Adrian Brown comes from a distinguished line of
pupils of
Sir Adrian Boult.
After
graduating from the Royal Academy of Music
in London
, he studied
with Sir Adrian with whom he worked for some years. He
remains the only British conductor to have reached the finals of
the
Karajan Conductors'
Competition and the
Berlin
Philharmonic was the first professional orchestra he conducted.
Sir Adrian said of his work: "He has always impressed me as a
musician of exceptional attainments who has all the right gifts and
ideas to make him a first class conductor".
In 1992 Adrian Brown was engaged to conduct one of the great
orchestras of the world, the
St. Petersburg
Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1998 he was invited to work with the
Camerata Salzburg, one of Europe's
foremost chamber orchestras at the invitation of
Sir Roger Norrington.
Adrian has conducted many leading British orchestras including the
City of Birmingham
Symphony, the
BBC
Symphony, the
BBC
Scottish Symphony and the
London
Sinfonietta. He is also a great proponent of contemporary music
and has several first performances to his credit.
Working
with young musicians has been an area where Adrian Brown has made a
singular contribution to the musical life of not only this country,
but also in Europe, in Japan
and the
Philippines
. He has been a frequent visitor to conduct
both the
National Youth
Orchestra of Great Britain, working closely with
Sir Colin Davis and Sir Roger Norrington, and
the
National Youth
Wind Orchestra. He regularly runs courses for young musicians
and his success in this general area was recognised when he was
given the Novello Award for Youth Orchestras at the 1989
Edinburgh Festival conducting Stoneleigh
Youth Orchestra with whom he has been Musical Director for
thirty-seven years.
He has returned to conduct at the Royal Academy of Music and has
been a regular chairman of the jury for the National Association of
Youth Orchestras' Conducting Competition. He took the Chair again
in January 2006.
In 1996 he went to Japan to work with the
Toyama Toho Academy Orchestra, a
visit that was received with much acclaim from all those with whom
he worked.
Many engagements have included performances of
Tippett's '
Child of Our Time',
Verdi's
Requiem and the works of
Berlioz,
Elgar
and
Vaughan Williams, all
much admired. He received rave reviews in '
The Guardian' for a performance of
Strauss's '
Feuersnot' with the Chelsea Opera Group and for
his '
Ein Heldenleben'.
He has performed
successful concerts with the Salomon Orchestra, returning to them
in February 2005 for a Concert at St. John's,
Smith Square
, performing British music including Tippett's
Concerto for Orchestra and receiving great acclamation for his
interpretation.
2005 saw many concerts of music celebrating the Centenary of Sir
Michael Tippett.
He also joined the panel of jury members of
Music for Youth as well as accepting
invitations to perform with the Isle of Wight Symphony, Bromley
Ecumenical Singers, Herts Philharmonia and toured Dresden
and Prague
.
2006
included performances of Shostakovitch with Suffolk Sinfonia in St. Edmundsbury
Cathedral
and LSO St. Lukes
; a return to Elgar/Payne Symphony No.3 in a concert of
Anthony Payne's work; the climax of
the Bromley Symphony Season was a stunning Mahler Third Symphony. He again
joined the Panel for the Making Music Awards.
In the summer of 2006
he conducted a Tour to Salzburg
for a Mozart
Festival with Stoneleigh Youth and in 2007 a Tour to Provence.
The 2007-8
Season saw concerts in Snape Maltings
celebrating the Elgar Anniversary, a performance of
'Hansel und Gretel', and engagements with Huntingdonshire
Phiharmonic and Southgate Symphony
(based near his home in North London). A
full season with Bromley Symphony of Elgar's
Second,
Bruckner Seventh,
Tchaikovsky Fourth and
Holst's '
The
Planets' was performed. 30 years of wonderful concerts with
Waveney Sinfonia were celebrated with their dedicated musicians and
audience.
For his 60th Birthday Year in 2009 Adrian has been appointed Music
Director of Huntingdonshire Philharmonic performing
Beethoven's
'Choral' Symphony and has
conducted many works on a 'celebration 'wish list' including
Sibelius'
Fourth and Mahler's
Ninth and Elgar's
First.
He also had a major
success conducting the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in
Vilnius
performing
Berlioz in a concert broadcast nationally. Bromley Symphony
honoured him with a 30th Anniversary/60th Birthday concert in
November.
Future
plans include a performance of Elgar's 'The Dream of Gerontius' in Ely Cathedral
with Hunts Phil, a debut with the Corinthian Orchestra and an
important lecture to the Berlioz Society.
Adrian Brown was one of a hundred musicians presented with a
prestigious
Classic FM Award at
their Tenth Birthday Honours Celebration in June 2002.
References