John Whitfield (conductor)

John Whitfield (born March 21, 1957) is a British musician and conductor from Darlington, England. Whitfield was educated at Chetham’s School of Music and Keble College, Oxford.

Conducting career

In 1980 Whitfield was one of the founding members of the Endymion Ensemble, which he has conducted at venues around the world. The ensemble is noted for its performances of modern classical music, particularly by British composers.

As a conductor he has toured for Arts Council Contemporary Music Network and performed at state occasions for Queen Elizabeth II, given numerous broadcasts and recordings for BBC radio 3, BBC 2 television, and ITV, and made recordings for EMI of Britten and Stravinsky.

In the past decade he has worked very closely as both assistant and pupil of Sir Charles Mackerras, whose generous guidance has been an inspiration and indeed a key to much of his music-making now.

He has conducted first performances and commissioned works from amongst others Harrison Birtwistle, Dominic Muldowney, Michael Nyman, Nigel Osborne, Giles Swayne, Judith Wier, and Mark Anthony Turnage.

Other Music-related Activities

Whitfield won several awards during his time playing the bassoon with the National Youth Orchestra. Before leaving Oxford he was invited in 1978 by Lillian Hochhauser to audition for Rudolph Barshai who immediately offered him the post of 1st bassoon with the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

As an orchestral player he has played for many famous conductors, and has been quoted as saying, “Learning scores from the inside of the orchestra at the hands of a master is a wonderful training!”

He has also edited performing editions of operas for the Royal Opera House and the English National Opera, and four Franz Lehár operettas for publication by Weinberger. Ralph Vaughan Williams Limited has recently given permission for the publication of his arrangement for wind instruments of Williams’s "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis".Fact|date=February 2007

Partial Discography

* "Dumbarton Oaks" - EMI (1988); conducting Endymion Ensemble; music of Igor Stravinsky.
* "Lichtbogen" - Finlandia FACD-361 (1989); conducting Endymion Ensemble; music of Kaija Saariaho.
* "Phaedra/Les Illuminations" - EMI (1995); conducting Endymion Ensemble; music of Benjamin Britten.

Awards

* Worshipful Company of Musicians Arthur Bulgin Medal
* National Youth Orchestra Lloyds Bank Award
* Silver Medal, Shell/London Symphony Orchestra Competition

External links

* [http://www.endymion.org.uk Endymion Ensemble] It appears from the site that Whitfield has not worked with Endymion since at least 2003.
* [http://www.maslink.co.uk/cvs/bassoons/whitfield(john).html Whitfield's listing at the Musician's Answering Service site]