Jonathan Freeman-Attwood and Iain Simcock
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood is a performer, writer, educator, recording producer and the 15th Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London. He studied at the University of Toronto and subsequently engaged in research at Christ Church, Oxford. Soon after, he became Dean of Undergraduate Studies at the Academy, where he led a pioneering new degree course in performance studies under the aegis of King's College London. In 1997, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, in 2001 a personal chair in his conferment as a Professor of the University of London, and in 2009 he became a Fellow of King's College London.
As a trumpet player, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood has performed and recorded both as a soloist and as a member of various ensembles. He has attracted plaudits from the press for his solo recordings, which include discs of Baroque trumpet and organ music, sonatas, suites and concertos (by Albinoni and his contemporaries) and 'Bach Connections' - a trumpet and organ programme which 'threads' its way from Bach through to the late 20th century - both of which are found on Magnatune. With John Wallace, in 2004, he released a disc of works by Rheinberger, Strauss and Elgar entitled 'The Trumpets that Time Forgot' (Linn Records), heralding a series of recordings exploring ways in which the trumpet can, retrospectively, be 'written into' established traditions of mainstream solo and chamber music. The success of 'La Trompette Retrouvee' - in which he plays his re-working of Faure's Violin Sonata No. 2 in E minor - led to the award-winning 'Trumpet Masque' of unusual 17th-century 're-imaginings', described in Metro as 'extraordinary playing switching between fizzy fireworks and tender pathos with ease' and BBC Music Magazine as 'a decidedly unconventional and intelligently produced recital representing modern trumpet-playing and programming at its best'.
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood's career also extends to recording producer for many independent labels. Several of his productions have won major awards, including six Gramophone Awards for Ockeghem's Requiem with the Clerk's Group (ASV), Purcell's Fantazias (Simax) and Gibbons' 6-part Fantasias (AVIE) with Phantasm as well as Vivaldi's 'La Stravaganza' Concertos with Rachel Podger and L'Arte di Suonatore (Channel Classics). He has recorded all Bach's unaccompanied violin music with Podger and the accompanied sonatas with Trevor Pinnock (Channel Classics), the large-scale works of Byrd, Gibbons, Lawes and Jenkins with Phantasm, chamber recordings with Podger, Pinnock and Jonathan Manson, Tallis and Byrd with The Cardinall's Music (Hyperion) and miscellaneous discs for Naxos, Chandos and BIS.
He continues to be active as a critic, lecturer and contributor to many publications (most recently, the new Cambridge University Press's 'Companion to Recorded Music'), as well as for The New Grove (2nd edition) and he broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio 3. He is an established authority on Bach interpretation, particularly as it challenges and refocuses historical perspectives on 'performance practices' and - in more pedagogical contexts - how recordings of the past can influence current priorities and tastes.
"outstanding playing which explores a dynamic range of lively dialogue and solo lyricism in virtuoso style" (Observer)
"playing notable for the beauty and freedom of line and lyrical phrasing, while the bravura is exhilarating" (Gramophone)
"Freeman-Attwood's masterful playing has been captured spectacularly" (Soundstage)
"Freeman-Attwood's tone is bright, clean and precise and he delivers performances of narrative elegance devoid of any in-your-face brassiness", (International Record Review)
"a project whose every facet declares itself handsomely devised and superbly realised" (BBC Music Magazine)
"we can applaud his clean-cut rhythmicality, his fine legato line, his musicianly moulding of phrases and his brilliant virtuosity" (Gramophone)
Jonathan also released Bach connections with Colm Carey on Magnatune.
Iain Simcock was organ scholar at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and Christ Church, Oxford, before being appointed Sub-Organist at Westminster Abbey and, for seven years, Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. He was the first British prize-winner in the Chartres International Organ Competition and studied with David Sanger in London and Jean Langlais in Paris.
He recorded several CDs for Hyperion Records with the choir of Westminster Cathedral as well as several solo organ recordings, including two Symphonies by Louis Vierne and notably the world premiere recording of Christus - A Passion Symphony for Organ by Francis Pott. During this period, recital tours took him all over Europe as well as to Australia. He also appeared regularly on BBC radio and television and played in two BBC Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. He gave many duo concerts during this time with Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (trumpet).
Since living in France, Iain has been professor of choral singing at the Conservatoire National in Angers and organist at the Abbey of Saint Pierre in Solesmes, whilst continuing his solo freelance career. He performed the complete organ works of Bach in Angers in 1996 recording a solo CD of highlights from the performances. He also performed all Bach's major harpsichord works including the Goldberg Variations on the famous Taskin harpsichord in the Russell collection at the Edinburgh Festival.
In 2000 Iain Simcock became Musical Director of the Maitrise de l'Academie Vocale de Paris, which he has built into the most ambitious choral project in France. The Maitrise travels increasingly, giving concerts of a vast repertoire of great choral music from Manchicourt to MacMillan. He also works with the opera houses in Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux, preparing young singers for roles in Britten A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Turn of the Screw, Debussy Pelleas et Melisande, Berlioz Damnation of Faust, Mozart Magic Flute and as assistant to Jane Glover and harpsichordist for Handel Jephtha.
