Janacek
Sinfonietta
Beethoven
Symphony No 9
Evans Theatre
Wilmslow
Leisure Centre
Tickets
0161 485 6887
| Louise Latham | Jem Bradley |
| Wind Soloists | Horn Soloists |
| Robert Chalmers | Frank Procter |
| Geoffrey Smith | Fiona Hughes |
| Alfred Pollard | John Bush |
| Upper Strings | Lower Strings |
| Woodwind Section | Brass Section |
Louise Latham was born in Preston and her musical career has developed from a North of England base. After leading Lancashire Youth Or chestra she studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and took up a post with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
Always keen on chamber music, she left after six years in order to freelance, playing with the Arensky Trio, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Northern Chamber Orchestra and the major symphony orchestras. Louise is a dedicated teacher and coach. For some years she has been course director of the Alston Hall chamber music courses, and she teaches violin at Lancaster University. She is also in demand as a leader - she leads Blackburn Symphony as well as Wilmslow.
As an antidote to music, she can be found skiing in the winter and windsurfing in the summer.
Jem read Music at Lancaster University, specialising in performance. As well as teaching violin at a few select schools including The Manchester Grammar School, he has a growing freelance career. He has played with the Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Concert Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Liverpool Sinfonietta, British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, and the English National Orchestra. He is in great demand as a leader of musicals throughout the North West, and also leads the Cheshire Sinfonia, which, in conjunction with conductor Peter Stallworthy, he established in May 2005.
After making little progress on an unplayable student oboe bought for him when he was eleven, Robert was offered the opportunity to learn the bassoon at the age of fifteen. Two years later he was fortunate enough to find himself living in Vienna where the nephew of Karl Öhlberger, the principal bassoonist of the Vienna Philharmonic, discovered that he needed a little technical help and arranged for him to have free lessons with his uncle at the Hochschule für Musik. Over the many years since, Robert has derived enjoyment and frustration in approximately equal measure from wrestling with his bassoon. He has been principal bassoon with the WSO for over fifteen years.
Frank Procter was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme and started to play the horn at school, initially having lessons from his father, who was an amateur horn player. After studying engineering, Frank went to the Royal Manchester College of Music to study with Sydney Coulston, the renowned horn teacher and principal of the BBC Northern Orchestra. During this period at college, Frank did a great deal of freelance work with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Northern Orchestra, the Manchester Mozart Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia, thus gaining invaluable professional experience. After this, however, he returned to engineering to follow a management career, but has continued to play all over the North West as a principal horn, soloist and chamber musician.
Geoff started playing the clarinet whan he was seven. He gained a clarinet performer's ARCM at the age of eighteen. As a member of the National Youth Orchestra he performed extensively both here and abroad taking part in several televised performances. He graduated from Manchester University with an Honours Degree in Maths and spent his professional life as a maths teacher. He has recently taken early retirement from Ridge Danyers College where he was Head of Maths and Senior Tutor. He plays for several orchestras and chamber groups in the North West and has recently appeared as soloist in clarinet concertos by Weber and Mozart.
Alfred comes from a family of wind players and has been Principal Oboe at Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra for many years. He also enjoys playing chamber music and performs regularly with the Dulcian Wind Quintet, the Telemann Baroque Ensemble and the Krommer Wind Octet. He has recently begun studying with Stephane Rancourt, who has advised him not to give up his day job as a busy doctor just yet.
Jonathan Gibson was born in Northampton, the youngest of a family of local musicians. He began playing the French Horn at the age of 9 and quickly became a regular player with the county's youth orchestra and the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. From 1993 to 1997 Jonathan studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with, amongst others, David Cripps and Derek Taylor and worked in masterclasses with Michael Thompson, Timothy Jones, Peter Francombe and Anthony Halstead. Since Graduating from the RNCM he freelances extensively with such ensembles as the National Festival Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Mozart Orchestra, Manchester Concert Orchestra and the chamber group Harlequin Brass with whom he has recently recorded a CD. In his spare time he avidly supports his local rugby team, Northampton Saints and is a disillusioned supporter of both his county and national cricket teams. Jonathan has regularly appeared as a guest in the horn section of Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra and appeared playing his horn in the Golden Jubilee episode of Coronation Street.
When Lawrence Yates was sixteen years old, he was forced by his school to chose between art, technical drawing and music. He couldn't draw, hated anything technical and so took refuge in the music stockroom where he found a horn. After tricking his parents into buying him an instrument (they thought the school was buying it) he went on to Bretton Hall and after three years took up a job as horn teacher in Bury. He was later made Head of Brass and is now a Director of Bury Music Service. He is a founder member of the Dulcian Wind Quintet. He was a member of "Waldhorn Quartette", a horn quartet based in Limoges, France, a well paid job which involved sampling lots of wine and, after one memorable concert in Evaux les Bains, lots of home-made brandy, an evening from which he has never recovered. He freelances with several orchestras in the North of England.
Born and brought up in Burton upon Trent you may expect Fiona to be a fan of Real Ale but you would not necessarily expect her to be a horn player. As with many young children Fiona initially played the recorder. At the age of nine the music teacher suggested she play a 'proper' instrument! Fiona had no hesitation in asking to play the French horn, having seen a picture of it on the classroom wall and thinking it was so pretty!! Fiona initially had lessons in school from Eric Johnson the local peripatetic brass teacher. She then went on to study with Nigel Mainard and at the age of 15 became principal horn with Staffordshire Youth Symphony Orchestra.
On leaving school she read German at Hull University and eventually went on to complete a Masters in Librarianship in Aberystwyth. For her 'day job' Fiona manages Manchester Metropolitan University's Crewe Campus Library.
In addition to Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra Fiona plays for many other groups and societies such as Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Bolton Symphony Orchestra and Liverpool Sinfonia. She currently takes lessons from Mark Brook of the BBC Phiharmonic Orchestra. Incidentally, true to her roots, Fiona is a real ale fan and AFTER the concert can be found in a nearby hostelry enjoying a well earned pint!
John BushJohn Bush was born in Southampton and studied trumpet with Graham Ashton. He read chemical engineering at Exeter and Cambridge universities, where he took a active part in classical and jazz music making. In 1984 he joined ICI at Billingham and continued his musical interests with a number of amateur orchestras on Teesside, including solo performances.
From 1992 to 1994 John worked in Osaka, Japan, where he was the first non-Japanese to be invited to play with the Takarazuka Symphony Orchestra. John now lives and works in Cheshire and is principal trumpet with the Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra
John was the soloist for Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in our October 1999 concert.
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