For anyone still wondering whether to buy tickets for this Saturday’s recital at St Catherine’s Church in Ventnor, featuring world class violinist Richard Studt and friends (it’s being organised in order to raise funds for the Ventnor Piano Fund), perhaps this bit of background about Richard might help you make up your mind.
Tickets are still available for the evening performance which includes two hours of music with an hour interval when a finger buffet will be served.
Richard Studt, whose father owned the Gaiety at Ventnor, learnt the violin in Ventnor from the age of four. Since then, his fame has become worldwide.
He studied the violin at the Royal Academy of Music with Manoug Parikian, where he won the Bosie-Mendelssohn Scholarship, the Margorie Hewood Prize and the Recital Medal. He subsidised his student grant by playing on tours and recordings with many of the pop personalities of his era – Elton John, Roy Orbison, Lulu, The Hollies, the Beatles and Paul Johnson to name a few.
He played with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields for some 10 years before joining the London Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster in the late 70’s appearing as a guest of André Previn in his television series, ‘Previn & Friends’. He studied conducting with his friend Sir Simon Rattle and Sergiu Celibidache, the legendary Romanian conductor and in 1987 was appointed Director and Associate Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta; this he still directs under the name ‘The Sinfonietta’.
He has recorded extensively for Naxos, EMI and Guild and appears regularly on commercial recordings for films, television and advertisements. He has performed on many film scores including the Harry Potter films, Lord of the Rings, and TV productions like Jeeves and Wooster. He continues to conduct internationally, including the City of London Sinfonia, Danish Radio Sinfonietta, Athens Chamber Orchestra, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Hagen Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, National Orchestra of Ireland and recently the Mexico City Philharmonic. Richard plays his world famous 1727 Stradivarius violin known as the ‘Dolphus’, a rare chance to hear this instrument at close quarters.
A pretty impressive musical history, we’re sure you’d agree. If we’ve managed to sway your decision, tickets can be purchased from Ventnor Rare Books at 32 Pier Street (tel: 853706).
Oh, and don’t forget to say where you read about it.
