News and Reviews

Thomas Carroll brings to this role a wealth of experience. Since being one of only two artists ever, to secure prestigious supportive management from both YCAT UK (Young Classical Artists Trust) and YCA (Young Concert Artists) in New York, he has gone on to perform in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus and New York's Lincoln Centre, with orchestras and chamber musicians world wide. He made his conducting debut in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2006 and has worked with and conducted many orchestras in major concert halls in the UK and abroad.

He has conducted the Orpheus Sinfonia on three separate occasions, first in 2010 and two concerts last year: "A Night of Brahms" in March and a spectacular summer programme of English music at Radley Farm, Berkshire, to a packed audience. Thomas is also currently a Professor at the Royal College of Music in London and at the Yehudi Menuhin School. In addition to his performing and teaching activities, he is the co-artistic director of the Ulverston International Music Festival and a regular guest on radio, frequently appearing on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme.

David Shaw, Chairman of Orpheus Foundation comments "We warmly welcome Thomas Carroll as our new artistic director. We received a large number of high quality applicants for this role; Thomas Carroll stood out in terms of his substantial experience, his creative ideas as to how to take the Orpheus Sinfonia to the next level and his passion to do the job - we are delighted that Thomas will be leading Orpheus Foundation into an exciting future."

Thomas Carroll says "The Orpheus Foundation is an organisation that I have admired for many years for its dedication and wonderful support of young musicians. It provides an excellent platform for musicians to gain invaluable experience in performing and I am thrilled to be joining them. I am greatly looking forward to meeting all the sponsors, benefactors and Friends and getting to know you all. I am full of admiration for the fantastic support that you bring to the Orpheus Foundation. I sincerely believe that the heart of any organisation, especially in the Arts, is the people who generously support it and I very much look forward to developing the Orpheus Foundation together with you."

You can meet Thomas Carroll at the opening concert of our spring season, "Orpheus Sinfonia: Rising Stars", on Wednesday 1 February. The orchestra will perform a series of masterpieces written at the early stages of their respective composers' careers, including Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Tchaikovsky's First Symphony. This concert is followed by "A Dance to the Music of Time" on Thursday 22 March which will include works by Prokofiev, Purcell, Ravel and Beethoven. All concerts take place at St George's Hanover Square London W1.

Tickets are available from: www.orpheusfoundation.com/booking or boxoffice@orpheusfoundation.com
tel: 020 7734 6650.

For further information about Thomas Carroll's new role with the Orpheus Foundation contact:
info@orpheusfoundation.com or 020 7734 6650.

Kleine Zeitung, 4 September

Concert Review of Orpheus Sinfonia Austrian Tour final performance, 2 September 2011, Pfarrkirche, Kumberg

(Translated from the German by Achim Holub)

With a timpani stroke (German title of the Surprise Symphony) Orpheus Sinfonia London as guests in Kumberg

Kumberg. Achim Holub offered an attractive program which included Haydn's Surprise Symphony, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony and his 4th Horn Concerto at Kumberg's parish church. The winner of Holub's Conducting Masterclass, the Italian Giuseppe Montesano, was guiding the orchestra securely but slightly restrained through the work by Haydn. Nevertheless, the Orpheus Sinfonia London mastered the dancing lightness of the 1st movement as skilfully as the gloriously played wind soli in the Andante and the Menuet which made its entrance as a chubby "Ländler", with a twinkle in its eye.

As expected, Maestro Holub showed additional excitement when conducting Mozart's horn concerto. Werner Binder who lives in Kumberg and has already performed with Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt was able to be invited to be the soloist. With a sensitive and colourful sound production, inspired phrasing and dynamics, Binder offered more than just a "home match". There were unanimous ovations after Holub conducted with energy and passion the Jupiter Symphony from memory.

Kleine Zeitung Graz, Sunday 4 September 2011 (Kleine Zeitung is the biggest regional newspaper in Austria, the paper has around 800,000 readers)

Click here to read the original article

Orpheus Sinfonia/Thomas Carroll – Brahms with
Tamsin Waley-Cohen & Gemma Rosefield

Reviewed by: Andrew Morris- 31 March 2011

Away from its regular home at St George's, Hanover Square, Orpheus Sinfonia presented a lengthy programme of Brahms in the large church of St Paul's in Covent Garden. The venue was a mixed blessing. Although fronted by pleasant gardens and generally warm and rounded as an acoustic, the space constrained the orchestra at its greatest volume and the proximity of the Covent Garden piazza brought an intrusive soundtrack.

Orpheus Sinfonia is formed primarily of conservatoire graduates, who play with the non-jaded energy that characterises so many youth and student ensembles. Certainly, this was the greatest asset in performance of Academic Festival Overture. Thomas Carroll, more familiar as a cellist, kept tempos steady and it was a testament to the virtues of the performance that its drama outweighed occasional concerns about ensemble, the music revealing great depth of tone, particularly in the strings, though also a hesitancy that continued to be felt throughout the concert.

Two young and hugely accomplished string-players performed the feisty Double Concerto. Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Gemma Rosefield were well-matched in the solo parts, sharing a sometimes searing precision of intonation. Rosefield was perhaps the more powerful personality, but neither dominated in a work with an inherent element of competition. Carroll's tempo verged on the stately in the first movement, but orchestra and soloists were particularly attuned in the second, which swayed and smiled wonderfully. The soloists returned after the interval for an extended encore in the form of Johan Halvorsen's arrangement of a Passacaglia by Handel.

Brahms's First Symphony was marked by some fine solo contributions, particularly from clarinettist James Meldrum and oboist Emily Cockbill. Cockbill's creamy tone projected clearly above the orchestra in the second movement, though Leader Sidonie Bougamont had to push hard to be heard in its conclusion. Carroll's direction made for a solid account of the symphony. The smooth sheen of the work's pounding introduction became a steady but pressing Allegro, though it seemed at times that his efforts to shape the music went unheeded and some of Brahms's tricky cross-rhythms escaped the players. Orpheus Sinfonia greeted an enthusiastic response with more Brahms, the Fifth Hungarian Dances orchestrated by Albert Parlow.

Click here to read the original article

New kids deliver a daring Dvorak

Handpicked from recent graduates of the leading UK conservatoires, the Orpheus Sinfonia can genuinely boast a pool of potential orchestral talent second to none. Filling the gap between student performance and a full-blown orchestral career, it provides invaluable experience for outstanding players.

This year the Orpheus celebrates its fifth anniversary, returning to Cadogan Hall for a testing programme of Dvorak and Prokofiev.

In both the Dvorak Cello Concerto and a selection from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, the Orpheus demonstrated precision of ensemble, secure intonation and a well-developed sense of musicianship. Conductor Nicholas Collon, himself a rising star, set the players a challenge with some expansive tempi which they did well to sustain.

The wide diversion of tempi between the two main subjects of the Dvorak concerto’s first movement, for example, was daring, but it enabled the soloist, Aleksei Kiseliov, to draw long, eloquent phrasing, as he did in the similarly broad slow movement.

Playing a Ceruti cello provided by Florian Leonhard, Kiseliov cultivated a refined, nuanced line rather than an overtly virtuosic delivery. Only occasionally did one wish for a little more weight of tone.

The Prokofiev duly throbbed and glistened. If it didn’t quite electrify in the way it can when projected by seasoned professionals, the new kids on the block nevertheless gave notice that they will be snapping at the heels of the principal London orchestras.

See full article here:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/review

Concert - Orpheus Sinfonia

The Orpheus Foundation is hosting an afternoon of picnicking on the lawn and an evening of classical music on Saturday at the home of the Orpheus Foundation Trust chairman, Trevor Gore.

The concert begins at 6pm and guests are invited to tuck into their picnics in the stunning grounds from 4pm and after the concert.

The foundation supports talented young musicians through the production of around twenty orchestral projects and recitals annually in central London and at Radley Farm.
Patron of the foundation, Dame Judi Dench, said: "The Orpheus Foundation deserves all the support we can give it.

"As a charity it is immensely deserving, as a musical enterprise it is utterly inspiring and as a mission it is absolutely unique."

Following the success of last year's sell-out concert, conductor of the Orpheus Sinfonia Achim Holub will present an exquisite programme of Johann Strauss II's Emperor Waltz, Bruch's Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor and Dvorak's symphony No 8 in G.

Popular Belgian violinist Leonard Schreiber will grace the stage as the soloist in the acclaimed Bruch Violin Concerto.

Chairman of the Orpheus Foundation Trust, Trevor Gore is looking forward to the concert:
"My family always feels extremely pleased to support the Orpheus Sinfonia. The project at Radley Farm is a memorable and a rewarding experiment - exciting to produce, thrilling to watch and wonderful to host."

See full article here:
http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/theguide/goingout/article

From Beethoven to bouncing balls

There was one day last week which found me reflecting, not for the first time, on what a marvellous, varied and exciting job I’ve got. Within the space of a mere 15 hours (and I went to bed in between) I attended two very different arts education events.

The first was on Wednesday evening (the first evening this year which has actually felt slightly balmy as summer’s meant to) at St Paul’s Covent Garden. There, amongst all those evocative actors’ memorials and the slightly distracting noise from the piazza outside, Orpheus Foundation's in-house Orpheus Sinfonia played a cracking concert of Mendelssohn and Beethoven.

This is an intercollegiate orchestra which exists to provide a stepping stone into professional life for talented students at the London music conservatoires. Marc Corbett-Weaver, the artistic director, founded it in 2005. Judi Dench is the Foundation’s very enthusiastic and supportive patron. Its lead sponsor is the MariaMarina Foundation and there is a long list of other partners - along with a friends group boasting 140 members. There has been a recent drive to persuade supporters to sponsor twelve orchestra chairs at £1500 each with match funding from MariaMarina. The last three were ‘sold’ during the concert interval.

The orchestra, conducted by Thomas Carroll, achieved a rich vibrant sound like the best quality dark chocolate. And although I thought Carroll was a little over ambitious with his tempi in the first three works Tamsin Waley-Cohen gave a stunning performance of the Mendelssohn violin concerto and the final work - Beethoven’s seventh symphony was a real tour de force. The brass in general, and the horns in particular, were especially fine. All in all it was very exciting to see a group of young players undergoing such high quality professional development.

Then, on Thursday, morning I found myself trotting along Tooley Street in the sunshine to attend a totally different ‘education’ performance at Unicorn Theatre.

Oily Cart and aerial theatre company Ockham’s Razor have revived Something in the Air which first ran at the Manchester International Festival in 2009. It is a piece of interactive physical theatre, specifically created for young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties or an autistic spectrum disorder.

The set is on Unicorn’s main stage which has a complex rig which takes three days to erect with pulleys and pods which have, I gather, to be passed by a fairground equipment inspector before use. I watch six children - the maximum audience - raised in double ‘flying’ seats with their carers. All are engaged, some with shining faces, some vociferous and some quiet and apparently unresponsive but attentive. Haunting music, coloured shapes, mirrors, balls, songs and some thrilling acrobatic work by Ockham’s Razor surrounds the audience who have been carefully prepared for the performance so that there are no shocks. It’s a thrilling and very evocative show by anyone’s standards although the most moving part for me is watching the faces or the participating children each on his (they were all boys) own journey. Something in the Air is at Unicorn for the rest of this week and touring until the end of May.

I left Unicorn Theatre thinking l how lucky I am to have seen and heard two such diverse performances so close together (and on my way to a third - of which more in another blog).Then I got a call from the Orpheus Foundation’s marketing man and discover that actually there is a link between these two events. Orpheus Foundation has a partnership with Unicorn

See full article here:
http://blogs.thestage.co.uk

Bernstein, Ravel, Bridge and Britten

Bernstein: Overture to Candide (1956)
Ravel: Ma Mere l'oye (1908 – 1911)
Bridge: Summer (1914)
Britten: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell [A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra],
op.34 (1945)

Orpheus Sinfonia/ Nicholas Collon
St Paul’s, Covent Garden, London – 25 March 2010

Starting with a boisterous Candide Overture, Collon put the band through its paces and achieved a truly raucous and wild performance which set the bright tone for the whole concert. Ravels’ Mother Goose was given in the complete ballet version with not only the five well known movements but a prelude and interludes as well. Scored for a medium sized orchestra this sounded very good in the large space of St Paul’s and the music really blossomed at climaxes. The end, with its reminiscence of the gamelan, was truly radiant. Collon had obviously spent time working out how to use the acoustic to his advantage – his recent performance of Mahler’s 10th Symphony, in the huge space of St John’s, Smith Square, showed just how aware he is of sound in space, and how to use it to the benefit of the music.

Bridge’s Summer was perhaps just a touch on the heavy side but Britten’s Guide, complete with narration, was magnificent, each section really showing itself to best advantage and the final fugue a virtuoso display of orchestral sound. Geoffrey Palmer, the narrator, really drew one into the music with his easy delivery - almost like a favourite uncle telling a well known and loved story.

In the morning the orchestra had given the concert, minus the Bridge, for 250 schoolchildren, who were, in the main, fascinated by the sights and sounds. Collon introduced the instruments of the orchestra to the children, having each one play a little something appropriate to them, then talked about the fairytales in the Ravel work, which led to a brief question and answer between himself and the children. This was a perfect way to engage young listeners with great music. Palmer again narrated the Guide and never spoke down to the audience, using his entire actor’s training to best ability making it feel like a kind of game. The programme book contained pictures of all the instruments and no text. Perfect.

The Orpheus Foundation, which runs the orchestra, is a charity set up to foster young musicians – between college and the professional musical world – and give them the chance to display their virtuosity and musicality before an audience. On the strength of this, and previous concerts I have heard, they are getting it right. I might also mention that it has just released two CDs of live performances (3rd February 2010) of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and the Violin Concerto with Thomas Gould and they are well worth hearing.

Give us more like this, Orpheus Foundation, and performers and audiences of the future will be assured.

Bob Briggs

See full article here:
http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews/liveevents10/OrpheusCollon.html