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Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor

Soloist: Ruth Palmer
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Quartz
Cat. No.: QTZ2045

General Management:
Thomas Walton
London

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Benjamin Wallfisch Conductor

Benjamin Wallfisch studied conducting in London with Sir Charles Mackerras and Vernon Handley and in Germany with Bruno Weil. He was awarded First Prize in the 2001 British Reserve Insurance Conducting Competition with a unanimous vote from both Jury and Orchestra. At the age of 22, He was appointed Associate Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and between 2003 and 2005 was Assistant Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. During this time he assisted Vladimir Ashkenazy, Valery Gergiev, Edo de Waart and Leonard Slatkin and frequently conducted the NRPO in venues including the Concertgebouw, De Doelen Rotterdam and the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht and in numerous studio recordings.

Guest conducting engagements have included the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia and City of London Sinfonia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre de Bretagne, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and an appearance in the 2007 Mecklenburg Festival with the Weimar Staatskapelle. In recent seasons he has conducted the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra (on three separate occasions) and the Philharmonia, as well as making debut performances with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the 2009/10 season incuded his debut performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (at the Hollywood Bowl) and the Zagreb Philharmonic. He also recorded with the London Symphony and the English Chamber Orchestra, and appeared at the Krakow Film Music Festival. Future highlights include debut performances with the SW Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart and the Helsingborg Symphony.

Acclaimed by The Strad as "one of the finest accompanists anywhere on the podium", Benjamin has performed concerti with some of the world's finest soloists in including Evelyn Glennie, Freddy Kempf, Dame Felicity Lott, Branford Marsalis, Igor Oistrakh, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and John Williams. Of Benjamin's recent Quartz release of Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto with Ruth Palmer and the Philharmonia, Robert Matthew-Walker of International Record Review said "If I hear a greater record of Shostakovich's music this year, I shall be astonished".

Benjamin began composing at the age of 10 and since 1996 has received over 50 commissions for the concert hall, cinema, ballet and theatre. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2006 conducting the world première of Escape Velocity; the fourth work composed under his ongoing tenure as Associate Composer of the Orchestra of St. John's. His debut CD was released by Quartz in November 2006 to great critical acclaim and he signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Edition Peters in August 2006.

Born in London in 1979 Benjamin was awarded the Master of Music degree with Distinction in composition from the Royal Academy of Music, and graduated from the Joint Course of the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester with First Class Honours. His composition teachers have included Anthony Gilbert, Michael Finnissy, James MacMillan and Robert Saxton.

2010/11 season

This is for information only and should not be reproduced. Please see full biography for further details.