Back from Wales

I've just got back from Cardiff where I've been attending the Association of British Orchestras annual conference at the fabulous Millennium Centre, the home of Welsh National Opera . This was my first full conference, in fact. It's a great way to get to know the orchestral profession, thrown together with a couple of hundred delegates representing all the major orchestras in the country, a number of whom we work with pretty regularly. Apart from all the presentations it's a big opportunity to meet some potential future partners and explore some possibilities for future concerts.

And being a representative of a venue puts you in an interesting position, too. Most of the delegates at the conference are from organisations that represent musicians in one shape or form so working for a concert hall gives you a kind of special status - a couple of delegates told me that it was rare to see venue people there at all. From one of the sessions I attended it's clear that the relationship between venues and orchestras isn't always plain sailing so I'm glad that we generally get on very well with our visiting bands.

I was also in the unusual position of being sought out by a few people - mainly agents who recognised a potential hirer! These conference are, of course, business opportunities, too, so I shouldn't have been surprised. And I've been made aware of a couple of interesting artists who I'm going to go and see over the next couple of months. There's a young cellist, for instance, who might find his way into a future Nottingham Classics season and I'll be off to Cadogan Hall in May to go and hear him.

On the subject of future seasons, I'm delighted to say that I've got all the concerts in place now and have only got a couple of pieces to finalise and then it will all be in place. I'll breathe a sigh of relief because it's been quite a long haul and getting a good balance between popular core repertoire and slightly more adventurous works has been quite a challenge. However, I'm quietly confident that you'll find plenty to inspire you. There are also a few new developments which I trust you'll enjoy, including some late night concerts and a BBC Radio 3 Discovering Music concert - a first for us here in Nottingham.

I'm going to be getting my head down over the next couple of months putting the new brochure together and then, in June, all will be revealed, when the new brochure will be available at the last concert in the season. I'll also be presenting the new season in the pre-concert talk slot on 18 June so if you want to know about how the season was put together then I hope you'll join me then.

Bye for now.

Neil

End of an era?

Apologies for the lengthy break between my last post and this one. I've been busy slotting in orchestras for next season and am pleased (and slightly relieved) that all of them are now in place. And the repertoire? Well, that's a different matter. I reckon half of it is decided but there's still quite a away to go before I can say for definite what you'll be hearing in 2009-10. which, in itself, feels slightly odd since we haven't even got a quarter of the way into next season yet. And I'm even discussing a few dates for 2010-11 now, which feels like a very long way off indeed. I guess I'll get used to it.

Anyway, the season so far has been going really well. We've had big audiences for all three concerts and sinfonia VIVA's concert with Ruth Palmer (what a talent!) was ViVA's biggest Nottingham Classics audience for at least a decade. And its performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony was a revelation - taut, urgent and fiery...everything that a good No.5 ought to be.

Perhaps the biggest event so far this season was the CBSO's performance of Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony with the Nottingham Harmonic Society Choir. The idea had come from the Harmonic Society's former Chairman, John Parry, and it is was a significant development for us because it's been many years since the Harmonic Society sang as part of Nottingham Classics and it meant that the concert had to be booked in a different way from how we'd normally do things. Peter Bolton, our former programmer, had contracted the orchestra, choir, soloists and conductor separately, which made the concert a more complex equation than normal. And, as it turned out, the choice of conductor turned out to be a big issue. John and Peter had originally chosen Richard Hickox (more on him in a minute), who was unavailable due to commitments in Australia. They then decided on Vernon Handley, who would, it was anticipated, bring some of his Vaughan Williams magic to this very challenging symphony.

As you may know, Vernon Handley died in september, leaving us with some big shoes to fill. As it turned out we found someone who was totally capable of filling them. Rising star conductor, John Wilson was suggested by Vernon Handley's agents as someone whose experience of conducting English music would make him an excellent replacement. Recommended by the CBSO, too, we booked him without hesitation and we're very glad that we did. Watching him take the choir rehearsal in Nottingham it was obvious that he'd immediately got the choir with him and his attention to detail was really impressive. Bear in mind, too, that John had never conducted the Sea Symphony before so this was a significant challenge given the time available. However, when I heard the first bars of the final rehearsal I knew we were in for something special and we duly got it. The performance itself was a triumph. John held this sometimes unwieldy work together expertly and the choir sang heroically. It was one of those performances that will last a long time in my memory.

So, to the title of this week's blog. As you may now also know, Richard Hickox - our original choice for conductor of the Sea Symphony - has now also died at just sixty. Two of the great Vaughan Williams conductors of the age are now no longer with us and it's tempting to talk of the end of an era. There are obviously others who can take on their mantle - Paul Daniel and Martyn Brabbins being two of them - but maybe we can add another name. John Wilson is still in his thirties and seems made for this repertoire. John told me after the concert that he'd like eventually to conduct all the Vaughan Williams symphonies and I hope that Nottingham Classics can play a part in helping him achieve this ambition. It'll definitely be worth hearing.

Earth-cracking opener

Well, after what's felt like a long run up to the start of the Nottingham Classics 2008-9 season it finally exploded upon us with a foundation-threatening performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring from the Halle. It was also the first appearance in Notingham for the Halle's newly-appointed Principal Guest Conductor (for 2009-10, that is, which I guess makes him the Principal Guest Conductor Designate or something), Markus Stenz.

I had a quick chat with Markus after the concert and, like virtually all conductors who've been to the Royal Concert Hall, he really loved the sound here. His next appointment in Nottingham will be with Mahler's Second Symphony in 2010, which should really put the spectacle into 'spectacular'.

Anyway, after a thrilling performance like last Saturday's you sometimes wonder how you can possibly follow it. Thankfully, on this occasion, we've no such worries. Next Saturday, 8 November, Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony - one of the first truly great British symphonies - is treated to a performance from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with our own Nottingham Harmonic Society Choir and stellar soloists, Janice Watson and Roderick Williams.

You may be aware that this concert was orginally to be conducted by Vernon Handley, who sadly passed away in September. As a mark of respect to the great man, the concert is being dedicated to his memory and fittingly, the brilliant young conductor, John Wilson - himself a great champion of British music - will be wielding the baton.

Should be quite an event. Hope to see you there.

Neil

My first blog for Nottingham Classics

Hi,

It's not often I can claim a first for anything but here's the genuine article - a first blog for Nottingham Classics.

So, where to start?

Maybe I should begin with saying a little about myself. I've been interested in orchestral music since I was too young to be able to spell 'trombone', but it really all started for me when I took up that very instrument when I was 12. I've played in all kinds of ensemble but my eyes were really opened by playing in my county youth orchestra. I carried on playing at university, where I spent far too many years doing a B.A, M.A and then a PhD in English Literature. Some time into my PhD I realised that what I really wanted to do was work with orchestras and shortly after this I started working for the University's concerts office, where I got the chance to meet several classical artists and a few orchestras, too. I got some voluntary work at the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, which ultimately helped me to get my first job at the National Youth Orchestra. After a couple of years I moved to Nottingham to work at the University Arts Centre, now Lakeside Arts Centre, before working for the County Council's arts service.

That's where I got involved in marketing Nottingham Classics, which I've been working on for more than three years now. When Nottingham Classics became a promotion of the Royal Concert Hall this summer, I moved with it and took up the post of Classical Music Marketing Manager.

This was probably the shortest time I've ever spent in a job, because within days of taking up the position I learned that Peter Bolton, who has programmed the season from October 2006 up to October 2009, had gone and got himself a new job as the Chief Executive for Kent Music Service. Which is great news for Peter and we all wish him well in his new role.

The only downside was that we now didn't have a Programmer for the season. And this is why my tenure as Classical Music Marketing Manager was so short. Once Peter had accepted his new job I was offered the newly-created role of Classical Music Manager - I'd lost one word from my job title but had gained a whole new set of responsibilities.

So, what'll I be doing now? Well, I'll still be marketing the season but I'll now be programming future seasons and liaising with orchestras, artists, artists' agents, the Royal Concert Hall staff and all our various partners to develop the season over the coming years.

Naturally, a change of programmer can bring anxiety that things might suddenly change - and not always for the better. And here, please can I reassure you? Peter's simple formula for concerts - the best orchestras we can get, with their Principal Conductors wherever possible, plus great soloists and, above all, with the right repertoire - has done great things for Nottingham Classics. Our audiences have grown by over 300 per concert on average and there's a real buzz about the place now. I'd be mad to move away from this - so I'm not going to. Hopefully you'll agree in 2009-10 that the season builds on what's been achieved over the last four years.

What I will be doing is to look at ways of giving you a bit more. I'd like to bring some more pre- and post-concert performance into the Concert Hall and to find ways of making classical music more accessible to more people. We're starting this on 16 June with our first ever Drivetime Concert, which will offer the chance to discover live orchestral music in a friendly introductory concert that lasts an hour from 6pm. the perfect opportunity to leave the traffic jams behind and go on a more exciting journey.

And there's going to be more stuff on the Nottingham Classics website, too. We're going to add more features and resources (including suggestions on what to listen to next, clips of music for special occasions, fun stuff (not necessarily always musical), podcasts and the chance to have your say on Nottingham Classics through this blog. I'm hoping to add video and audio content to the blog, too, to spice things up a bit. I'm just getting to grips with my webcam at the moment so before too long you can look forward (?!) to a few audio-visual contributions from me.

Hmmm. That sounds like a fair bit to do, so I'd better get on with it.

Bye for now,

Neil