Born in the Isle of Man , the mezzo soprano Adrienne Murray studied at the Huddersfield Polytechnic and the Royal Northern College of Music . Operatic roles with Monte Carlo , Covent Garden , Civit Hills and Mananan Opera Festival have included Arcane (Handel, Teseo ), Marcellina ( The Marriage of Figaro ), Despina ( Così fan tutte ), Mother (Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel ) Dido ( Dido and Aeneas ), Ariane (Dukas, Barbe bleue ), Filipievna (Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin ) and Governess (Pique Dame ). In oratorio and concert her repertoire ranges from Messiah and the Bach Passions to Mahler's Second Symphony. She has sung under the direction of Sir Georg Solti, Sir Charles Groves, Jane Glover, Stephen Cleobury, Nicholas Cleobury, Marc Minkowski, Jean-Claude Malgoire and Owen Arwel Hughes. She has been a member of the BBC Northern/Britten Singers since 1985, appearing at Aldeburgh, Harrogate, Cambridge , Tewkesbury and Chester Festivals and has recorded for Chandos directed by Sir Richard Hickox and has broadcast for radio and television. In March 2010 she premiered Roger Steptoe's Three Paul Verlaine Songs at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Festival. Since 1995 she has appeared regularly in recital with David Dubery.
Born in Australia , the guitarist Craig Ogden has recorded for Chandos, Nimbus, Virgin Classics, Hyperion, Collins Classics, Sony and Dutton and has performed concertos with many orchestras, including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Ulster , Hallé, BBC Philharmonic Orchestras as well as with the National Orchestra of South Africa and Western Australian and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. His widely acclaimed debut solo album of contemporary British works received a Grammy nomination. BBC Music Magazine dubbed Ogden ‘a worthy successor to Julian Bream' and his seven Chandos releases of concertos and recital discs have received sparkling reviews from the major music media. His concerto premieres including the first British performance of John Corigliano's Guitar Concerto and that of Gerard Brophy. He is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester where he was made a Fellow in 2004 and is married to the British mezzo soprano Claire Bradshaw.
Peter Dixon studied at the Royal Academy of Music and made his Purcell Room debut in 1981. He joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1984 and was appointed Associate Principal in 1986. He became Principal of the BBC Philharmonic in 1990 and made his concerto debut in the Walton Cello Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall the following year. He gave the world premiere of Yoshimatsu's Cello Concerto, written especially for him, with the Kansai Philharmonic of Osaka and subsequently with the Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo , recording it with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos. Other Chandos recordings include the Korngold Cello Concerto and the soundtrack of the 2008 film Brideshead Revisited ; and he features as soloist on several albums conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier He appears regularly in recital and is a member of the Puligny String Quartet. In June 2004 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.
Richard Simpson studied at the Royal College of Music. He was first appointed sub-principal with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; after a year he joined the Hallé Orchestra as principal for the next eight years and was featured as soloist in performances of concertos by Mozart, Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Martinu and Hummel. In 1991 he returned to the BBC Symphony Orchestra as principal. He performs on several recordings for Campion Cameo and regularly in chamber recitals, often accompanied by his wife, Janet Simpson.
Graham Salvage has been Principal Bassoonist of the Hallé Orchestra since 1981. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gwydion Brooke and later in Germany with Klaus Thunemann while holding positions in two opera-house orchestras. He has appeared as guest principal with many orchestras including the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish and the Welsh National and English National Opera. Graham has premiered several works including John Gardner's Bassoon Concerto (2007) and for ASV he recorded concertos by Peter Hope, John Addison, Eric Fogg and Arthur Butterworth, with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Gavin Sutherland. Other recordings include works with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder, chamber pieces on the Campion Cameo label and Peter Hope's Four Sketches for oboe, bassoon and piano for Dutton. He teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music, Chetham's School of Music and Manchester University and is an adjudicator and examiner for various institutions including the Associated Board.
Born in Australia and a founder member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Williamson , viola, came to England in 1976 where he became Principal Viola with the London Mozart Players. Following a highly acclaimed solo debut at the Wigmore Hall he joined the English Chamber Orchestra. He later became Principal Viola with the City of London Sinfonia , Guest Principal with the English Chamber and Scottish Chamber Orchestras and is currently Principal with the Manchester Camerata and a member of the MacFarlane String Quartet. He has also recorded for Campion, Cameo and Dutton Epoch.
Paul Janes , piano, was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1968 and has been a finalist and prize-winner in the international piano competitions Casagrande ( Italy ), Dudley, AT&T Istel, winning the Bryden Thomson Memorial Prize in the Scottish International Competition. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where he won the Sir Thomas Beecham Medal, Gordon Green Memorial and Sir Malcolm Sargent Awards, and Countess of Munster and Ian Fleming Scholarships. He took masterclasses with Charles Rosen, Pascal Rogé, Arnaldo Cohen and Joachim Volkmann, and studied with Aldo Ciccolini at the Académie Maurice Ravel at St Jean de Luz in France . His career encompasses recital and chamber appearances and teaching (he is Senior lecturer in Keyboard Studies at the RNCM, Manchester), and has performed concertos in some of Britain's major concert halls with the conductors Yan Pascal Tortelier, Martyn Brabbins, Barry Wordsworth, Richard Hickox and Leonard Slatkin. He appears regularly with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and features on several Chandos CDs. As a chamber musician he has appeared at the Cheltenham International and Lake District Summer Festivals and at the Wigmore Hall. He has a long-standing duo partnership with the cellist Rebecca Gilliver.
David Dubery was born in Durban , South Africa , in 1948, and studied piano from the age of five. The rugged sea and landscapes there instilled in him a love of nature. To further his musical and artistic skills the family emigrated to his mother's home town of Manchester , England in 1961, before South Africa became a Republic. He started composing in 1962, continued with piano lessons developing his skills in sight reading and improvisation and had many opportunities during his teens to perform his own piano compositions at school speech days and concerts, and as a junior student at the Northern School of Music (NSM) [1964-67]. After winning the 1965 Composition Prize he was awarded a course of composition lessons with Dorothy Pilling, best known for Harmonization of Melodies at the Keyboard , as well as delightful Vignettes for piano solo and a number of attractive songs. His insatiable thirst to discover music was so strong he accepted the offer of a three year degree course at the NSM. His piano tutors were Eileen Chadwick and the distinguished concert pianist Kendall Taylor CBE. The principal, Ida Carroll kept him busy with many recitals in College, Music Clubs and Societies. Studying with Albert Haskayne he developed a useable baritone voice and sang in Choral Works and Operas with the Hallé and NSM Orchestras under the direction of Sir Charles Groves, James Robertson, and Maurice Handford. Most memorable were Sir John Barbirolli's glorious farewell performances of Verdi's Otello .
In 1969 he was awarded a Hesse Scholarship to Aldeburgh where he came under the influences of Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and Imogen Holst and where he formed friendships with Peter Holman and David Matthews. Time spent with them resulted in a collaborative private recording for Imogen of her father's opera Sita [1970].
His first BBC broadcast was Castles in the Air in 1971 following a successful performance at NSM sung by Diane Marshall. Other broadcasts followed; a recital with violinist Philip Sutton [BBC Northern S.O.], Rhymes for Children [1973] and Two Canticles for voice & piano [1980].
Since 1972 he has enjoyed a multi-faceted music career as solo pianist, accompanist, composer, vocal coach, musical director and teacher of piano and voice. During the 1970's he wrote several musicals that received a number of highly praised staged performances and during these years he partnered in concert some outstanding singers at the start of their professional careers including Jane Eaglen, Barry Banks, Joan Rogers, and Claire Moore and Jeffrey Lawton. Throughout the 1980's he toured as part of the Verlaine Duo with oboist Jonathan Tobutt which gave him the chance to write a Sonata Since dawn is breaking [1981], Sonatina [1986] [tracks1-3], and solo Elegy for E.S . [1983]. The duo made its BBC broadcast debut for the Manchester Midday Concerts Society in 1982 and London debut at St Martin in the Fields in 1986.
He coached actors from musical theatre, TV, stage and film, taught cast members from over 25 West-End and national-tour productions, and worked in the departments of Dance, Drama and Music in Colleges of Further Education, The Manchester School of Music and The Actors Centre. From 1985-2003 at the Northern Ballet School he was staff pianist, vocal tutor, and Musical Director for their Showcase Productions at the Dance House Theatre.
Being largely self-taught he works in a traditional language preferring miniature to medium sized projects. His music is tonal, rooted in past traditions, and working with dancers and actors has ensured rhythm and movement play an integral part in its composition. European travel, visiting Italian cities, coasts and islands, and in particular Lake Como , has allowed him to indulge his passion for photography, capturing images he often uses as a resource and inspiration for his music creation.
