Players
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Each of The Lost Book episode soundtracks were recorded by players from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Jane Atkins (viola), Peter Franks (trumpet) and Su-a Lee (cello) recorded Episode 1. Alison Mitchell (flute), Donald Gillan (cello) and Iain Sandilands (percussion) did the honours for episode 2. Episode 3 needed viola, cello and flute, so Jane, Su-a and Alison joined us again. For episode 4 it was flute, cello and percussion with Lost Book first-timer Janet Larsson on flute, Su-a and Iain. Episode 5 was back to viola, cello and flute but with a different team – Jane, Lost Book newbie (and SCO Principal Cellist) David Watkin, and Janet. Finally, in episode 6 we welcomed Mark Bailey (cello), Mike Bennett (trumpet) and Kathryn Jourdan (viola) to the project.
The Orchestra consists of 37 professional musicians. Many players in the Orchestra also regularly perform with other ensembles, making them an eclectic group of musicians with a diverse range of musical knowledge and interests.
Some of the SCO players perform with contemporary classical-fusion group Mr McFalls Chamber, who can be heard performing jazz and world music as often as they perform from the classical repertoire, and seven of the 37 players, known as the SCO LAB, experiment with improvisation away from the traditional concert platform.
Alison MitchellHailing originally from Melbourne, Alison Mitchell was appointed Principal Flute of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 2003.
Since leaving Australia to continue her studies in Basle with the renowned Swiss Flautist, Peter-Lukas Graf she has maintained a very successful professional career between Europe and Australia playing with many major orchestras on both continents.
Shortly after arriving in the UK, Alison was appointed to the position of Principal Flute with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera with whom she performed for 5 years before embarking on a freelance career dedicated to solo and chamber music performances.
From there, an opportunity arose for her to return to Australia to take up the position of Associate Principal Flute with the Sydney Symphony. During this seven year period with the Symphony, Alison also regularly performed as guest principal flute with the highly regarded Australian Chamber Orchestra and pursued a varied mix of chamber music, recordings, broadcasts for the ABC and solo recitals.
Since her return to Scotland as Principal Flute with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Alison performs and records regularly with SCO chamber ensembles and as a concerto soloist. Her performances have included Mozart’s Concertos in G and D, the Poulenc Sonata (orch. Berkeley), Concerto for Flute (1980) by Nigel Osborne, Cimarosa’s Concerto for 2 Flutes, Honegger’s Concerto da Camera for Flute and Cor anglais and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.4. Alison’s recording of Mozart’s Flute Concerto in G major with the SCO was released in 2006 on Linn records receiving glowing reviews. “Mitchell’s sound… is light, clear and freshly coloured with transparent precision and agility and refined musical grace.”(SydneyMorningHerald).
This summer Alison will perform Poulenc’s Sonata for flute and orchestra’s in the SCO’s Second Highland tour visiting Findhorn, Strathpeffer and Pitlochry.
As well as her work in Scotland, Alison has a continuing relationship with the Australian Chamber Orchestra as guest Principal Flute and tours with them regularly throughout Australia. In 2005 she joined with Angela Hewitt and the ACO to produce recordings and performances throughout Australia of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.5 and the Triple Concerto for flute, violin and piano. The highly acclaimed recording subsequently won many awards including Gramophone CD of the Month. She will be joining them again in November ‘09 for a tour of Australia.
Alongside her busy SCO schedule Alison performs as soloist and chamber musician, most notably, with Mr McFall’s Chamber and the Hebrides Ensemble, at the East Neuk festival where in 2009 she will perform with Kristian Zacharias, as guest soloist at the Bang on a Can Marathon at the Perth Concert Hall and most recently in recital at the RSAMD with pianist, Scott Mitchell.
She is also a lecturer in Flute at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and will be on the faculty of the Baltic Youth Philharmonic for their 2009 concert season.
One minute interview: Alison Mitchell
Occupation:
Principal Flute, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Where were you born?
Australia
Where do you live now?
Scotland
How many books are there on your shelves? (Approx.)
Loads!
What’s been the most fun thing about this project? (The first word of your answer must begin with L and the last word begin with B!)
Locating the ‘dots’ (musicians terminology for the music) for the second episode of the Lost Book!
Do you think that constraints are creative?
Constraints can help to direct your thoughts and free you up to be more creative.
Who do you think stole the book from the National Library?
Who knows?
Which book would you most hate to lose?
My dictionary.
Who’s your favourite fictional detective?
Alex Cross
Who’s your favourite fictional dog?
Whilst not a dog my favourite fictional animal is Paddington! I grew up on his stories.
Which book has affected you the most?
I can’t think of any one specific book.
When and where do you read the most?
In bed at night or in the morning.
Where’s your favourite ‘booky’ place?
The library!
What do you like most about a book apart from the story: its size, its smell, its cover, its…?
A book should have an arresting cover, be flexible, not too thick and have a clear typeface. I love the feel of a book and being able to take it with me anywhere.
For you what does a book lack the most – music, moving pictures, …?
a book needs nothing else but the reader’s imagination!
Have you ever used a book as a 1) doorstop, 2) missile, 3) an excuse not to do the washing up?
I’d say probably an excuse to get out of some sort of household chore.
Have you ever regarded a book as a friend, or indeed a monster?
I read to lose myself in another world so a book is definitely a friend.
David WatkinDavid Watkin was awarded both an Instrumental Award and a Choral Scholarship to St Catharine’s College Cambridge, where he read Music whilst also studying the cello with William Pleeth and singing with Kenneth Bowen.
Few other musicians have achieved prominence at the highest level in both ‘period instrument’ and ‘modern’ worlds: he is Principal Cello of the English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, and was Principal Cello of the Philharmonia for five years and of Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment before joining the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
David has revived the 18th-century practice of realising figured bass (improvising chordal accompaniments) on the cello and has used it in many recordings, including Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with Mackerras/SCO. He has written about this for Early Music and about performance practice for Cambridge University Press and The Strad.
David is a member of the Eroica Quartet which has astonished critics around the world with its radical performances of the music of the early Romantics. In particular they have worked together with Dr Clive Brown on the expressive implications of bowings and fingerings found in mid-19th-century editions. They have performed in major venues throughout Europe and the USA. Their recordings (for harmonia mundi usa) of the complete quartets of Mendelssohn and Schumann and a Beethoven disc have received much critical acclaim.
David has been a soloist with OAE at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Carnegie Hall, New York and has performed the Schumann Concerto with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and ORR at the Lincoln Center, New York, and recently with the SCO. Unaccompanied Bach has taken him all over Europe, from the Palace of Frederick the Great at Potsdam to the Prague Spring Festival. He has been a guest artist with, among others, Robert Levin, Fredericka von Stade and the Tokyo Quartet.
He has made a wide range of recordings including the Vivaldi Cello Sonatas with the King’s Consort (Hyperion) and, with OAE, Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante (Virgin) and (as soloist/director) a Vivaldi Cello Concerto (Linn).
David has given talks and classes and coached at conservatoires all over Europe. He has studied conducting on courses with George Hurst and Jorma Panula, and now works increasingly as a conductor, including performances of Bach Cantatas with students invited from the combined UK Colleges at South Creake, Norfolk, and a programme of Bach and Handel with Linden Baroque.
In 2008 he conducted a Mendelssohn programme performed by students at the Royal Academy of Music, directed the SCO in concerts throughout Scotland and on tour in Europe and conducted Edinburgh University Chamber Orchestra in a programme of Beethoven and Brahms.
Engagements in 2009 include concerts directing the Swedish Baroque Orchestra, a performance of Schubert’s C major Quintet with the Tokyo Quartet at Wigmore Hall and a return visit to the Library of Congress, Washington with the Eroica Quartet.
Donald GillanDonald Gillan joined the SCO in 2007. Before that he enjoyed a busy freelance career playing with chamber groups and orchestras including the Scottish, Paragon and Hebrides Ensembles, Northern Sinfonia, BBC SSO and Scottish Opera.
Donald studied with Eileen Croxford and William Pleeth as a scholarship student at the Royal College of Music where he won all the major cello prizes. After leaving the RCM, he won the Muriel Taylor Cello Prize which enabled him to continue post-graduate study with Emma Ferrand and Ralph Kirschbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Donald’s varied career has also included writing music and playing with theatre companies, recording solo cello for film soundtracks, and sessions with numerous pop/folk groups and singers. Tours abroad have taken him as far as Japan and Montreal and he has performed many of the major cello concertos with various orchestras.
Donald is a cello tutor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and he plays on an English cello by Thomas Dodd c.1815.
Iain SandilandsIain has performed and recorded extensively within a variety of genres and ensembles, including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Mr McFall’s Chamber, Paragon Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble and 7hings.
Festival appearances in 2008 included the BBC Proms with the BBC SSO, Edinburgh International Festival with the SCO, Celtic Connections with the Jenna Reid Band and Hydro Connect with The Moth & The Mirror.
A committed educator, he has worked as animateur and workshop leader for the Scottish Ensemble, BBC SSO, SCO, Perth Concert Hall, City Halls Glasgow and Children’s Classic Concerts. He currently tutors at St Mary’s Music School and Erskine Stewart’s Melville Schools in Edinburgh.
Jane AtkinsAt the age of four Jane started on the violin and two years later she gained a scholarship to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Whilst continuing her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno, Jane won both the 1988 London Philharmonic/Pioneer Young soloist of the Year and the Royal Overseas League competitions, gained second prize in the Lionel Tertis competition and won representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) in 1990.
Since her debut performing the Walton concerto with Kurt Sanderling and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1989, Jane has appeared as a soloist throughout the UK and Europe, performing with many orchestras, notably The Chamber Orchestra of Europe; The English Chamber and Ulster Orchestras; BBC Symphony; National Orchestra of Wales; the Dutch and Danish Radio orchestras; City of London and Northern Sinfonias; Orchestra of St John’s and the Brunnel Ensemble. As a recitalist Jane has toured Argentina twice and performed in all the major British festivals including Newbury, Harrogate, Cheltenham and Spitalfields.
Jane is committed to expanding the viola repertoire and has commissioned and performed many new works. Composers include Ib Norholm, John Woolrich, Diana Burrell and Andrew Toovey. In 2000 Jane gave the British premiere of Dialogue, a work for viola and strings by Jeremy Lubbock. Her contemporary recordings include Woolrich’s Ulysses Awakes, Diana Burrell’s Concerto and Tavenor’s, “Out of the Night”, for viola and Tenor. Her more recent recordings include the Teleman Viola concerto and the newly constructed Bach concerto, both recorded with the Adderbury Ensemble. In January 2007 Jane recorded “Rothko Chapel”, by Morton Feldman with James Wood and the New London Chamber Choir.
Jane was Principal viola in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe from 1996-2000 and since then has enjoyed a varied freelance career working as guest principal with the London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Garsington Opera. Before taking up her new position as Principal viola with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in August 2008 Jane was a professor at Trinity College of Music and a deputy teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Harrow School.
Peter FranksPeter is SCO Principal Trumpet.
Peter Franks studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he was taught by Bernard Brown and Raymond Simmons. He was a national finalist and London area winner in the 1979 Shell-LSO Scholarship Competition and later that year was awarded a bursary to join the National Centre for Orchestral Studies.
At the age of 22, Peter was appointed to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and was made Principal Trumpet three years later, in 1984. Peter has had the honour to perform and record with many distinguished conductors, both with the SCO and as guest principal with many other orchestras. As a soloist he has performed the Hummel concerto under the direction of Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Haydn with Carl Davis, an Edinburgh Festival performance of the Vivaldi Double Concerto, and in 1990 he gave the Scottish and London premieres of Strathclyde Concerto No 3 for Trumpet and Horn by Peter Maxwell-Davies, followed by the USA premiere in 1991.
Peter is also a founder member of SCO Brass, performing at venues throughout Scotland and, in particular, has a role to play in the development activities of the SCO. Watch out for ‘Giant’s Chaos’ in your local school. James MacMillan’s ‘Adam’s Rib’ and ‘They saw the stone had been rolled away’ have been recorded by SCO Brass and released on the BIS label.
Peter holds a teaching position at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and has a keen interest in arranging for brass and for woodwind ensembles, resulting in several publications.
Su-a LeeBorn in Seoul, Korea, Su-a was given a full-scholarship to attend Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester at the age of 9. She was then awarded a full-scholarship place to study with the late Harvey Shapiro at the Juilliard School in New York where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree.
Last year Su-a returned to New York to play a recital at Carnegie Hall as part of a piano trio.
Su-a has been a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since 1993 where she is also part of the experimental ‘Lab’ group and regularly participates in both the education and community outreach programmes.
Alongside other players in the SCO, Su-a was a founder member of the group Mr McFall’s Chamber which was formed to present classical music in new and inventive ways. They began as a string quartet playing avant-garde classical music in late-night club venues. After huge success, the group has expanded to include a wide range of performers playing diverse repertoires from cartoon classics, through progressive rock, jazz and tango nuevo. Recently they have performed the works of the late Celtic fusion pioneer Martyn Bennett; collaborated with Norwegian electronic jazz percussionist Thomas Stronen and are currently collaborating with the idiosyncratic Dundee poet Michael Marra.
Su-a is very much in demand as a musician outside the classical sphere, playing across the art forms and musical spectrum. She has played for Theatre, Dance and Film and performs regularly with Scotland’s Jazz and Folk luminaries.
She is no stranger to musical adventure and often engages in challenging and experimental projects pushing musical and performance boundaries. Her musical saw playing is fast-becoming a favourite with audiences.
Su-a’s performances have taken her all over the world from South America to the Arctic Circle. As well as playing in many of the world’s major concert halls, Su-a’s performances have found her in the most unorthodox and interesting locations including Japanese temples, circus tents and waterfalls! – to name but a few!
Su-a is looking forward to going to India to play with the Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.
Photography: Paul Hampton and Fraser Band
The Lost Book is an animated web series where you wrote the plot.
