Members of the English Sinfonia to visit CYM on Saturday 26th February
We are thrilled that a trio of players from the English Sinfonia will be visiting CYM on Saturday 26th February 2022. The trio will perform Rachmaninov’s Trio Elegiaque in D minor. Following the performance there will be masterclasses with CYM students. We are looking forward to the visit!
Read more about the members visiting us.
Chris Hopkins – Piano
Equally at home on the concert stage as in the pit, conductor and pianist Chris Hopkins is engaged on a wide range of projects across many disciplines. Recently appointed principal conductor of the renowned English Sinfonia, he is also a frequent face at the London Coliseum: following from the success of his ENO debut conducting Iolanthe, he has since returned to conduct the Magic Flute and the most recent revival of the legendary production of The Mikado. Previously he has worked at the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne Opera, with Opera de Paris, Grange Festival Opera, English Chamber Orchestra Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Crash Ensemble, WNO, NI Opera, HGO, Opera Holland Park, Wide Open Opera, Garsington Opera, Grange Park Opera, Opera Danube, London Mozart Players, and appeared at many festivals including Aldeburgh, Presteigne, and Latitude. He has performed throughout the UK, in the US, Asia and extensively in Europe as well as live and recorded appearances on BBC 1, Classic FM and BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4.
A long-term advocate for British music, Chris was the first postgraduate from the Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth (CHOMBEC) before continuing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Leverhulme and Elton John scholarships. He continues into a twelfth season as Musical Director of Orchestra of the City and was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Janice Graham – Violin
Janice Graham has been the Leader of the English Sinfonia since 1995 and was appointed Artistic Director in 2005. For 13 years, she was the Leader of the ENO orchestra and with them performed Meditation at Kenwood. Her collaboration with Christ Hopkins at ENO led to her performing the Berg, Beethoven and Walton violin concerto with the Orchestra of the City in St James’s Piccadilly. Whilst Leader of BBC National Orchestra of Wales her solo appearances on Radio 3 included the Britten, Neilsen and Mendelssohn concertos, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and The Lark Ascending. As Assistant Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra she took part in their Barbican chamber series appearing with Andre Previn and Yuri Bashmet. She has also appeared as guest leader of most of the UK’s orchestras. Her solo recordings include Dochnanyi’s second violin concerto (ASV), Delius’s first and second violin sonatas and Walton’s sonata (EMI) and Holst’s Song of the Night and double violin concerto (NAXOS). She was a professor at the RCM from 1995 – 2012 and is currently a professor at the GSMD and Governor of the Purcell School.
Julia Graham – Cello
As well as being a long-term member of English Sinfonia, Julia Graham has been the principal cello for Matthew Bourne’s productions since 2015. She is also principal of The London Concert Orchestra, with whom she has performed many solos, most notably the famous solo by Tan Dun from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Chamber music is where Julia’s heart lies having performed with a range of groups in many venues including The Wigmore Hall and The Purcell Room, and with artists including Alison Balsom, Vasko Vassilev and Alexei Volodin.
Julia’s first job was with the English National Opera before moving onto be the No.3 cello with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She has been the lead cellist for many West End shows including The Wizard of Oz, Evita and Miss Saigon and currently the newly reopened Phantom of the Opera.
Find out more about the English Sinfonia here: https://www.englishsinfonia.org.uk/
