Peter Cigleris, Deian Rowlands, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Palmer
Biographie Peter Cigleris, Deian Rowlands, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Palmer
Peter Cigleris
studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire from 1997 where his professors were Michael Harris and Colin Parr. Whilst at the Conservatoire, Peter won the prestigious John Ireland Chamber music award with a performance of that composer’s Fantasy Sonata. He was also awarded a place on the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Training Scheme. At the Conservatoire Peter performed numerous concertos with the college’s ensembles, he also developed an interest in early clarinets, which led to a performance with the Conservatoire’s Baroque Capelle Orchestra with the Chalumeau Concerto by Fasch. Peter also premiered Guy Woolfenden’s arrangement of Malcolm Arnold’s Pre-Goodman Rag for wind ensemble; he later performed the complete Arnold Concerto with the Warwickshire Symphony under Guy Woolfenden as part of the composer’s eightieth birthday celebrations.
Peter went on to graduate from the Royal College of Music in 2002 with a PGDip. There his professors were Janet Hilton, Richard Hosford, Robert Hill and Tim Lines. During the summer of that year, Peter was awarded the Prix de Fossat and was invited to France to perform for Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark at a private reception.
As soloist he has performed in many venues across the UK and Europe and premiered several new works for the instrument as well as giving performances of concertos by Mozart, Weber, Finzi and Arnold to name a few.”
Deian Rowlands
Welsh harpist Deian Rowlands studied at Wells Cathedral School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Manon Morris, Bryn Lewis and Ann Griffiths, where he was awarded scholarships by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Arts Council of Wales, Craxton Memorial Fund, The Leverhulme Trust, S4C, and the Open Instrumental Blue Ribbon at the 2002 National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Deian has established a career as a versatile harpist working in most genres of music. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician all over the UK as well as in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA. He made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2002 with Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro and has performed as soloist with the London Chamber Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra on BBC Radio 2 and at the BBC Proms. Early in his career, Deian was part of Live Music Now! where he performed at many of the UK’s music festivals and the BBC Proms. In 2006 he was invited by HRH the Prince of Wales to entertain the Royal Family on the occasion of the Queen’s 80th Birthday at Kew Palace.
He regularly performs with the country’s leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, with whom he has toured the majority of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Central and North America. Deian has also held the harp seat for West End productions of South Pacific (Lincoln Centre production at the Barbican) and 42nd Street (Theatre Royal Drury Lane). In the recording studio, Deian has worked on many TV, film and commercial soundtracks, and was a featured artist on Joby Talbot’s Tide Harmonic (Signum). He has also featured on recordings with Renée Fleming (Decca) and Emma Johnson (Nimbus) as well as recording with artists including Sam Smith and Jazz trumpeter James Morrison.
An enthusiastic performer of new works, he has commissioned and premiered works by John Metcalf (Three Miniatures for flute and harp), Ben Ellin (Harp Concerto), Eric Crees (Three Sketches of Rackham) and Kieron Galliard (Ensueno Espagnol). In 2014, Deian was the harpist for Taliesin Arts Centre’s highly acclaimed production of Under Milk Wood – An Opera by John Metcalf. Deian also works as a composer and arranger and has written several library albums for Brilliant Music, Cues4U and West One Music Group.
Ben Palmer
is Artistic Director of OSP (the Orchestra of St Paul's) and chamber choir The Syred Consort, and is in demand as a guest conductor throughout the UK and abroad. Acclaimed for his innovative and imaginative programming, he is increasingly gaining recognition as an inspiring and versatile conductor. During the 2016/17 season he will make his debuts with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, the BBC Singers (a live broadcast as part of Pass the Baton, celebrating the BBC performing groups), the Orquestra Clássica do Sul and the Janus Ensemble, act as rehearsal conductor for Bernard Haitink, and return to conduct the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, Oxford University Orchestra and the Royal College of Music Classical Orchestra. His recent guest conducting work includes appearances with Aurora Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, the Royal College of Music Classical Orchestra (replacing Sir Roger Norrington at short notice), the RCM Philharmonic, the London Mozart Players, Southern Sinfonia, the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra and the Kharkov Philharmonic Orchestra. Other orchestras he has conducted include the Gabrieli Consort & Players and Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra (whilst acting as assistant to Paul McCreesh for a recording of Haydn’s The Seasons), Britten Sinfonia and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Since 2011 he has worked closely with Sir Roger Norrington, acting as his assistant conductor for concerts, recordings, on tour and at the BBC Proms.
Ben Palmer has made a speciality of conducting films live to screen, with performances of Casablanca, Hitchcock’s Psycho, Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, Peter and the Wolf, and The Snowman, in venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Roundhouse, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, and Barbican Centre’s Milton Court. Future film-with-orchestra engagements include the premieres of London Symphony, a new silent film by Alex Barrett with music by James McWilliam, and Neil Brand’s new score for Hitchcock’s The Lodger, Laura Rossi’s The Battle of the Somme, and further screenings of The Snowman.
In 2015 he released a critically acclaimed disc of music for strings with OSP, featuring premiere recordings of Elgar, Malcolm Arnold and Robert Simpson. His recent CD of music by Antonio Lotti with The Syred Consort and OSP was chosen as the BBC Radio 3 Record Review Disc of the Week, and entered the Specialist Classical Chart at No. 2. He is principal conductor of London Haydn Project, musical director of Aylesbury Symphony Orchestra and Woking Choral Society, and is regularly invited to work with some of the UK’s leading amateur orchestras. His opera work includes productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Dido and Aeneas, and Die Fledermaus.
In addition to his work as a conductor, Ben Palmer is in demand as a composer, arranger and orchestrator. Recent commissions include the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, the Haydn Society of Great Britain, Woking Choral Society, the English Music Festival and London Russian Ballet School. His music has been performed by such ensembles as Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the City of London Sinfonia and the Fibonacci Sequence, in venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square, and as far afield as South Korea.
A trumpeter and composer by training, he studied music at the University of Birmingham, graduating with first class honours in 2003. He stayed on at Birmingham to complete an MPhil in composition with Vic Hoyland, before moving to London in 2005 to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Simon Bainbridge. He is more than halfway through his lifetime am
