More music for less! RPO friends’ newsletter – May 2014
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elcome
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
A warm welcome to you from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)! We are delighted to enclose details of the RPO’s BRAND NEW ‘own-promotion’ season of concerts at Cadogan Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. We hope that you also enjoy reading all the latest news from the Orchestra, including highlights of recent tours and education projects, details of brand new RPO CDs and more. We look forward to seeing you at an RPO concert soon!
June – December 2014 at Cadogan Hall The RPO is pleased to announce its exciting new series at its home, Cadogan Hall – such an elegant venue renowned for its excellent acoustic and intimate ambience – which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The Orchestra’s new series includes a special Summer Music Festival curated by its Principal Guest Conductor and star violinist, Pinchas Zukerman, featuring music by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and more. Other highlights include: Natasha Paremski (pictured top) performs Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1, Kirill Karabits (pictured middle) conducts Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Symphony and Eleanor Dennis (pictured bottom) performs Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs. Not forgetting the high-spirited Christmas Cracker show – back by popular demand on Saturday 20th December – featuring festive songs, carols and guest vocalists! For full details of this fabulous series, please see the enclosed brochure. Tickets range from £48–£15 (before discounts). Please contact the RPO office to book your half-price tickets. Don’t forget that you can also receive your 50% discount when you book in person at Cadogan Hall on presentation of your (valid) RPO friends’ membership card!
RPO friends’ reception – Thursday 26th June, 6.30pm – Cadogan Hall To begin the Summer Music Festival at Cadogan Hall, we warmly welcome RPO friends to a pre-concert reception in the Hall’s Culford Room (main foyer) from 6.30pm before the Festival’s opening concert that evening. Soprano Arianna Zukerman will perform alongside her father, Pinchas, in this sublime concert. Please call the RPO office to book your reception pass for just £3, which includes a drink, nibbles and a concert programme and also to book your concert tickets (if you haven’t already), which are £40–£15 (before discounts). We look forward to seeing you there!
RPO friends’ benefits - HALF-PRICE tickets to RPO ‘own-promotion’ concerts in London (up to two tickets per concert) - Priority ticket allocation and dedicated booking line - FREE passes to RPO ‘own-promotion’ rehearsals in London (two per rehearsal; please book in advance) - FREE pre-concert coffee bar* at the Royal Albert Hall – now in the West Arena Foyer bar (level -1) - 15% off selected house wine, champagne, tea, coffee and cake at Cadogan Hall* - Discounted RPO CDs For more information about all benefits, including booking rehearsal passes, please contact us. * Please show your RPO friends’ card to claim your free tea/coffee and/or bar discounts. RPO friends save 50% on tickets. Phone 020 7608 8855 (M–F, 10–6), email friends@rpo.co.uk or visit www.rpo.co.uk/friends.
Player Profile Andrew Storey – Principal Second Violin What is the best thing about being a member of the RPO? Working with my wife [Helen Storey, Sub-Principal Bassoon]! (That’s her answer.) I was going to say that I love the variety of the work the RPO does, from classical masterpieces to film and Broadway shows. I also love the opportunities to travel abroad. What inspired you to become a musician? My father is an amateur double bass player and I used to go along to see him play in local orchestras and shows. He started me off on the recorder and piano and then I learnt the violin at school, following in the footsteps of my elder brother who is a cellist.
Royal Festival Hall 2014–2015 The RPO proudly presents its brand new season at London’s cultural hub, Southbank Centre, where it will be joined by a wide array of worldrenowned artists and conductors, including its Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Charles Dutoit (pictured top), who will lead the Orchestra for one of the season’s many highlights: Bartók’s operatic masterpiece, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. Other 2014–2015 highlights include: Pinchas Zukerman conducts Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony, Tadaaki Otaka conducts Elgar’s Sea Pictures with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly (pictured middle) and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, plus Thomas Dausgaard (pictured bottom) conducts Schubert’s ‘The Great’ Symphony. For full details of this exquisite new season, please see the enclosed brochure. Tickets are £58–£10 (before discounts). Please contact the RPO office to book your half-price tickets.
Royal Albert Hall autumn 2014
Where is your favourite place to perform? I do love playing in the Royal Albert Hall. It is such an incredible building and there is always a real sense of occasion. At the start of concerts there, I often look up to the gallery in the distance and do wonder a little as to how the roof stays up!
The RPO looks forward to its dazzling new series at the one and only Royal Albert Hall – an awe-inspiring venue guaranteed to make a special concert even more memorable. Upcoming concerts include: John Williams 2014, featuring the best of his captivating soundtracks, including Jaws, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and many more; The Great Classics (matinee concert), featuring Rachmaninov’s beautiful Piano Concerto No.2 and Dvořák’s rousing ‘New World’ Symphony, plus Symphonic Queen, featuring over two hours of Queen’s greatest hits, such as Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You and many more. Please see the enclosed flyers for further details.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you have been given in relation to music? My former desk partner Michael Dolan used to tell me off for writing too much (if anything) in the parts. He said I should just remember things, because the next conductor will only change things back again!
The Orchestra will also present the ever-popular John Rutter’s Christmas Celebration on Thursday 11th December (3pm & 7.30pm), featuring carols and festive orchestral miniatures, conducted by the muchloved choral composer himself (pictured right). Tickets for all concerts range from £62–£12 (before discounts and inclusive of booking fees). Please contact us to book your half-price tickets. Do come and have your FREE cup of tea or coffee before the concert! We’re in the West Arena bar (level -1) from 6.30pm.
RPO friends save 50% on tickets. Phone 020 7608 8855 (M–F, 10–6), email friends@rpo.co.uk or visit www.rpo.co.uk/friends.
RPO resound Hannah Taylor (Community and Education Officer) gives us the latest news from RPO resound, the Orchestra’s community and education department... “RPO resound has had a brilliant 2014 so far. Our Behind the Lines programme (pictured top and middle), which is inspired by the music and composers of the First World War, is now fully underway; we’re nearly coming to the end of six rounds of free public workshops, which examine composers such as Elgar, Ravel, Vaughan Williams and Holst. By September, we will have delivered six school projects as well as a large-scale summer school! “The second of our huge First Time Live – Youth projects (pictured bottom) took place in Hull and Scunthorpe from January to March, which provided pupils with the phenomenal opportunity of programming and producing their very own classical concert, which was then performed by the full RPO. “In January we kicked off a succession of projects supporting the RPO’s residency at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. These projects included a pioneering cross-arts music and dance project as well as a strings-only creative project, which was delivered by RPO workshop leader Paul Griffiths and culminated with the participants performing their new piece alongside the full RPO.
New and Moves The RPO is delighted to welcome Katy Ayling (Bass Clarinet), Emily Carewe-Jeffries (Special Projects Assistant) and Veronica Jackson (Marketing Volunteer). We are sorry to say goodbye to Phil Dewhurst (2nd Trombone) and Rebecca Mertens (Principal Bassoon). Many congratulations to Natasha Allery on her promotion to Marketing Assistant and also to Suzy Willison-Kawalec (Principal Harp) on the birth of her baby girl, Emer McDonough (Principal Flute) on the birth of her baby boy and Elli Clements (Special Projects Manager) on the birth her baby, Alice Rose. We also warmly welcome back Doran Crowhurst after her maternity leave (now Programme Editor).
“Amongst other successful projects across the rest of the country, including in Nottingham, Corby, Rutland and Guildford, a new family concert model was premiered in Southend with our Meet the Percussion concert. We also delivered a project with the Royal London Society for Blind People in February, which was very moving and inspiring .”
We previously announced that Leila Ward (Cor Anglais) and Julian Coward (Sub-Principal Flute) had sadly left the Orchestra. Although they wanted to keep their retirements low-key, we know some of you had enjoyed watching them both perform with the RPO with incredible dedication for many years (both were members since the early 1980s). We wish them a happy and relaxing ‘third age’!
If you would like to find out any further information about RPO resound or to find out how you can offer your support, please contact Ruth Currie (Head of Community and Education) on 020 7608 8800.
We were very sad to hear that Brenda McDonald (former CD Sales Co-ordinator and close friend of the RPO for almost forty years) passed away this month.
RPO friends save 50% on tickets. Phone 020 7608 8855 (M–F, 10–6), email friends@rpo.co.uk or visit www.rpo.co.uk/friends.
RPO on tour Rosi Callery (Tours and Special Projects Assistant) gives us the recent highlights... “The RPO began the year with an exciting three-week tour of the USA in January with Pinchas Zukerman. These celebrated concerts included performances of Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Brahms’ Double Concerto, for which Maestro Zukerman was joined by accomplished cellist Amanda Forsyth (both pictured top). “More recently the RPO has toured Europe, visiting Spain twice during April alone. Performances included Poulenc’s Gloria conducted by Charles Dutoit (pictured right) and featuring talented soprano Nicole Cabell. Maestro Dutoit and the Orchestra also gave concerts in Denmark, Poland and Germany, performing Saint-Saens’ ‘Organ’ Symphony in Warsaw and Cologne. “We’ve also visited Spain and Italy with Maestro Zukerman, performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Brahms’ Symphony No.4. Now we’re looking forward to summer concerts in Paris, Mexico and China!”
Brand new RPO CDs Grzegorz Nowak conducts Tchaikovsky – six disc set! The ultimate collection of Tchaikovsky's finest orchestral works. Spread across six discs, these works include the composer's seven symphonies. Special introductory offer of just £15!
Ju-Young Baek performs Penderecki and Szymanowski Recorded at Cadogan Hall, this new release is Ju-Young Baek's first recording with the Orchestra and is conducted by Grzegorz Nowak. £8 for friends (R.R.P. £10).
Yoon-Hee Kim performs Khachaturian and Tchaikovsky Rising star Korean violinist Yoon-Hee Kim performs two of the most popular violin concertos in the classical repertoire – virtuoso works by Tchaikovsky and Khachaturian. £8 (R.R.P. £10). To order any of these CDs at the special RPO friends’ prices, please call 020 7608 8837. A full list of RPO CDs can be found online at www.rpo.co.uk/shop. We hope that you have enjoyed this edition of fortissimo. If you would like to post a review online of an RPO concert that you have attended, please click on the ‘exclusive’ tab of the RPO website, enter your email address and write your review – we’d love to hear from you. We hope to see you at a concert soon! With best wishes, Jo Thomson (Friends’ & Groups’ Manager) and the rest of the RPO marketing team! Chris Evans Alice Rumsey Natasha Allery Veronica Jackson Doran Crowhurst Director of Press & Regional Marketing Marketing Assistant Marketing Volunteer Programme Editor Marketing Co-ordinator RPO friends save 50% on tickets. Phone 020 7608 8855 (M–F, 10–6), email friends@rpo.co.uk or visit www.rpo.co.uk/friends.