Candida Thompson

Last updated

Candida Thompson
Born
Glasgow, Scotland
Occupationviolinist

Candida Thompson is a British violinist.

Biography

Thompson was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She has been living in Amsterdam since 1992. She studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she received her soloist's graduation diploma with honour. She developed her qualities further at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. She also participated in various national and international competitions and received several prizes.

Contents

Currently she plays a Guarneri 'del Gesù violin on loan from a private collector. [1]

Career

Ensemble work

Thompson has been involved in chamber music and string orchestras most of her playing life. She has directed orchestras in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the UK such as Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Mozart Players, Camerata Salzburg.[ citation needed ] As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with musicians such as Isaac Stern, Bruno Giuranna, Frans Helmerson, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, David Kuyken and performed at many festivals such as Kuhmo (Finland), Gubbio (Italy), International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht (the Netherlands) and La Musica (the USA).

Thompson has been a regular guest artist at La Musica Chamber Music Festival in Florida for the past 7 years collaborating with artists such as Bruno Giuranna, Joseph Silverstein, Isabelle Faust and Frans Helmerson. [2] She appeared at the Boston Chamber music festival in July 2007 and participated in the Finnish Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and at the Gubbio Chamber Music festival.

Solo performances

Thompson performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, English String Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Holland Symfonia and Camerata Nordica, one of Sweden's leading chamber orchestras. She gave solo concerts in England, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Florida and Hong Kong. Most recently she performed in the prestigious Saturday Matinee series at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Work with Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Thompson has been Amsterdam Sinfonietta  [ nl ]'s artistic director and leader since 2003. This string orchestra of twenty-two players, founded in 1988, performs under her guidance with a strong conviction that similarly minded players are stronger as a group if each individual upholds the responsibility. In the recent past Amsterdam Sinfonietta has performed both in the Netherlands and abroad with soloists such as Murray Perahia, Thomas Hampson, Maxim Vengerov, Christianne Stotijn  [ nl ], Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Giovanni Sollima, Martin Frost and Gidon Kremer. The orchestra also actively commissions composers such as HK Gruber, Thomas Larcher, John McCabe and Michel van der Aa. [3]

Recordings

Thompson made a number of chamber music recordings. She released a CD "Dutch violin sonatas" together with the pianist David Kuyken. The Bohemian Album is Thompson's most recent recording with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. As soon as released, it has been chosen by Classic FM the CD of the week in the UK. This recording for Channel Classics combines Antonín Dvořák's romantic Serenade with two surprising works from the nineteen twenties by Pavel Haas and Erwin Schulhoff. This repertoire combination is typical for the Amsterdam Sinfonietta's concept of programming. Their previous release of Beethoven's String Quartet, op. 135, and Walton’s Sonata for Strings under Thompson's leadership was much acclaimed and chosen CD of the month in Gramophone , BBC Recording of the Week and received a 10/10 from Luister Magazine. Another recording with Amsterdam Sinfonietta were new arrangements of String quartets No. 2 and No. 4 by Dmitri Shostakovich. This CD received an Opus d'or, a Best of the year disc by Audiophile Audition and 10/10 by Classics Today. As Amsterdam Simfonietta's leader, Thompson also recorded for Channel Classic the Piazzola seasons together with Ginestras Concerto for Strings. [3] She is a member of the Hamlet Piano Trio together with Paolo Giacometti and Xenia jankovic, they have recorded discs of Mendelssohn, Schubert and Beethoven Piano trios for Channel Classics.

Related Research Articles

Richard Leo Tognetti AO is a leading Australian musician recognised internationally as a violin soloist, ensemble player, leader, composer and arranger, conductor and artistic director.

James Crabb is a Scottish classical accordion player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrico Pace</span> Italian pianist of international renown (born 1967)

Enrico Pace is an Italian pianist of international renown.

Jerzy "Jurek" Dybał is a Polish conductor and soloist double-bass. Since 2013, he is the director of the International Krzysztof Penderecki Festival in Zabrze, Poland. Since 2014, he is the director of orchestra at Sinfonietta Cracovia in Kraków.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Mezzena</span>

Franco Mezzena born 4 November 1953 in Trento, northern Italy, is an Italian violin virtuoso. He studied ten years with Salvatore Accardo.

Caroline Stam is a Dutch classical soprano who has an international (European) performing career specializing in baroque repertoire, reinforced by a distinguished presence in modern recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viviana Sofronitsky</span> Musical artist

Viviana Sofronitsky is a Russian and Canadian classical pianist. Born in Moscow, her father was the Soviet-Russian pianist Vladimir Sofronitsky.

Coenraad Bloemendal is a Dutch-born Canadian cellist, who has performed, taught and recorded primarily in the field of classical music during a career that has spanned more than four decades.

The Oslo Camerata is a mostly classical string orchestra based in Oslo, Norway, as part of the Barratt Due Institute of Music. Established in 1998, the orchestra consists mostly of professional musicians, with selected Institute students participating in projects. The repertoire consists of classic and newly composed pieces, and has been described as one of the most innovative orchestras in Europe. It has performed extensively in Norway, with support of that country’s Ministry of Culture and parts of Europe along with India, Brazil and Mexico. It has released three CDs since 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirill Troussov</span>

Kirill Troussov in Saint Petersburg, is a German violinist and violin teacher based in Munich, Germany.

Mayumi Seiler is a Canadian-Austrian violinist born in Osaka, Japan, to Japanese/German parentage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nino Gvetadze</span> Georgian classical concert pianist

Nino Gvetadze is a Georgian classical concert pianist.

Christoph Raphael Friedwart Croisé is a French-German-Swiss cellist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lark Quartet (ensemble)</span>

The Lark Quartet was a New York-based, all female string quartet that operated from 1985 to 2019. It is acknowledged for its distinguished contribution to the string quartet repertoire, commissioning new works from some of America's most celebrated composers. Most notably, Aaron Jay Kernis' two string quartets: Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2 Musica instrumentalis, which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1998. The Lark Quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2004–08 and has recorded numerous albums on multiple labels including Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor and Koch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Lénert</span>

Pierre Lénert is a French violist. An international concertist, he is first solo violist of the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris.

Hanna Shybayeva is a Dutch pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antje Weithaas</span> German violinist

Antje Weithaas is a German classical violinist. Apart from solo recitals and chamber music performances, she has played with leading orchestras in Europe, Asia and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enesco Quartet</span> French string quartet

The Enesco Quartet is a French string quartet based in Paris.

Harriet Krijgh is a Dutch cellist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ella van Poucke</span> Dutch cellist (born 1994)

Ella van Poucke is a Dutch classical cellist. She has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. From 2010, she has directed a chamber music festival in Amsterdam. Poucke has lectured at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam from September 2022.

References

  1. "Candida Thompson – Biography". Official Site. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  2. "Past Performers". La Musica Festival. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  3. 1 2 Amsterdam Sinfonietta. "Artistic Leader". Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.