The next two London Firebird Orchestra concerts both feature music by Josef Haydn, by the end of the 18th century Europe’s most celebrated composer. But how did a man from such humble beginnings end up taking the cultural scene in London by storm? Haydn’s life started unpromisingly as the son of a wheelright and a cook […]
George Jackson, one of London Firebird Orchestra’s conductors, talks to Nicholas Keyworth. He first conducted the orchestra in 2014, in a Vienna-style New Year concert. Since then, he has collaborated on a number of different projects, encompassing many different styles. I started by asking George to explain how he first got involved in music and […]
The next two London Firebird Orchestra concerts both feature music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who spent most of his short life in that great city of music: Vienna. But what attracted Mozart to Vienna? Vienna was once the glittering capital of a great empire where the patronage of the Habsburg dynasty and other aristocrats at […]
London Firebird Orchestra launches its 2017 Firebird Composer of the Year Competition with a winner’s prize of a live début public performance of the winning composition. This will take place as part of Heroics and Hijinx on Thursday 16 March 2017 at St George’s Hanover Square with London Firebird Orchestra conducted by George Jackson. The prizewinner will receive an […]
The next two London Firebird Orchestra concerts both feature music by composers connected to one of the great cities of Europe – Leipzig – the musical heart of Germany. But what lies behind Leipzig’s claim to be the so-called ‘city of music’? This is the city where Johann Sebastian Bach was Cantor of the Thomaskirche […]
Nicholas Keyworth talks to Harriet Allan, co-leader and Principal Second violin with London Firebird Orchestra. Where did you study music? I have a First Class Honours degree in Philosophy and was awarded a Masters in Music from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Tell me more about your involvement with Firebird. I first played […]
It’s just a few days before the opening concert of the 2016-17 London Firebird Orchestra season on 11 October. Here we take a closer look at some of the music in the concert which heralded the dawn of a new musical style: Romanticism. In Classical Landscapes we shall be hearing music by Beethoven and Mendelssohn, […]
London Firebird’s 2016/17 season kicks off with Classical Landscapes on Tuesday 11 October at St Paul’s Covent Garden. Join us for a vibrant programme of Mendelssohn, Mozart and Beethoven featuring one of Britain’s leading clarinettists, Matthew Hunt and conductor Jonathan Bloxham, recently appointed as Associate conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Watch Artistic […]
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 […]
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 […]