Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Formed in 1958, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields had initially concentrated on repertoire from the Baroque era, developing a style of performance that launched the 1960’s Baroque revival. In 1997, the orchestra was invited to perform during the official handover celebrations in Hong Kong, and more recently, it was the first guest orchestra to appear at the Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.  Since 2002, the Academy has been the resident orchestra at the Mostly Mozart Festival at London’s Barbican Centre. Alongside its performances with Life President Sir Neville Marriner and Director Kenneth Sillito, the Academy now collaborates with a number of guest directors including Murray Perahia, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Anthony Marwood, Julia Fischer and Julian Rachlin. The orchestra maintains a busy schedule of international touring alongside its concerts and outreach work in the UK.

The orchestra’s literally record-breaking discography boasts well over 500 entries, making the Academy the most recorded chamber orchestra in the world.  The Academy is particularly well-known for its Mozart recordings with Sir Neville Marriner including the multi award winning soundtrack to the film ‘Amadeus’. More recently, the orchestra has won critical acclaim for its recordings of Bach Keyboard Concerti with pianist Murray Perahia, the Brahms and Stravinsky Violin Concerti with Hilary Hahn and Sir Neville Marriner, and concerti by Kurt Weill and Peteris Vasks with British violinist Anthony Marwood.  Thanks to this huge recorded catalogue and widespread radio coverage, the Academy’s name has become familiar to audiences across the globe.

Joshua Bell (violin)

“Bell is dazzling” Gramophone

For over two decades, Joshua Bell has been captivating audiences worldwide with his poetic musicality. He came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A Carnegie Hall debut, the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and a recording contract further confirmed his unique presence in the music world. Now in his thirties, Bell’s career is exceptionally varied. He is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra leader and his restless curiosity and multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting new directions, forging a unique career that has earned him the rare title of “classical music superstar.” In addition to his concert career, Bell enjoys chamber music collaborations with artists such as Pamela Frank, Steven Isserlis and Edgar Meyer as well as occasional collaborations with artists outside the classical arena, having shared the stage with Josh Groban, Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea, James Taylor and Sting.

Joshua Bell made his first recording at the age of 18, and he has an extensive catalogue of classical recordings resulting in a distinctive and wide-ranging body of work. For three years, Bell was deeply involved in the creation of John Corigliano’s Academy Award-winning score for the 1999 film The Red Violin, released on Sony Classical. Bell performed the virtuosic solos on the soundtrack and served as an advisor and stand-in in for the film. From the classical repertoire, Bell has made critically acclaimed recordings for Sony Classical of the concertos of Beethoven and Mendelssohn (both featuring his own cadenzas), and Sibelius and Goldmark, as well as the Grammy Award winning Nicholas Maw concerto. His Grammy-nominated recording Gershwin Fantasy premiered a new work for violin and orchestra based on themes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Its success led to an all-Bernstein recording (also a Grammy nominee) that included the premiere of the West Side Story Suite as well as a new recording of the composer’s Serenade. With the composer and double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, Bell appears on the Grammy-nominated crossover recording Short Trip Home and a disc of concert works by Meyer and the 19^th-century composer Giovanni Bottesini.

He was one of the first classical artists to have a music video air on VH1, and he has been the subject of a BBC Omnibus documentary. Bell has been profiled in publications ranging from Newsweek to People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People issue, Gramophone and The New York Times, which stated, “No one stands in Mr. Bell’s shadow.”
 

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven                        Overture: Coriolan (1807)

Felix Mendelssohn                              Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844)

Intermission

Ludwig van Beethoven                        Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (1812)

 
Ticket Prices:

Section A: €40 / €32 Friends and Concessions (Membership card must be shown at the Strovolos Municipal Theatre)

Section B: €30 / €24 Friends and Concessions (Membership card must be shown at the Strovolos Municipal Theatre)

*Ticket vouchers must be exchanged with a numbered ticket prior to the recital at the Strovolos Municipal Theatre

Tickets will be available 2 weeks prior to the concert and can be purchased from:

Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia
Tel: 22313010
Mon.- Fri. 10:00 - 13:00 / 16:00 - 18:00
Weekends closed *unless there is a concert on that evening.