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Musical Director - Chris Hopkins
Having recently been appointed Musical Director of the Orchestra of the City, Chris is very active as a conductor. He has been invited to direct a range of ensembles including the Blaze Ensemble, Corinthians Chamber Orchestra, European Medics Symphony Orchestra, Weston Brass, and various other chamber and string orchestras. Directing the above he has given performances in venues such as St. John’s, Smith Square, the Royal Festival Hall, St. James’s Piccadilly, St. George’s, Bristol, as well as touring to Spain, Czech Republic, the UK, and appearing live on BBC radio.
He is also an accomplished violinist, leading productions of contemporary opera at the Arcola Theatre in London, and ‘Riverside Opera’ performances and has played with a number of orchestras, including the European Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. He is currently coming to the end of his postgraduate degree at the Royal Academy, supported by an Elton John Scholarship and is looking forward to another year ing with Royal Academy Opera. Throughout his education and career he has been generously supported by the Michael Badminton and Scarfe Charitable Trusts.
Leader - Rebecca Smith
Rebecca studied Economics at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where she was Leader of Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra, winner of Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition and holder of an Instrumental Award for Chamber Music. Following university, Rebecca spent four years working in investment banking in London, whilst playing as a founder member and co-leader of Orchestra of the City. In 2006, she moved to New York to pursue an MBA at Columbia University and became Principal Second Violin in the Musica Bella Orchestra of New York, performing the Bruch Violin Concerto with the ensemble in 2007. Rebecca returned to London a year ago and is delighted to be leading Orchestra of the City for the 2009-10 season.
Founder - Benjamin Bayl Since September 2006 Benjamin Bayl has been Assistant Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, working alongside Music Director Iván Fischer. He is also currently the Assistant Artistic Director of The Gabrieli Consort, collaborating with Paul McCreesh, and Music Director of Orchestra of the City since its foundation in 2003.
Recent conducting engagements have including his Spanish debut, conducting Hita’s Briseida at the Santiago Festival with La Grande Chapelle; Il mondo della luna for Iford Opera Festival; appearances with The Gabrieli Consort in their series at Christ Church Spitalfields; several concerts with Orchestra of the City, and concerts with The New London Orchestra, Guildford Philharmonic, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Belsize Baroque and London Chorus. He regularly conducts the Budapest Festival Orchestra in rehearsal, assisting not only Iván Fischer but also guest conductors. He also assisted Fischer with the OAE and Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra. In 2004 he conducted the European première of Sir John Tavener’s Lament for Jerusalem with Orchestra of the City and The Rodolfus Choir, to critical acclaim. Future conducting engagements include Orlando for Opera Australia in Melbourne, Handel Brockes Passion for Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland, guest directing The King’s Consort, and concerts with the Australian and Sydney Youth Orchestras for World Youth Day 2008, in the presence of the Pope. As an assistant conductor, he will work and play continuo for with Paul McCreesh (Tamerlano, Teatro Real Madrid), Trevor Pinnock (Orlando, Sydney), Richard Hickox (Così fan tutte, Sydney), Harry Bicket (L’incoronazione di Poppea, Liceu Barcelona), and Attilio Cremonesi (Juditha Triumphans, Sydney). Benjamin has worked widely in the world of opera and oratorio as an assistant conductor and continuo player, most recently with Richard Hickox (Giulio Cesare, Sydney Opera House); Harry Bicket (Fairy Queen, Aldeburgh and Ariodante, Barcelona); Paul McCreesh (The Creation, with Orquestra Nacional de Espana); Harry Christophers (Semele, Hercules and Ascanio in Alba, Buxton Festival and Dido & Aeneas, Barcelona); Laurence Cummings (King Arthur, Aldeburgh); Gary Cooper (Orlando,Sadler’s Wells); John Rutter, (Messiah, RPO); Christian Curnyn (Saul, Opera North) and Masaaki Suzuki. He also conducted The Little Magic Flute at Opera North. He was assistant conductor for British Youth Opera, making his conducting debut in the QEH with Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At the Guildhall he conducted Rossini’s La scala di seta. He joined the music staff of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden on Turandot, La forza del destino and La fanciulla del West with Antonio Pappano, and was repetiteur for the world première of1984, conducted and composed by Lorin Maazel; he will work again on the production at the new Palau de les Arts, Valencia in October. He has played with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera (Boris Godunov, Ariadne auf Naxos and Handel’s Alceste) and has been repetiteur for ENO and ETO. He assisted Gareth Jones onThe Mikado at ENO and was Chorus Master of Opera Holland Park in 2004 and 2005. He played for Sir Simon Rattle and the CBSO Chorus, in preparation for their recording of Mahler’s Symphony no.8. Benjamin founded and conducts the dynamic young early music ensemble, The Saraband Consort. With them he made his Wigmore Hall debut as part of The King’s Consort Young Artists’ Series, and they have also appeared in the Winchester and Cambridge Festivals and at the British Museum’s Michelangelo exhibition, as well as sellout performances of Monteverdi Vespers and Bach St.Matthew Passion in King’s College Cambridge. This year, a recording of Bach keyboard works arranged for the group is planned, as well as concerts in Bilbao and Croatia; they were recently Finalists in the York Early Music Competition. Elsewhere, Benjamin performs, tours and records with The Gabrieli Consort, The King’s Consort, The Sixteen, The Symphony of Harmony and Invention, The Monteverdi Choir, Ex Cathedra, His Majesties Sackbutts & Cornetts, BBC Singers, Polyphony, Northern Sinfonia, RPO, AAM, LSO and CBSO, appearing at festivals such as The Proms, Mostly Mozart at the Lincoln Centre New York, Ravinia and Aldeburgh.
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Rebecca Smith began learning the violin at four and won a specialist music scholarship to Wells Cathedral School three years later. Later, she studied at the Junior Department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she was Leader of the Junior Guildhall String Ensemble, winner of the Principal’s Prize and a finalist in the Lutine Prize competition. Rebecca performed with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the National Youth Chamber Orchestra.
Born in Sydney in 1978, Benjamin Bayl studied at King’s College Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar and from where he graduated with first class Honours. He then studied at The Guildhall School of Music and National Opera Studio as a repetiteur, Schola Cantorum Basel as a harpsichordist and The Royal Academy of Music as a conductor (Sir Charles MacKerras Scholarship), where his professors included Colin Metters, George Hurst and Sir Colin Davis; he also conducted in masterclasses with John Adams and Jorma Panula.Registered charity no: 1106325 |