Renowned for its ‘rich string sound’ (The Times), English Sinfonia is one of the earliest established chamber orchestras in the UK. Founded in 1961, the orchestra’s close association in its early years with Sir Charles Groves produced many fine recordings, including a complete cycle of Schubert symphonies which won a recording of the year award.
Spanning almost six decades, the orchestra’s discography is rich in 20th century music of the British Isles, including both familiar and lesser-known works by Holst, Butterworth, Vaughan Williams and Bridge. Under the leadership of distinguished violinist Janice Graham, today’s orchestra is a versatile and flexible ensemble, formed of a core group of well-established players each at the height of their career, who as individuals perform music of many genres in a variety of settings, from symphonic and chamber music, opera and ballet to commercial music and film/tv soundtracks.
With its 60th anniversary on the horizon and Chris Hopkins as its newly appointed Principal Conductor, English Sinfonia continues its commitment to explore, discover and bring to life the musical landscape of the British Isles, alongside works from the classical canon.
“... with a musician like Graham at its helm, it’s no wonder the English Sinfonia has earned such a prominent place on the international music scene.”
Janice Graham, Leader and Artistic Director
Janice Graham has been the Leader of English Sinfonia since 1995 and was appointed Artistic Director in 2005. Janice studied at the Purcell School and at GSMD with David Takeno. She was the Gold medal winner of the LSO/Shell competition, won the string prize of the Royal Overseas League Competition and was awarded English Speaking Union and Julius Iserlis scholarships to study at Juilliard with Glenn Dicterow.
For 13 years she was Leader of the ENO orchestra and with them performed Meditation at Kenwood. Notable Opera productions include Jenufa, Rosenkavelier and Lulu. Her collaboration with Chris Hopkins at ENO led to her performing the Berg, Beethoven and Walton violin concertos with the Orchestra of the City in St James's Piccadilly.
Whilst Leader of BBC National Orchestra of Wales her solo appearances on radio 3 included the Britten, Neilson and Mendelssohn concertos, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and the Lark Ascending.
As Assistant Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra she took part in their Barbican chamber series appearing with Andre Previn and Yuri Bashmet. She has also appeared as guest leader of most of the UK’s orchestras. Her solo recordings include Dochnanyi’s second violin concerto (ASV) Delius first and second violin sonatas and Walton sonata (EMI) and Holst Song of the Night and double violin concerto (Naxos) She was a professor at the RCM from 1995-2010 and is currently a professor at the GSMD and a Governor of the Purcell School.
“The rich string sound that belies its size inspired by no less a leader than Janice Graham.”
Chris Hopkins, Principal Conductor
Equally at home on the concert stage as in the pit, conductor and pianist Chris Hopkins (‘suave and sensitive’, The Arts Desk) is engaged on a wide range of projects across many disciplines. Recently appointed principal conductor of the renowned English Sinfonia, he is also a frequent face at the London Coliseum: following from the success of his ENO debut conducting Iolanthe, he has since returned to conduct the Magic Flute and last year for the most recent revival of the legendary production of The Mikado (‘faultlessly conducted by the excellent Chris Hopkins’, London Theatre Reviews). Previously he has recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra, worked at the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne Opera, with Opera de Paris, Grange Festival Opera, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Crash Ensemble, WNO, NI Opera, HGO, Opera Holland Park, Wide Open Opera, Garsington Opera, Grange Park Opera, Opera Danube, London Mozart Players, and appeared at many festivals including Aldeburgh, Presteigne, and Latitude. He has performed throughout the UK, in the US, Asia and extensively in Europe as well as live and recorded appearances on BBC 1, Classic FM and BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4.
A long-term advocate for British music, Chris was the first post-graduate from the Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth (CHOMBEC) before continuing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Leverhulme and Elton John scholarships. He has premiered works by composers including Colin Matthews, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, David Matthews, Rob Keeley, Thomas Hyde, Detlev Glanert, Gilad Hochman and the Pet Shop Boys. He continues into a twelfth season as Musical Director of Orchestra of the City. Chris was honoured in 2013 to be made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Julia Graham, Cello
Julia studied as a music scholar & prize winner at the Purcell School, Royal Academy of Music & then the Royal College of Music, learning with Dame Florence Hooton, David Strange and Steven Doane, respectively.
As well as being a long standing member of English Sinfonia, Julia Graham has been the principal cellist for Matthew Bourne’s productions since 2015. She’s also principal of The London Concert Orchestra, with whom she’s performed many solos, most notably the famous solo by Tan Dun from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Chamber music is where Julia’s heart lies having performed with a range of groups in many venues including The Wigmore Hall & The Purcell Room, and with artists including Alison Balsom (trumpet), Vasko Vassilev (violin) and Alexei Volodin (piano). In the 2007 Brighton Festival, Julia’s performance of the Brahms cello sonatas with pianist Yoko Ono was nominated for the Best Classical Music Act.
Julia’s first position was with English National Opera before moving onto be the No.3 cello with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She then enjoyed some time in the world of the West End where she was the lead cellist for many shows including The Wizard of Oz, Evita & Miss Saigon.
Phil Harmer, Oboe
On Leaving the Royal College of Music in 1992 Philip was appointed principal oboe with the English Sinfonia. Many solo performances with the Sinfonia include performances of concertos by Strauss, Mozart, Boughton, Vivaldi and the Bach Double concerto with Janice Graham.
Other guest principal work includes the London Philharmonic for a season at Glyndebourne, the ROH Covent Garden, ENO, CBSO, Philharmonia, RPO, WNO and the BBC orchestras. As well as his position with the English Sinfonia, Philip was also made Co-Principal oboe with the English Chamber Orchestra (since 1999) and Principal oboe with Wexford Opera (since 2017).
Films and TV drama soundtrack also make up a large part of his work and include Atonement, Wolf Hall, Father Brown and Judge John Deed.
Teaching is a passion for Philip and he holds positions at Kings Canterbury and the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music and also has also frequently taught and given classes at the RCM, Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy.
In 2017 Philip was made an Hon Associate of the Royal Academy for his services to music.