amateur musicians to enjoy playing orchestral music without the constraints of an ongoing concert programme. This flexibility has allowed the orchestra to become involved in a variety of musical activities such as an annual Come and Sing, working with students from musical colleges on concertos, and regular outreach workshops with junior schools. We have an enthusiastic and inspiring professional conductor, William Carslake. The orchestra has around 40 members from a variety of musical backgrounds.  These include music teachers playing their second (or third!) instrument, those who are returning to an instrument after a long gap, and people learning a new instrument who want to experience orchestral playing.   Amazingly it all works very well and our membership, and the varied nature of our musical activities, go from strength to strength.

Paul Fretwell was born in a small mining town in Nottinghamshire and demonstrated an early interest in music.  At the age of 16 he was awarded a place at Chetham’s School of Music, where he studied trombone, piano and composition. Later he attended the University of Birmingham, where he gained a first class honours degree specialising in composition.  More recently, he has completed a Masters and PhD at City University, London.  He has taught composition in a wide variety of institutions including the Royal Academy of Music, City University, University of Hertfordshire, and Bath Spa University.  He currently teaches composition, theory and analysis at the University of Kent. He writes both instrumental and electronic pieces and many of his pieces have been performed in festivals around the world.  Recently he has produced a series of pieces for the singer Loré Lixenberg, which were performed in London and also broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

“Over the course of my three years as a Sound and Music shortlisted composer I have had some excellent opportunities, and now look forward to participating in the Adopt-a-Composer scheme.  Working with a group of performers always inspires me and helps to breathe new life into my compositional language.  I love responding to the particular strengths and characteristics of performers and hope to produce a piece that will showcase the best of the performers as well as engaging their audience.”

Glasgow Lyric Choir with Nick Chamberlain

Glasgow Lyric Choir was founded in 1959 as Clydebank Lyric Choir.  However, in 1983 it moved into the West End of Glasgow and was renamed Glasgow Lyric Choir.  The members come from a fairly wide radius round the city.  Under its present conductor, Steve Birch, the Choir sings a repertoire of choral works not only from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods but also from 20th and now 21st Century composers.  The Choir regularly performs two main concerts per year in the city centre and in addition takes the opportunity to participate in other events such as Festivals of singing and culture. “Come and Sing” events organised by the Choir bring a wide range of singers from across the west of Scotland and beyond. The membership stands currently at around 35 and enjoys many social events together as well as musical.  Future plans include developing repertoire to include more secular work which could enable the Choir to devise programmes with which they could travel more widely.

Nick Chamberlain is a composer, guitarist, teacher and ensemble director. He studied composition to Post Graduate level at Birmingham Conservatoire and has since written for various instrumental combinations and solo instruments, especially the guitar. His ‘Songs and Dances’ for solo guitar achieved excellent reviews in Music Teacher magazine (6/03) and Classical Guitar magazine (2/04). Since 1999 he has been writing and publishing a range of tuition material for his Creative Guitar Studio – www.creativeguitarstudio.co.uk. This includes tutor books and student pieces, many of which are being used as standard teaching repertoire in several education authorities around the country. He directs the Birmingham Schools’ Guitar Ensemble and set up the Plucked String Orchestra with a Standards Fund grant in 2004. The PSO is an outlet for his ‘world music fusion’ composition and the performance of his piece ‘A World’s Reflection’, a semi-improvised work, was awarded a top prize at the 2005 National Music For Youth Festival. His compositional style ranges from tonal jazz as in ‘Take Refugue’ a fugue for fl. cl. bcl. ssax. db to experimental ‘Mass Production’ for 4 spoken voices and prepared tape to ‘Origins’ for fourteen instruments which draws inspiration from ‘World’ folk song and dance music. He has has pieces performed at various venues including: Symphony Hall, Town Hall and Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham and LSO St. Lukes, London.

His youth groups perform regularly at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Town Hall and National Music For Youth Festival. The Plucked String Orchestra is an outlet for his ‘world music fusion’ composition and his piece ‘A World’s Reflection’, was awarded a top prize in the 2005 MFY festival.

“The Adopt-a-Composer scheme is a fantastic opportunity for me to extend my work with an enthusiastic ensemble. I look forward to collaborating with the group to ensure a high quality performance that brings the best out of the players. I hope the performers will enjoy being involved with discussion of ideas through to the experimentation with musical material, my aim being to create a piece that enhances the range and repertoire of the ensemble concerned that feels fresh and exciting to perform.”

The Sans Pareil Singers with Simon Katan

The Sans Pareil Singers are a new mixed voice choir based in Hurworth, Darlington in North East England. They are a light-hearted choir with a serious love of music, singing both traditional & modern pieces including scottish folk tunes, songs from the shows, sacred anthems and glees, for more information visit our concert section. Founded by Andrew & Victoria Young, the choir is friendly, supportive and entertaining, available for concerts and weddings at venues both large and small. We have just over 30 singers now and are still growing due to the rehearsal environment.

Simon Katan (b.1979) is a composer and improviser, living and working in East London, whose diverse activities include electro-acoustic composition, indeterminate notation, and game design. He studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama (2001) and Goldsmiths University (2005) where he gained a distinction. He is currently a Sound and Music shortlisted composer and is about to commence a PhD in composition with Chris Fox having been awarded an Isambard Research Scholarship.  His music and games have been performed at King’s Place, Sonic Expo, Sonorities Festival, Royal College of Art, Siobahn Davies Dance Studios, the Round House, BFI, Royal Festival Hall, The Barbican, The ICA, Battersea Arts Centre and Shunt.

“I am particularly excited about the prospect of collaborating with an amateur ensemble. My compositional approach involves employing self-imposed limitations on the material as a way of creating meaningful musical contexts, so I’m looking forward to learning more about my ‘parent’ ensemble and using their abilities and interests as my starting point. I hope that, by the end of the process, the ensemble will feel that the musical work has been tailored around its personality and thus have a strong sense of ownership over the piece which will be reflected in the final performance.”

More information at www.simonkatan.co.uk

Midlands Fretted Orchestra with Richard Bullen

Midlands Fretted Orchestra is a thriving musical ensemble with 20+ dedicated musicians of varying ages, abilities and styles who all play fretted instruments. MFO prides itself on offering a unique musical experience for players and audiences; we bring together instruments not found in today’s orchestras, particularly mandolins, banjos, classical and acoustic guitars, mandolas, bass guitar and cello banjo. We welcome players of all ages and abilities who share a passion for fretted instruments; our members’ ages range from 7 to 70+ and players’ standards range from professional musicians to those playing less than a year.

Richard Bullen was born in Bedfordshire in 1984, and now lives and works in London. He studied at the Universities of Sheffield and Birmingham, and more recently at the Royal Academy of Music, winning the composition prize at each institution. Performers have included BCMG, London Sinfonietta, CoMA London, Handbell Ringers of Great Britain and Dutch wind band Orkest de Ereprijs. In 2008 he received a bursary to study with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies at Dartington International Summer School. He likes to write bold, dramatic music full of colour and energy exploring sonority, space, and elements of theatre. Influences are wide-ranging: Xenakis, Benedict Mason, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch and Edward Albee.

“I’m really looking forward to working closely with the ensemble throughout the course of this project, trying out ideas, experimenting and taking risks in a supportive, ‘safe’ environment! I hope to tailor the piece to their personal strengths and quirks, and indeed to the space in which they rehearse / perform. This will be a totally collaborative creative process, with players actively involved in shaping the development of the work through group improvisation sessions based on my sketches. I hope it will be enjoyable and rewarding to perform, and players will have the chance to discover new techniques (instrumental and theatrical) and push the boundaries of their repertoire.”