John Harle
John Crofton Harle (born 20 September 1956) is an English saxophonist, composer, record producer, conductor and educator. He is an Ivor Novello Award winner, has been the recipient of two Royal Television Society awards and has contributed directly and indirectly to a number of charting songs and albums. Harle served as artistic advisor to Sir Paul McCartney for six years, and has also collaborated with Elvis Costello, Marc Almond, Herbie Hancock, Michael Nyman, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Stanley Myers and Elmer Bernstein. In May 1998, he was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's long- running ''Desert Island Discs'' programme. In October 2020, Harle released ''The John Harle Collection'' - a 20 Album retrospective of his career as composer and saxophonist. All proceeds from the collection were donated to the ''Help Musicians Coronavirus Appeal.'' He is currently Director of The Guildhall Bauhaus and Professor of Music & Interdisciplinary Practice at The Gu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Newcastle Upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located on the River Tyne's northern bank opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England. Newcastle developed around a Roman Empire, Roman settlement called Pons Aelius. The settlement became known as ''Monkchester'' before taking on the name of The Castle, Newcastle, a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle was historically part of the county of Northumberland, but governed as a county corporate after 1400. In 1974, Newcastle became part of the newly-created metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The local authority is Newcastle Ci ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dominic Muldowney
Dominic Muldowney (born 19 July 1952 in Southampton) is a British composer. Biography Dominic Muldowney studied at the University of Southampton with Jonathan Harvey, at the University of York (with Bernard Rands and David Blake), and privately with Harrison Birtwistle. From 1974 to 1976 he was composer-in-residence to the Southern Arts Association. In 1976 he was invited by Birtwistle to become Assistant Music Director of the Royal National Theatre in London. He succeeded Birtwistle as Music Director in 1981, remaining in that post until 1997. Muldowney's orchestral music includes a number of concerti (for piano, saxophone, oboe, violin, percussion, trumpet and trombone), many of which explore his fascination with polyrhythms. Other works include ''Three Pieces for Orchestra'' (1991), the song cycle ''Lonely Hearts'' (1988) and three full-length ballets, including ''The Brontës'' (1994). Muldowney’s radio opera ''The Voluptuous Tango'' (1996) won the Prix Italia in 1997, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Tavener
Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and ''Song for Athene'' (1993). Tavener first came to prominence with his cantata ''The Whale (Tavener), The Whale'', premiered in 1968. Then aged 24, he was described by ''The Guardian'' as "the musical discovery of the year", while ''The Times'' said he was "among the very best creative talents of his generation". During his career he became one of the best known and popular composers of his generation, most particularly for ''The Protecting Veil'', which as recorded by cellist Steven Isserlis became a best-selling album, and ''Song for Athene'' which was sung at the Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, funeral of Princess Diana. ''The Lamb'' featured in the soundtrack for Paolo Sorrentino's film ''The Great Bea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lovers of classical music and were enthusiastic Pentecostal Christians. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of Music. His initial musical studies were with Oliver Knussen, John Lambert (composer), John Lambert, and later with Gunther Schuller. He also has been strongly influenced by jazz, in particular by the work of Miles Davis, and has composed works featuring jazz performers, including John Scofield, Peter Erskine, John Patitucci, and Joe Lovano. Turnage has composed numerous orchestral and chamber music, chamber works, and three full-length operas. ''Greek (opera), Greek'', composed with the encouragement of Hans Werner Henze and first performed in 1988 at the Munich B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andrew Davis (conductor)
Sir Andrew Frank Davis (2 February 1944 – 20 April 2024) was an English conductor. He was the long-time chief conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He was music director at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Glyndebourne Festival from 1988 to 2000, and especially known for conducting the traditional Last Night of The Proms, including Last Night speeches. He was music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 2000 to the 2020/21 season. Music critic Alan Blyth described Davis as "a conductor whose technical skill was enhanced by an inborn enthusiasm for and dedication to the task in hand that he was able to transfer to the forces before him." Early life and education Andrew Frank Davis was born on 2 February 1944, in Ashridge, Hertfordshire, England. His parents were Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence Joyce (née Badminton). Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Wat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 original film scores, as well as scores for nearly 80 television productions. For his work, he received an Academy Award for '' Thoroughly Modern Millie'' (1967) and a Primetime Emmy Award. He also received seven Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Tony Award nominations. He composed and arranged scores for over 100 film scores, including '' Sudden Fear'' (1952), '' The Man with the Golden Arm'' (1955), '' The Ten Commandments'' (1956), '' Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957), '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), '' The World of Henry Orient'' (1964), '' The Great Escape'' (1963), '' Hud'' (1963), '' Thoroughly Modern Millie'' (1967), '' True Grit'' (1969), '' My Left Foot'' (1989), '' The Grifters'' (19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neville Marriner
Sir Neville Marriner, (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English conductor and violinist. Described as "one of the world's greatest conductors", Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another compilation ranks Marriner #14 of the 18 "Greatest and Most Famous Conductors of All Time". He founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and his partnership with them is the most recorded of any orchestra and conductor. Early life Marriner was born in Lincoln, England, the son of Herbert Marriner, a carpenter, and his wife Ethel (née Roberts). He was educated at Lincoln School (then a grammar school), where he played in a jazz band with the composer Steve Race. He initially learned the violin as well as the piano from his father, and later studied the violin with Frederick Mountney. In 1939 he went to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with the violinist William Henry Reed and was able to play among the second violins of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and of La Scala. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions at the Gewandhausorchester (2005–2016); the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1988–2004); the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (1982–1988); and the Teatro Comunale of Bologna (1986–1993). He was also the first musical director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (1999–2005) and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–1986). Born in Milan, Chailly first studied composition with his father, Luciano Chailly, in his youth. He continued with composition at the conservatories in Milan and Perugia, but later shifted to conducting under Piero Guarino and Franco Ferrara. He made his conducting debut at La Scala in 1978 with Massenet's ''Werther'', where he had been assistant director to Claudio Abbado since 1973. Upon becoming p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. He gave his final performance with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2025 while fighting brain cancer. Biography Tilson Thomas was born, on December 21, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, to Ted and Roberta Thomas, a Broadway stage manager and a middle school history teacher, respectively. He is the grandson of Yiddish theater stars Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, who performed in the Yiddish Theater District in Manhattan. The family talent goes back to Tilson Thomas's great-grandfather, Pincus, an actor and playwright, and before that to a long line of cantors; his father, Theodor Herzl Tomashefsky (Ted Thomas), was also a poet and painter. He was an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American-born conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic Donal Henahan. List of awards and nominations received by Leonard Bernstein, Bernstein's honors and accolades include seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and 16 Grammy Awards (including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Lifetime Achievement Award) as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Score, Academy Award nomination. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981. As a composer, Bernstein wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the pian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andy Sheppard
Andy Sheppard (born 20 January 1957) is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, George Russell and Steve Swallow. In 2019 he was presented the degree of Doctor of Music ''honoris causa'' by the University of Bristol. Biography Sheppard was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, in 1957. At the age of 19 he emerged as a musician in the Salisbury-based contemporary quartet Sphere in the late 1970s, gigging only three weeks after picking up the saxophone. He honed his skills in the wine bars and jazz clubs of the UK and Europe in the early 1980s. He also played with world music groups and with more established improvisers such as Keith Tippett. While still with Sphere, Sheppard moved to Paris, working with French bands Lumière and Urban Sax. In the mid-1980s Sheppard returned to the UK, playing often on Ki Longfell ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he was a music educator and also her music director. Biography Early years Dankworth was born in Walthamstow, then in the County Borough of West Ham, in 1927. He grew up, within a family of musicians, in Hollywood Way, Highams Park, a suburb of Chingford, and attended Selwyn Boys' (Junior) School in Highams Park and later Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow. He had violin and piano lessons before settling eventually on the clarinet at the age of 16, after hearing a record of the Benny Goodman Quartet. Soon afterwards, inspired by Charlie Parker, he learned to play the alto saxophone. He made his first recording in 1944 playing the clarinet on ''Good Old Wagon Blues'' by ''Freddie Mirfield and his Garbage Men.'' He began his ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |