Ennio Morricone was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works, Morricone is widely considered one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of all time. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d'Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and the Polar Music Prize in 2010.
Nigel Kennedy is an English violinist and violist.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The BBC SO is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the BBC has organised and broadcast The Proms. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival".
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon.
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto and Joseph Egger. The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany and Spain, was filmed on a low budget, and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UOGB) is a British musical ensemble founded in 1985 by George Hinchliffe and Kitty Lux. The orchestra features ukuleles of various sizes and registers from soprano to bass. The UOGB is best known for performing musically faithful but often tongue-in-cheek covers of popular songs and musical pieces from a wide variety of music genres taken "from the rich pageant of western music". The songs are often performed with a reinterpretation, sometimes with a complete genre twist, or well known songs from multiple genres are seamlessly woven together. Songs are introduced with light hearted deadpan humour, and juxtaposition is a feature of their act, the members of the orchestra wear semi-formal evening dress and sit behind music stands, in a parody of a classical ensemble.
Crouch End Festival Chorus (CEFC) is a symphonic choir based in north London which performs in a range of musical styles, including traditional choral repertoire, contemporary classical, rock, pop and film music.
Shannon Birchall is an Australian born musician, probably best known as the bassist for jam band the John Butler Trio. Birchall is often labeled a virtuoso by different music experts. He is also known for composing and conducting the string sections of the John Butler Trio's work.
Mauro Maur, OMRI is an Italian trumpeter and composer. He has collaborated alongside musicians such as Ennio Morricone, Placido Domingo, Uto Ughi, Riccardo Muti, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Pierre Boulez.
Richard Suart is an English opera singer and actor, who has specialised in the comic roles of Gilbert and Sullivan operas and in operetta, as well as in avant-garde modern operas. He is probably best known for his numerous portrayals of Ko-Ko in The Mikado.
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is the theme to the 1966 film of the same name, which was directed by Sergio Leone. Included on the film soundtrack as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ", the instrumental piece was composed by Ennio Morricone, with Bruno Nicolai conducting the orchestra. A cover version by Hugo Montenegro in 1967 was a pop hit in both the US and the UK. It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history.
The London Philharmonic Choir (LPC) is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Mark Elder is president. The choir, comprising more than 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a committee of 6 elected directors. As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts.
The Heritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded by Chris Wheeler and Jules Buckley. They perform mainstream, cult, experimental and popular music. The orchestra, which ranges between 25 and 65 members, has performed internationally in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Emirates Palace, and Hollywood Bowl, and tours throughout the UK to major concert halls and large-scale arenas, including The O2 Arena in London.
Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra is an Italian orchestra founded in 1993, which began a collaboration with the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Since 1995, the orchestra is best known for its key role in bringing to life the music of Ennio Morricone during his live performances and on Morricone’s film scores.
There has been more than one Horrible Histories Prom in the BBC's annual Proms concert series. The Horrible Histories entertainment franchise is aimed at children, and these concerts have introduced children to classical music.
The Credo is a composition for choir and orchestra set to the text of the Nicene Creed by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. It was first performed August 7, 2012 at The Proms in Royal Albert Hall, London, by the BBC Philharmonic, the Manchester Chamber Choir, the Northern Sinfonia Chorus, and the Rushley Singers under the conductor Juanjo Mena.
Chineke! Orchestra is a British orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black & ethnically diverse musicians. The word Chineke derives from the Igbo language meaning "God". The orchestra was founded by musician Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE and their debut concert was in 2015 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
