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Chambers, Rebecca

Violist who had her coming-out party when she performed the “Viola Concerto” by William Walton in tandem with the Bournemouth Philharmonic Society in the late summer of 2001.

On 11th January 2002, the Tippett String Quartet, which comprised Rebecca as well as violinists Alison Dods and Patrick Savage and cellist Bozidar Vukotic, performed a program of contemporary music at the Purcell Room in London, England.  Rebecca shone on “Songs and Dances from a Haunted Place” by Martin Butler and “Two Movements for String Quartet” by Simon Holt.

On 13th June 2002, Rebecca and Patrick joined forces with cellist Wen Jeng Chen, pianist Julian Gallant and violinists Grigori and Yuri Zhislin for Ernest Chausson’s “Concerto for Piano, Violin and Quartet”, George Gershwin’s  “Bess” and “Tempo di Blues”, Sergei Prokofiev’s “Sonata No. 2”, and Franz Schubert’s “Rondo D895”.

Rebecca was the featured soloist on 4th December 2004 when the Dorset Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Robert Jacoby, performed Harold in Italy by Hector Berlioz at St. Mary’s Church in Dorchester, England.

On 29th November 2005, Rebecca and violinists Justin Jones and Gideon Robinson, clarinetist Mark van de Wiel and cellist Katharine Wood entertained at the Philharmonia’s pre-concert recital at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, England.  Their program consisted of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581” and “Flute Quartet in D” and Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Four Waltzes for Flute, Clarinet & Piano”.  The main concert featured Mozart’s “Symphony No. 35 in D, K. 385” (“Haffner”) and three concert arias sung by Barbara Bonney, and Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54”.

On 5th October 2006, Rebecca and other Philharmonia musicians interpreted Wolfgang Rihm’s “Chiffre I”, “In Frage” and “Kalt” at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Rebecca and clarinetist Barnaby Robson, organist Thomas Trotter, harpists Lucy Wakeford and Hugh Webb and Mark van de Wiel, this time on basset horn, appeared at De Montfort Hall on 3rd June 2007.  Their recital included:  “Brandenburg Concerto No. 6” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Concerto for Two Harps and Orchestra” by Jean Francaix; “Fanfare” from Le Peri by Paul Dukas; “Konzertstuck No. 1” by Felix Mendelssohn; and, “Symphony No. 3” (“Organ”) by Camille Saint-Saens.

On 22nd May 2008, Rebecca and fellow violist Nicholas Bootiman, violinists Emily Davis and Maya Iwabuchi and cellist Sally Pendlebury provided the Philharmonia’s pre-concert entertainment with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Phantasy Quintet” and “String Quartet No. 1 in G minor” at Royal Festival Hall in London, England.  The concert boasted Vaughan Williams’ “Symphony No. 1” (“A Sea Symphony”) and “Symphony No. 7” (“Sinfonia Antarctica”, along with special guests, baritone Gerald Finley, soprano Susan Gritton, conductor Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Chorus.

On 13th March 2009, the Philharmonia was joined by pianist Mitsuko Uchida for Arnold Schoenberg’s “Konzert fur Klavier und Orchester op. 42” on an evening that was capped off by Gustav Mahler’s “Sinfonie Nr. 9 D-Dur”.

Rebecca, Maya and Nicholas teamed up with cellist David Cohen and violinist Philippe Honore appeared at the New Walk Museum & Art Gallery in Leicester, England, as part of their Lunchtime Concerts, for “String Quartet in F major” by Anton Bruckner.

In the spring of 2010, the Philharmonia and University of Leicester entered into an artistic partnership that would enable students to attend master classes by members of the orchestra.  Rebecca, along with trombonist Christian Jones, timpanist Andrew Smith, and fellow orchestra member James Williams, attended the launch.

On 11th January 2011, the Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted the Philharmonia in a performance of his own “Concerto para Violino e Orquestra”, with soloist Leila Josefowicz, on an evening rounded out by Bela Bartok’s “Musica para cordas, percussao e celesta, Sz 106” and Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” and “Ma mere l’Oye (suite)”.

Rebecca has also been a member of St. George’s Chamber Orchestra and more recently has been the Co-Principal Viola of the English National Opera ENO Orchestra.

Here’s the English National Opera Orchestra in a rehearsal of duet from Act II of Tristan & Isolde

Sources:

  1. https://www.eno.org/about/whos-who/orchestra/
  2. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-92358602.html
  3. http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=534
  4. http://www.uktw.co.uk/T01670971682/Concert/Grigori_ZhislinJulian_GallantYuri_ZhislinPatrick_SavageRebecca_ChambersWen_Jeng_Chen/
  5. http://www.nyvs.org/otherevents/worldwide/wwpast200405.html
  6. http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=3030
  7. http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/4november05/?listpaginatorid=&listpaginator_pageid=3
  8. http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2006/11nov_text.html
  9. http://soundex.co.uk/concerts/soloistsofthephilharmoniaorchestraholywellroom/
  10. http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=5880
  11. http://www.koelner-philharmonie.de/media/content/veranstaltung/programmheft/2009-03-13.pdf
  12. http://www.leicesterinternationalmusicfestival.org.uk/200910-lunchtimes/
  13. http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/features/2010-2019/2010/04/nparticle.2010-04-22.8103549440
  14. http://www.musica.gulbenkian.pt/2010_2011/files/00000000/00000051_0015.pdf
  15. http://www.instantencore.com/contributor/bio.aspx?CId=5136161