Ambassadors
London Music Masters is privileged to have American composer Elliott Carter, British percussionist Colin Currie, British violinist Anthony Marwood, and American violinist Tai Murray endorse its work. As well-regarded professional musicians, our Ambassadors represent the high standards to which both the LMM Award Holders and Bridge Project students aspire, acting as fantastic role models.
Elliott Carter | Composer
“Every child and adult has a natural affinity for music. Self-expression through singing, performing and improvising is a vital part of a child’s development. Composing opens them up to the new and adventurous: the infinite possibilities.”
Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, first composer to receive the United States National Medal of Arts, one of the few composers ever awarded Germany's Ernst Von Siemens Music Prize, and in 1988 made "Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the Government of France, Elliott Carter is internationally recognised as one of the leading American voices in classical music. He recently received the Prince Pierre Foundation Music Award, bestowed by the Principality of Monaco, and was one of a handful of living composers elected to the Classical Music Hall of Fame.
December 11, 2008 marked Carter’s 100th birthday, bringing salutes from performing organisations around the globe. The event launched major celebrations around the world, including dedicated festivals at the BBC Proms and at Tanglewood.
First encouraged toward a musical career by his friend and mentor Charles Ives, Carter was hailed by Igor Stravinsky for his Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano and two chamber orchestras which Stravinsky dubbed "masterpieces". Carter is still extraordinarily prolific at over 100 years of age.
www.boosey.com/composer/elliott+carter
Colin Currie | Percussionist
"I'm delighted to be part of LMM's ambitious and creative work for the many young musicians involved... LMM's work reaches out in very many ways and I'm proud of all that they achieve."
The soloist of choice for composers from Reich to Rautavaara, Colin Currie has been the driving force behind new percussion repertoire for more than a decade. Championing new music at the highest level, Currie has been soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra and London Philharmonic.
From his earliest years Currie forged a pioneering path in creating new music for percussion. Recent projects include premieres by composers such as Simon Holt, Kurt Schwertsik, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Jennifer Higdon, Alexander Goehr, and most recently Elliott Carter, whose double concerto Conversations Currie premiered with Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2011, conducted by Oliver Knussen. In 2000, he was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award for his inspirational role in contemporary music-making and he is Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre from the 2011/12 season onwards.
His CD of Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto, conducted by Marin Alsop with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, won a 2010 Grammy Award and in Spring 2012, his recording of Rautavaara’s Incantations with the Helsinki Philharmonic under John Storgårds will be released on the Ondine label.
Anthony Marwood | Violinist
"London Music Masters provides valuable career opportunities for exceptional young musicians, but with an inspired extra dimension - the chance for those musicians to act as role models to the next generation, and change lives by communicating the joy and importance of great music. All about inclusiveness, it is very special scheme and I am proud to be associated with it."
Anthony Marwood is one of the UK’s most distinguished violinists, and a frequent soloist with orchestras around the world. He has collaborated with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Marin Alsop, David Robertson, and Douglas Boyd. He was the Artistic Director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra from 2006 to 2011 and is a regular collaborator with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
A passionate advocate of new works and genre-bending presentations, Marwood has commissioned and premiered many new works. He enjoys a rich collaborative relationship with composer and conductor Thomas Adès who wrote his violin concerto “Concentric Paths” for him. His recording of the work, with Adès leading the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, was released by EMI to widespread critical acclaim. Anthony Marwood has made over 30 recordings for the Hyperion label; his next release in early 2012 will be a disc of concertos by Benjamin Britten.
Anthony Marwood is also a very sought-after chamber musician, performing every season at international chamber music festivals. He collaborates regularly with Steven Isserlis, Aleksandar Madzar, Martin Fröst, Natalie Clein and Michael Collins. He has also been the violinist of the acclaimed Florestan Trio, which will conclude 16 years of exceptional music-making with a celebratory Beethoven cycle at Wigmore Hall in January 2012. The Royal Philharmonic Society named Anthony Marwood ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ in 2006.
Tai Murray | Violinist
“As a professional violinist I am inspired by the existence of such an institution. With LMM's presence I am sure that the art form I know and love, music, will continue to inspire young people for centuries to come."
Violinist Tai Murray is a rising star of her generation, increasingly in demand for both orchestral and recital engagements.
‘Her performance, concentrated, fluent and poetic, was mesmerizing, at once vivid and seemingly belonging to a distant world.’ (The Strad)
Appreciated for her elegance and effortless ability, Tai creates a special bond with her public through her mature phrasing and subtle sweetness. Her programming reveals musical intelligence. Her sound, her sophisticated bowing and choice of vibrato remind us of her musical background and her studies, among others, with Yuval Yaron (a student of Gingold & Heifetz) and Franco Gulli. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2004, Tai Murray was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2008 through 2010.
Tai has performed on the stages of such halls as Berlin's Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall in London, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens, Shanghai’s Concert Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall and has collaborated with a wide range of conductors and instrumentalists including Marin Alsop, Richard Goode, Alan Gilbert, Kristian Järvi, Jaime Laredo, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Benjamin Schwarz, Mitsuko Uchida, and Mihaela Ursuleasa.
Other recent debuts include the Atlanta and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra as well as re-engagements with the Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras.
In Europe the London BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic London, BBC Scottish Symphony, Philharmonic Staatsorchester Mainz and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker invite her as a guest soloist.
She is also an avid duo recitalist including performing together with Lambert Orkis at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
A dedicated chamber musician, Tai Murray is a member of the conductor-less East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), partners in concert with Boston Symphony harpist emeritus Ann Hobson Pilot, has gone on tour numerous times with Musicians from Marlboro, and is an alumna of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society II (2004-2006).
Tai's debut recording for harmonia mundi of Eugene Ysaye's six sonatas for violin solo will be released during spring of 2012.
