Entries by London Firebird Orchestra

Meet Elliott deVivo, musician of the month

Nicholas Keyworth talks to Elliott deVivo, freelance clarinetist and bass clarinetist with London Firebird Orchestra. How did your career in music begin? I worked in architecture for several years only to leave it all behind to pursue a career in music as a clarinetist. I have since completed a masters in music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire […]

Mozart and the clarinet

In the next London Firebird Orchestra concert, Matthew Hunt will play Mozart’s sublime Clarinet Concerto in A. However, it seems Mozart might have originally intended to write this concerto not for the clarinet at all but for basset horn. This was considered a rather old fashioned instrument at the time but  Mozart found himself writing […]

The Rural Idyll

Two of the works performed in the Classical Landscapes concert on 11 October are inspired by evocative landscapes from the natural world. In the music of Beethoven and Mendelssohn both composers captured the spirit of two very different landscapes both wild and sublime. But these perceptions of the rural Landscape grew in part out of the […]

Matthew Hunt, the Soloist’s Story

The soloist in Firebird’s opening season’s concert with Mozart’s exquisite clarinet concerto is Matthew Hunt. Nicholas Keyworth caught up with Matthew to find out more… So how did it all begin with the clarinet, Matthew? I’d love to say I heard the sound of a clarinet one day on the radio and longed to make […]

Mendelssohn’s meanderings in Britain

London Firebird’s Opening concert of the 2016-17 season ‘Classical Landscapes’ begins with Felix Mendelssohn’s rousing Overture – The Hebrides. Inspired by his tour of the Sottish Highlands in 1829, this was just one of the composer’s ten visits to Britain during his lifetime. But what brought Mendelssohn to Britain, and how did he find himself […]

Box office opens for 2016/17 season launch concert

A captivating programme of music depicting evocative landscapes opens London Firebird Orchestra’s 2016/17 season at St Paul’s Covent Garden on Tuesday 11 October. The first item in the concert will be Mendelssohn’s epic concert overture The Hebrides also known as Fingal’s Cave. Inspired by his 1830s visit to Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa […]

Marc Corbett-Weaver performs Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, Op. 18. London Firebird Orchestra featuring pianist Marc Corbett-Weaver and conductor Michael Thrift. Filmed during the ‘From Russia With Love’ concert on Thursday 16 June 2016 at St Paul’s Covent Garden.

Musician of the Month: Louis Barclay

Nicholas Keyworth talks to our latest Musician of the Month, trumpeter Louis Barclay. Louis has been playing principal trumpet with the London Firebird Orchestra for seven months. He explains three key benefits arising from this: “For me the crucial aspects of playing with this fantastic orchestra include firstly, the opportunity of learning and playing a […]

Firebird’s Bloxham is Assistant Conductor of CBSO

London Firebird Orchestra is celebrating the success of one its conductors, Jonathan Bloxham following the announcement of his appointment as Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan has been a regular conductor of the London Firebird Orchestra in between his other engagements in the UK and overseas. In the 2015/16 Firebird season […]

From Russia With Love closes Firebird season

The 2015/16 season came to a rousing finish at St Paul’s Covent Garden on Thursday 16 June with the From Russia With Love concert. Our next season will commence in October 2016 and we look forward to sharing details of our opening concert over the coming weeks.