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John Rayson MA

 

John studied music at the University of Wales, Cardiff, gaining his B.Mus degree with 1st. Class Honours, winning the Morgan Lloyd Scholarship, later completing his MA in 20th Century Music Analysis.

John was for six years a viola player with the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. More recently pursuing a freelance career he has played for the orchestra of the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and for the orchestra of the Royal Ballet. He has played for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the orchestra of English National Ballet and the Orchestra of St.Johns, and has performed for the ensemble of the contemporary opera company Music Theatre Wales and for the ensemble of Nuremberg Pocket Opera Company.

Also successful as a chamber musician he has performed at London's Wigmore Hall and South Bank Centre, recorded for CD and broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and Channel 4 Television. John was a soloist in a performance of Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto directed by the late Lord Menuhin in Santander, Spain in 1994. More recently he performed again at the Wigmore Hall, London in the UK premier of the violin concerto by the Armenian composer Arutunian and also performed with the orchestra of Glyndebourne Touring Opera in the premiere of the opera "Tangier Tattoo" by the Scottish composer John Lunn. In January 2008 John was appointed visiting viola teacher and chamber music coach at Christ's Hospital School, Horsham, Sussex.

"...viola playing...as evocative as one could wish" The Strad

He has recently performed and recorded for CD the two piano quartets of Mozart with members of the the Arts Anglia Players and pianist Thomas McIntosh, and performed three of Hindemith's Sonatas for Unaccompanied Viola in successive chamber music weekends at the 2007 Hadleigh Summer Music Festival. October 2007 saw the premiere at the Ilkley Festival of a new composition for solo viola in a collaborative multi media performance for children devised by the award-winning poet and photographer Anneliese Emmans-Dean. "It's Buzzing!" is currently touring throughout the UK and performances for 2008 have included the Ledbury Poetry Festival, Howden Arts Festival and Seven Stories Childrens Centre in Tyneside. John will also perform music from the show at a solo recital at the 2008 Hadleigh Summer Music Festival, and a CD of the music will also be released shortly. To listen to a short sample track from the CD click here.

"...John Rayson's 'Fantasie'...was...a highlight..." Suffolk & Norfolk Life, October, 2009

Other compositions have been performed in a variety of venues and music clubs in London and the South East, the Midlands and South Wales. Several chamber music works were premiered at the "Music at the Mill" series at Roxwell Mill in Essex, his Wind Quintet was performed for the general public in the Lewisham Shopping Centre, South London, while his incidental music for "The Magic Mirror", a pantomime for children, was performed by the ensemble "Babysnakes" at the Steiner Theatre, London.

In October 2004 John completed a re-creation of the traditional tune "Home Sweet Home" for string quartet, harp and soprano, and the work was featured in a Gala Concert by the highly acclaimed Welsh string quartet "Celticana" at the Patti Theatre, Craig-y-Nos. In June 2005 his "Variations on a Traditional Norwegian Song" for two violas was performed by Fay Sweet and Maritza Bulcock in St Alfege's Church, Greenwich, London.

During 2009 John completed a substantial series of Haydn chamber music arrangements to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer's death, whilst future plans include new works for viola and piano, and furhter collaberative pieces with the poet Anneliese Emmans Dean.

"John's music was an exciting accompaniment." - The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York, July 2008

You can visit John Rayson's blog here.

Discography

In addtion to numerous symphonic and operatic recordings for LP, CD and DVD, John has also appeared as a featured artist on a number of chamber music recordings;

"Its' Buzzing!" - poems and photographs by the award-winning poet Anneliese Emmans Dean, with musical "stings" composed and performed by John Rayson, York 2008

Mozart Piano Quartets, Soloists from the Arts Anglia Players with pianistThomas McIntosh. Minstrel Productions, 2007.

Mana. Music by the Irish-American flautist/composer Justin Murphy. Recorded New Orleans, 1999.

The Comparative Anatomy of Angels. Music by Daniel Biro. London, 1997

Edmund Rubbra. The Four String Quartets, performed by the Sterling String Quartet. London, 1996.

The Rocky Road to Kansas, music by Robert Moran. London, 1994.

Frogdance. Music by Loll Coxhill. Cardiff, 1986.

 

Nicolas Cherniavsky

Cellist and arranger Nicolas Cherniavsky founded Galloway Music in 1996, and his popular arrangements for strings are now widely performed. Nicolas's extensive collection of Ragtime arrangements for string quartet are now available via the jasminmusic online catalogue.

For a more complete list of titles in the Galloway music catalogue please visit www.gallowaymusic.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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