Old Ds Making Headlines
Simon Crawford-Phillips, Class of 1989, is developing an unusually diverse career as soloist, chamber musician and song accompanist. Studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London were followed by a Master’s Degree and Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he now holds a teaching position. Simon left Dolphin in 1989 for a music scholarship at Eton. At Dolphin he was an especially kind ‘Head Boy’, captain of the football and chess teams and leader in the orchestra. He has frequently returned in times of need over the years. A particularly romantic memory for Heather is the night of the Christmas play when there was a powercut in Hurst; Simon played the piano in the dark for 45 minutes until we got the generator going. During the 2005 season he performed a series of Beethoven Concertos with ViVA, the Orchestra of the East Midlands, Stravinsky’s Capriccio with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival and appeared at Wigmore Hall, the City of London and Chester Festivals. The forthcoming season includes concerto performances with Viva, the English Chamber Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In 2007 he will make his concerto debut in Japan with the NHK symphony orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert and record Shostakovich’s Second Concerto. He frequently works with singers including Emma Bell, Measha Bruggergosman, Alice Coote, James Gilchrist, Andrew Kennedy, and James Rutherford, and instrumentalists Emily Beynon, Natalie Clein, Colin Currie, Martin Frost, Janine Jansen, Pekka Kuusisto, Lawrence Power and Christian Poltera. He also appears regularly as a guest with the Nash Ensemble, the ECO chamber ensemble, Leopold String Trio, Dante and Royal String Quartets. As a founding member of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio he joined the BBC New Generation Artists scheme in 2000. In 2003 the Trio made their Carnegie Hall debut and appeared at major European Concert Halls as part of the ‘Rising Stars’ series. Over the last year their concerts have included debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie, Schwetzinger Festspiele and Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht. Following a South American tour last year the trio will tour Australia and New Zealand in 2007. The Trio has recorded for the NAXOS and BIS labels. In 2001 Simon Crawford-Phillips made his BBC Proms debut with his piano duo partner Philip Moore and in 2004 the Duo received a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship and were appointed Steinway Artists. Highlights over the last season have included debut concerts at the Concertgebouw, Barbican and Edinburgh Festival along with return visits to the Bridgewater Hall and Wigmore Hall. Future plans include a new Concerto for Two Pianos by the German composer Detlev Glanert, commissioned for the Duo, to be premiered with the BBCSO in March 2008. A performer at many of the European festivals, (Bath, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Mecklenburg, Montpelier, Obertsdorf, Oslo, Schwetzinger, Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein, Trondheim and Verbier) he has also been invited to the Open Chamber Music Sessions at Prussia Cove in Cornwall. In addition to radio and television broadcasts in Europe, Australia and Japan he has also recorded for the Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi, Signum and Deux-Elles CD labels. Simon also holds a teaching position at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama in Sweden and in May 2003 was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. |
