The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, since 1979.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.
Ex Cathedra is a leading British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works.
Adrian Brown is a British conductor. He is a proponent of contemporary music and has several first performances to his credit.
Thomas Andrew Trotter is an English concert organist. He is Birmingham City Organist, organist of St Margaret's, Westminster, visiting Fellow in Organ Studies in the Royal Northern College of Music and president of St Albans International Organ Festival.
David John Briggs is an English organist and composer.
The CBSO Chorus is a chorus based in Birmingham, England.
Chen Jiafeng is a Chinese violinist. He was the first prize winner in the 2003 International Competition for Young Violinists K. Lipinski and H. Wieniawski and the second prize winner in the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition, and the second prize of the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki.
The Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra is an amateur symphony orchestra based in Sheffield, England. Based in the cultural heart of the City of Sheffield at the Victoria Hall, the SPO draws on players of all backgrounds from across Yorkshire & the Humber, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. The orchestra prides itself on its rich musical history, as well as its core ethos of providing a medium for local musicians to flourish. The Orchestra gives no fewer than five concerts a year across Sheffield and beyond, and its regular programme of season concerts is supplemented by music weekends, foreign tours, collaboration with local choral societies and open air charity concerts. Over the years the SPO has performed in many notable venues, such as: Sheffield City Hall, Buxton Pavilion Gardens and Birmingham Symphony Hall, where they recorded a live CD with revered acoustic and electric guitarist, Gordon Giltrap MBE. The Orchestra has also performed at music festivals on the islands of Crete, Malta and Sardinia.
Rainer Hersch is a British conductor, actor, writer and comedian known for his comical take on classical music. He has toured in more than 30 countries and has broadcast extensively, principally for the BBC. His radio series include All Classical Music Explained ; Rainer Hersch's 20th Century Retrospective and All the Right Notes, Not Necessarily in the Right Order.
The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David, also known as St David's Cathedral, Cardiff, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales, and is the centre of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff. Located in Charles Street, the cathedral remains the focal point for Catholic life in Cardiff, and the country as a whole. It is one of only three Roman Catholic cathedrals in the United Kingdom that is associated with a choir school.
Michael Seal is a British orchestral conductor and classical violinist. Since 2011 he has served as the Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), having served previously as the orchestra's Assistant Conductor. He is only the second conductor to be given the title of Associate Conductor at the CBSO. The first was Harold Gray who served in that capacity for several decades until his retirement in 1972. In addition to his conducting, Seal played in the violin section of the CBSO from 1992 to 2014.
The National Youth Orchestra of Wales is the national youth orchestra of Wales, based in Cardiff. Founded in 1945, it is the longest-standing national youth orchestra in the world.
The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an amateur philharmonic orchestra based in Cardiff, Wales. The CPO played its first concert in 1982 and subsequently played over 250 concerts, primarily in Wales but also in England, Switzerland, and France. The CPO has a wide repertoire and appears regularly at Wales' premier concert hall, St. David's Hall.
The Philharmonia Chorus is an independent self-governing symphony chorus based in London, UK. Since its foundation in 1957 the Chorus has given over 900 concerts and made over 100 recordings. The Chorus Master is Gavin Carr.
Robert Wysome is the English conductor of New College Chorale based in Wellington, Shropshire, is the former Conductor of the Shropshire Youth Orchestra, Musical Director for the Shropshire Music Service and a notable Pianist and Organist. He was born in South Wales and began his musical career as an organist and accompanist. He read music at Cardiff University where he studied composition with Alun Hoddinott CBE and organ with Robert Joyce at Llandaff Cathedral. He was organist at St. John the Baptist Church in Cardiff for several years before moving to Bristol where he performed widely as a conductor and accompanist, working with Bristol Opera Company, University of Bristol Symphony Orchestra and Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company.
Paul Spicer is an English composer, conductor, and organist. He taught choral conducting at the Royal College of Music and conducted the RCM Chamber Choir between 1995 and 2008. Until his retirement in July 2022 he also taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and conducted their chamber choir which records for Somm Records. He also teaches at Oxford and Durham universities. Since 2004 he has been the conductor of the Petersfield Festival. He was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 for the Midlands Region based in Birmingham between 1984 and 1990 after which he moved to be artistic director of the Lichfield Festival. He also produced for various record companies over many years. He founded the Finzi Singers in 1984 making many recordings for Chandos Records. He conducts the Birmingham Bach Choir and the Whitehall Choir in London. His compositions include two oratorios for Easter and for Advent with libretti by the Dr Tom Wright and a choral symphony 'Unfinished Remembering' (2014) to a libretto by Euan Tait commemorating the outbreak of World War 1. He runs a series of choral courses under the banner of The English Choral Experience based mainly at Abbey Dore in Herefordshire.
Classical music in Birmingham began in the late Middle Ages, mainly devotional music which did not survive the Reformation. Evidence is scant until the years following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, when Birmingham's economy boomed. This was reflected in the scientific and cultural awakening known as the Midlands Enlightenment. The first sign of this transformation was the opening of the baroque St Philip's Church in 1715, which had a fine organ that attracted gifted musicians to the town.
Andrew Forbes is a Scottish organist. He is the Director of Music of Glasgow Cathedral and the Artistic Director of Glasgow Cathedral Festival. He is an organist, harpsichordist and conductor as well as a trustee of the Glasgow Society of Organists. In addition to his work at Glasgow Cathedral, he has a freelance career as a soloist and ensemble player, with appearances on BBC TV and radio, and concert performances across Europe at venues including the Philharmonie de Paris. Since 2017 Forbes has taught organ in the junior department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Daniel Fardon is a British composer of contemporary classical music.
