This is the final concert in a series celebrating the 70th birthday of pianist Julian Jacobson. He and conductor Peter Robinson met as students at Oxford in the 1960s and have remained firm friends ever since, but they have never performed together professionally. They have decided to remedy this by joining forces with the Brandenburg Sinfonia for a concert of Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Julian Jacobson is one of Britain's most creative and distinctive pianists, with an enormous repertoire covering all styles and periods. He studied at Queen's College Oxford and at the Royal College of Music, where he is now a Professor. He also teaches at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and in China and Taiwan. Julian has performed as soloist with many of the leading orchestras, with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Tamas Vasary, and is also a composer and chamber musician. He has performed ten cycles of the Beethoven piano sonatas, and is currently recording all 35 sonatas for Sleeveless Records.
"A disarming technique coupled with an undoubted intellectual mastery made Julian Jacobson's recital an awe-inspiring experience..." Daily Telegraph
Peter Robinson studied music at St John's College Oxford and is one of the UK's most experienced and versatile opera conductors, appearing with English National Opera, the Australian Opera, Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park. He was Artistic Director of British Youth Opera for eight years, and in addition to his work as a performer, he teaches at the National Opera Studio, the Guildhall School, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. On the concert platform, he has appeared with the LSO, LPO, RPO, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Halle.
"The hero of the evening was Peter Robinson, whose command of the score's colour and pace was complete, and he secured brilliantly responsive playing from the City of London Sinfonia...Indeed, it was hard to take your eyes off this outstanding conductor, as exceptional a technician as he is a musician."
Rodney Milnes, Opera, L'Amore dei Tre Re, Opera Holland Park
The Brandenburg Sinfonia has given many performances throughout the UK and overseas, visiting the USA, Russia, France, Bermuda, Barbados, Cyprus and Malta in recent years, and working with such international artists as Richard Bonynge, Yvonne Kenny, Emma Kirkby and Emanuel Hurwitz.