Whilst studying at the Guildhall school of Music & Drama I took conducting as a second study. My teacher was Alan Hazeldine (who unfortunately died recently after a long battle with cancer) who acted as a real inspiration both musically and later as a close colleague in the profession. My first conducting was to conduct performances of 'A Trial by Jury' and smaller works at my school leaving concert in 1990. After four years of study with Alan and gaining some technique, my conducting took a back seat until the Summer of 2007 when I was persuaded to direct one of my favourite pieces Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss. In 2008 I directed three performances of Metamorphosen in various parts of the Midlands coupling it with Glazunov's Saxophone Concerto and Elgar's sublime Serenade. In December I directed and conducted a study day in Nottingham of Metamorphosen where we also explored Dvorak's Serenade. In February sees me conducting two performances of Anton Bruckner's 7^th Symphony in its version for chamber ensemble of clarinet, Horn, string quintet, harmonium and piano 4 hands. This wonderful version was put together by three students of Arnold Shoenberg namely Eisler, Stein and Rankl. These performances will take place on Saturday 7^th February at St Peter's Church, Nottingham and at the Voice Box in Derby on Tuesday 10^th February.

SARABAND
St Peter's Church
Peter Palmer

There is no other music like it. And at least a strong inkling of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony could be gleaned from Saturday's pared down version for ten players: a string quintet plus clarinet and horn, reinforced by harmonium and piano four hands.
   The arrangement was made soon after the First World War. It was probably never played until 2000. Somebody quipped that Bruckner's cathedral of sound had been turned into a chapel. Fair enough; it remains worth the effort.
   Bruckner's last symphonies teeter on the brink of the beyond. The Seventh's elegiac Adagio was sparked off by premonitions of Wagner's death. While an entire Late Romantic orchestra couldn't be suggested in the reduction, it did underline the finer points of Bruckner's style.
   A master builder was still needed. Director Richard Jenkinson threw himself into his task whole-heartedly, with often impressive results.
   Robert Parker played a sublime horn. Other heroes and heroines of this matinée were Chris Harris, Len Jenkinson, Graham Gillham, Imogen Rex, Tony Morgan, Catherine Hocking, Peter Siepmann, Olga Shafikova and John Keys.
   The performance will be repeated at The Voice Box, Derby, tomorrow.