| Fulham Symphony Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
 | |
| Former name | Fulham Municipal Orchestra |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Location | London |
| Principal conductor | Marc Dooley |
| Website | fso |
Fulham Symphony Orchestra (FSO) is an amateur orchestra based in west London. It has given premieres of works by Wagner, Puccini and Tchaikovsky, performed with internationally renowned soloists, and featured many times in the national press.
A number of internationally renowned soloists have played with the orchestra including Alina Ibragimova, [1] Giovanni Guzzo [2] and Martin Owen. [3]
The FSO has collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on a number of projects [4] [5] and performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC London. [5]
Notable performances have included:
Their 2011 performance of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony at London's St John's Smith Square, was described by Bachtrack as "a terrific performance by splendid band". [24] The Guardian's classical music critic wrote of being "surprised and impressed" by a performance in 2009. [25]
For nearly 30 years the musical director of the orchestra was Joseph Vandernoot. [26] Later musical directors included Andrea Quinn, Peter Stark, Roland Roberts and Levon Parikian. Since 2001 the FSO's conductor has been Marc Dooley.
Originally named Fulham Municipal Orchestra, the orchestra was sponsored by Fulham Borough Council (later the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham) until the 1980s. [1]
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor.
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce. He was sent to Florida in the United States in 1884 to manage an orange plantation. He soon neglected his managerial duties and in 1886 returned to Europe.
Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in St. Petersburg where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses. He was a success in England conducting Wagner at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1914, and in 1919 was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Vagn Gylding Holmboe was a Danish composer and teacher who wrote largely in a neo-classical style.
Per Nørgård is a Danish composer.
The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO-GB) is the national youth orchestra of the United Kingdom, consisting of 164 members of ages 13 to 19 years. The players are selected by auditions which take place in the autumn each year at various locations in the country. The minimum standard needed to audition is ABRSM / Trinity Guildhall / London College of Music Grade 8 Distinction – though it is not necessary to have taken any examinations. The NYO's aim is to be "the most inspirational orchestra for young people" and at many of its concerts, all seats are only £5 for under 25s. In 2011, the orchestra was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society's Best Ensemble Award. In 2012, the NYO received the Queen's Medal for Music. In 2015 the NYO received the Royal Philharmonic Society's Ensemble award, which recognised particularly the launch of NYO Inspire as well as their other work.
Nicolai Andreyevich Malko was a symphonic conductor.
Mark Simpson is a British composer and clarinettist from Liverpool. In 2006, he became notable for winning both the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year, making him the first and, to date, only person to win both competitions.
Stanford Robinson OBE was an English conductor and composer, known for his work with the BBC. He remained a member of the BBC's staff until his retirement in 1966, founding or building up the organisation's choral groups, both amateur and professional.
Frederic William Austin was an English baritone singer, a musical teacher and composer in the period 1905–30. He is best remembered for his restoration and production of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch, and its sequel, Polly, in 1920–23. Austin was the older brother of the composer Ernest Austin (1874–1947).
(Albert) Meredith Davies CBE was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Fennimore und Gerda is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as Fennimore and Gerda in a translation by Philip Heseltine. The German libretto, by the composer himself, is based on the novel Niels Lyhne by the Danish writer Jens Peter Jacobsen. In neither German nor English is the libretto highly regarded; rather, the work is considered an "orchestral opera", limited in its dramatic appeal but voluptuous and engaging in its instrumental texture.
Giovanni Bolzoni was an Italian composer and violinist, who is known for his Minuet for String Orchestra.
Founded in 1956, London's Kensington Symphony Orchestra is one of the best known non-professional orchestras in Britain. It regularly attracts the best non-professional players from around London for its concerts at St John's, Smith Square and other venues in London. Like many non-professional British orchestras it finances its concerts not only through ticket sales, charitable donations and corporate support, but through its playing members who pay subscription fees.
Linda Esther Gray is a retired Scottish soprano and an operatic singing teacher.
Peter Coleman-Wright is an Australian baritone from Geelong. He began his career at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where he sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, winning the Touring Prize. Subsequently, he sang Sid in Albert Herring and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Pizzaro in Fidelio.
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States.
Joseph Vandernoot was a British conductor who worked with many orchestras and opera companies, and was one of the earliest conductors of opera at the Holland Park open-air theatre in London.
This is a summary of 1919 in music in the United Kingdom.
Irmelin is an opera in three acts with music by Frederick Delius. Composed between 1890 and 1892, it was the first opera which he finished but had to wait until 1953 for its stage premiere. The libretto was by the composer, and weaves together two mythical stories. Philip Heseltine described the opera as a "fairy-tale of quite ordinary kind" and "its form dramatically rather below the level of the conventional operatic text. Though the music was much praised by Grieg and Messager... its performance was never seriously contemplated by the composer". Delius had however assimilated Wagnerian influence in his music, with use of key motifs and a sense of flow through the three acts.