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Our Conductor, Scott Wilson
Scott is a London-based freelance conductor, percussionist, and teacher. He is Music Director of the Hounslow Symphony Orchestra and the Imperial College String Ensemble, a founding member of the percussion group Sankorfa, and Head of Percussion at Dame Alice Owen’s School. As an instrumentalist he has performed with some of the United Kingdom’s leading ensembles and musicians. He was formerly both a Fellow in Conducting and an Artist in Residence at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Born in Australia, Scott moved to the United Kingdom to study at the Guildhall School. Following his completion of a First Class Honours degree he undertook a Masters in Advanced Musical Studies (Theory and Analysis and Performance Studies) at Royal Holloway, University of London. In addition to studying conducting, percussion, and musicology, Scott also studied piano, voice, and Italian. He is an alumnus of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Cheltenham Festival Academy and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra.
Scott has conducted works from every major period since the Baroque as well as a number of premieres. He is passionate about a wide repertoire, but is especially dedicated to the music of the Classical and early Romantic periods and the music of European and British composers of the first half of the 20 th Century. His recent performances have included Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme ‘Enigma’, Brahms’ Symphony no. 4, and Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony no. 1.
As a percussionist Scott performed Sofia Gubaidulina’s Galgenlieder à 3 at a Barbican Centre festival dedicated to that composer’s music and he performs the solo work Zyklus by Karlheinz Stockhausen. He has worked with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Philharmonia Orchestra, and at the Royal National Theatre. With Sankorfa – a former Ensemble in Residence at the Guildhall School – he has performed all of the major concert works for percussion ensemble. He also composed much of the music released on their first CD in between instruments.
Scott is a dedicated teacher—he currently has around fifteen students—and has given workshops for the Barbican Centre, Aldeburgh Young Musicians Programme, the Junior Departments of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Trinity College of Music..
Previous Conductor, Richard Jacklin
The orchestra has been conducted recently by Richard Jacklin, producing 4 very successful concerts. Richard has decided to move on and Scott Wilson will be taking over the baton for the next concert.
Previous Conductor, John Fryer
John Fryer left the viola section of ALO in the Spring term of 2004 to shoulder the burden of conducting the orchestra, which he did with imagination and distinction until December 2009. He rehearsed us with competence and kindness without frightening the more timid of us. John worked extremely hard for the orchestra: choice, supply, study and return of music, programme design and notes. One could not help noticing that, with such chores as setting up for concerts, he arrived early and behaved much more as a player than the conductor. It gives us great satisfaction to see him return to play with us as a viola.
