Conductors Over the Years
We are celebrating 70 years of making music and since 1954 we have been led by 13 different conductors. We've reached out to some of them to talk about their time with HSO and what they are doing now.
Olsi Qinami (Jan 2017 - March 2023)
Favourite programme: Although very difficult to choose, it has to be March 2019 when we performed the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony alongside Sibelius Finlandia, Ravel Pavane and Grieg Peer Gynt Suite No. 1.
Who has been your inspiration? I think there have been many conductors of the past, there hasn’t been just one (some of the names, Karajan, Kleiber, Furtwängler)
What are you up to now? Now I am working as a conductor at the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Albania, Music Director and conductor of the London City Philharmonic and I also started teaching conducting at the University of Arts in Albania. I also work with the National Opera of Slovenia, Opera Hong Kong, Fujian Symphony Orchestra in China and CEMAN Orchestra (Central European Music Academies Network) based in Trieste Italy.
A memorable moment: When we first started performing arias and scenes from operas for some of the summer concerts (Puccini La Boheme, arias and scenes from the Opera) also planning rehearsals through the COVID restrictions period and measuring the venue if we could all fit in for rehearsals with the social distancing.
Birthday message for the orchestra: I want to congratulate HSO on their incredible achievements and 70 years providing music-making to the local community since 1954 with a variety of programmes from Symphonic, Concertos to Opera. I was very happy and honoured to be Music Director of HSO for 6 years. I wish the orchestra all the best in the future and to continue providing orchestra music-making to local musicians and beyond.
Scott Wilson (May 2011 - July 2016)
Favourite programme: I’ve just looked back over the programs we did together and I’m astonished at their boldness and uniqueness. Every program contains such an exciting variety of music: what wonderful things we did together! (Of course, I was so lucky to have such ambitious players who were willing to explore unfamiliar territory in repertoire!). So, it’s hard to choose a favourite! But if pushed, I might choose 7th July 2012: Rossini: Overture Il Turco in Italia, Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No 2, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto. Our original soloist pulled out only a couple of days before the performance, and by chance violinist Jonathan Chan was recommended to me. He came, and following an utterly inspiring performance we kicked off a relationship with the orchestra that would also include the Brahms and Berg concertos.
In addition, I care deeply about Schoenberg’s music: any opportunity to perform it is a privilege. But, perhaps the players didn’t at the time realise that this piece was chosen specifically to train the orchestra to play beyond their known capacity; it was chosen to put the orchestra under strain in order that we might develop the technical ability of the orchestra. From my perspective, the ploy worked! And this performance opened the door to several more years of wonderful performances!
Who has been your inspiration? My inspiration to start conducting was the scores themselves. I still get a kick out of opening a new score. Frankly, it’s incredible that humans devised a way of notating sounds which when performed together create something beautiful and complex. Amazing!
What are you up to now? More than anything, my focus is my young family. We have a lovely life together in Brighton. My wife Becky and I are raising our beautiful daughters Winnie and Ottilie. Currently I am Director of the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship, Head of Orchestra Studies for the OAcademy, and in recent years I have conducted at Opera Holland Park, been Associate Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra, and Zander Fellow with the Boston Philharmonic.
A memorable moment: Our 60th Anniversary Concert was very memorable. We performed Elgar’s enormous first symphony, and I couldn’t be prouder that we commissioned and premiered ‘The Tongs and the Bones’ by the brilliant British composer John Woolrich. Needless to say though, the most important memories of my time with Hounslow Symphony Orchestra is of the people. It is such a wonderful group of kind, caring, thoughtful, and interesting individuals. I was lucky to spend those years with them.
Birthday message for the orchestra: To the Hounslow Symphony Orchestra – its members past and present, and its audience. Huge congratulations on your 70th Birthday! What a wonderful achievement for everyone involved, whether it is the organisation’s current caretakers, or those of the past. From personal experience, I know what a uniquely friendly, warm, and ambitious environment exists in this orchestra. It was a privilege to be a part of the orchestra for several years, and I’m delighted to see that the orchestra continues to grow and thrive. Warmest wishes to everyone – I have such fond memories. And wishing the orchestra so well into the future!
Jon Andrews (2002 - 2011)
Favourite programme: So many lovely ones to choose from, but I have very happy memories of a Haydn 104 where we’d got such lovely chamber playing and listening going that I opted out of conducting and played continuo as everyone was listening and responding to each other so well.
What are you up to now? Ah, the usual freelance mixture of stuff, but lots of opera, and lots of recordings of neglected but wonderful repertoire.
A memorable moment: At this distance, it tends to be the stressful moments that stay with you, but I saw Zoe Beyers recently, and remembered her stepping into the Tchaikovsky Violin concerto at extremely short notice – and doing a fabulous job!
Birthday message for the orchestra: Congratulations to everyone on making it to this milestone, but more importantly for keeping live music going over the last few years! It’s been a trying time and is going to continue to be for the arts I think, but the deep connections that music makes are more important than ever and the power to bring so much joy and happiness to audiences and players alike!
Nick Wilks (1986 - 1989)
What are you up to now? After leaving HSO Nick Wilks held a number of conducting posts including youth orchestras in Hounslow, Haringey and the Channel Islands. He was Musical Director of the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra (leading the first UK youth orchestra tour of South Africa after the fall of apartheid), New Youth Opera, and the Finchley Children’s Music Group (recording music by Britten as well as Charles Davidson as part of Naxos’s Milken Archive of Jewish American music). While Musical Director at Winchester College, Nick conducted the Winchester Symphony Orchestra and Winchester Music Club, directing repertoire ranging from Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 to new works by Francis Pott and William Cole.
Now based in Scotland, he is Musical Director of the Edinburgh Bach Choir and Paisley Sinfonia, and guest conducts the Glasgow Orchestral Society.
A memorable moment & favourite programme: Being appointed conductor of the Hounslow Symphony Orchestra while I was a conducting student at the Royal Academy of Music was my first conducting job, and gave HSO a unique place in my heart. I have many fond memories, but my first concert, with Chopin’s Second Piano Concert and Anthony Williams, was a particular privilege. So too was conducting Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, where that slow unfolding of the closing pages nearly blew the roof off with pent-up excitement in the concert. I made a complete pig’s ear of Brahms’ First Symphony, though. Not the orchestra’s fault, who covered my inexperience marvellously.
Robin Page (1977 - 1984/1985)
A musical highlight for the orchestra (from existing players) was Rachmaninov Symphony no. 2. Robin’s wife Liz led the Cello section for a while. HSO was joined by Surbiton Oratorio Society for Beethoven 9 and Mahler 2 in the 80s. (HSO will be performing Mahler 2 again next Spring (2025) with Zac Moxon’s Chiswick Choirs)
When I started it was still called the Heston and Isleworth Symphony Orchestra. I was responsible for the name change. The orchestra was struggling for numbers when I first came along but things gradually improved. One Monday’s early rehearsal had only 5 musicians turning up – we abandoned playing at half time and went to the pub. Strangely, the orchestra flourished socially as well as musically after that evening.
Favourite programme: There were many memorable concerts. One of the best was Mahler Symphony 2 one summer. It was a miracle it took place at all because of serious riots all over the place. Half the choir didn’t dare leave their homes and there were a few players missing too. But, despite everything, it was a pretty good concert – if ill-attended perforce!
A Memorable Moment: There were many memorable moments, though most are rather too personal to share, by and large. The most memorable character was Maurice Holman, the principle violist when I started, a retired Heathrow air-traffic controller. He used to chain-smoke during rehearsals (though not in the concerts) and the ash would gradually accumulate on his viola as the rehearsal progressed. A lovely fellow who spoke his mind. Once, I invited the composer David Bedford to a rehearsal for a “masterclass”. David Bedford tried to get the orchestra to improvise collactively but Maurice Holman would have none of it. I can’t repeat his language but the composer had a lot to think about regarding “New Music” and the like.
Who has been your inspiration? As an inspiration for the orchestra, Merrick Cottrell, the Chairman when I arrived, was very supportive of us all (and a great bloke!) – he was non-playing, week by week, but he was fine amateur pianist and he was a soloist in one concert, playing a Haydn Piano Concerto commendably well.
What are you up to now? My website will tell you about my professional conducting career. Hounslow gave me a vital and most enjoyable start. I was a post-graduate conducting student at the Royal Academy of Music in London when I first came to the HSO, Since those early days, I’ve conducted the LSO and RPO among many orchestras in the UK and had a full career, with lots of concerts in Europe and a few in the US. I’m still quite busy, though now semi-retired.