About
Mark Heron is music director of the
Nottingham Philharmonic and Liverpool Mozart Orchestras, a member of
the conducting faculty at the Royal Northern College of Music, and
Director of Orchestras for the University of Manchester.
As a guest conductor he has worked with the BBC Philharmonic, Royal
Liverpool Philharmonic,
Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, Pori
Sinfonietta and many more.
Mark is a highly regarded as a conducting teacher, read more here.
Critics
"Sibelius's 7th symphony radiated total commitment and deep musical insight."
"under Mark Heron's scrupulous guidance, the character [of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring] seemed balletic through and through. Negotiating an ever changing pulse with resolve, they went on to catch both the vitality of he seasonal dances and the solemnity of primitive sacrifice. Simply awesome."
"Mark Heron led a soulful and passionate performance of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony. The sound of the orchestra was astonishing and the pianissimo section in the slow movement was all the more beautiful for its contrast to the relentless vigour called for by Brahms"
"...the Nottingham Philharmonic under Mark Heron seems to reach greater heights of orchestral virtuosity."
"This was
surely the best of the many orchestral collaborations seen at the
prestigious La Mar de Músicas festival. The brilliance of Toumani
Diabate of course made this possible, but it was as much due to the
Orchestra Sinfonica de la Region de Murcia directed by Mark Heron
who were outstanding in their sympathetic accompaniment."
Latest News
It was a huge pleasure to work with Heiner Goebbels, one of the most iconic living composers, in a 3 day festival of his work at the RNCM at the end of March.
Tune in to Radio 3 on Saturday 30th March at 2100 to hear a broadcast concert I recorded with the BBC Philharmonic last year. Works by David Horne, Gary Carpenter & Joe Duddell. Coming soon also on Radio 3 will be a concert with Psappha of music by Elizabeth Lutyens and Priaulx Rainier.
RNCM Conducting Weekend applications are now closed - 80 applications for 40 places. Why not study with me this summer as Sherborne Summer School, or watch this space for details of a course in Slovenia in July.
Congratulations to Emily Howard who has won a British Composer Award for Mesmerism, a work for solo piano and chamber orchestra which was commissioned by the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra and premiered by us in November 2011 with Alexandra Dariescu.
2013 Sherborne Summer School course details are now available. now been published. Click here to go to the Sherborne online brochure.
The latest RNCM Wind Orchestra recording is an outstanding disc of saxophone concerti with Rob Buckland and John Harle, featuring works by Andy Scott, Graham Fitkin, Michael Ball and Jacob ter Velduis. Available from Amazon and on iTunes soon.
I'm delighted to be working with Manchester's new music ensemble Psappha. They have a fantastic website with lots of video of live performances, and you can see a recording of Alasdair Nicholson's Punch! from our concert last month here.
Nice review of Nottingham Philharmonic Sibelius/ Nielsen/ Bartok programme here.
A very interesting new book about conducting (no, really) is Music as Alchemy by Tom Service. Rather than looking only at the maestro, Service explores the relationship between a handful of today's top conductors and their orchestras: what happens in rehearsal, what the players think, how the conductor puts the performance together etc. Well worth a read.
A bunch of reviews of my William Alwyn Naxos disc can be found here.
Congratulations to Jamie Phillips who has enjoyed spectacular recent successes. Finalist in the Nestle Salzburg Festival Young Conductor Award, taken on by leading agency Intermusica, and announced as a finalist in the Halle Orchestra Assistant conductor auditions - all within a week. Not bad for a 20 year old. Update: Jamie Phillips announced as the Hallé's new assistant conductor.
Another student going great guns is Duncan Ward who will be assisting Sir Simon Rattle in the Berlin Philharmoniker's upcoming concert performance of Die Walkurie and making his debut with Bamberg Symphoniker in June. In December Duncan was taken on by Askonas Holt. Also not bad for a 22 year old.
Comparatively almost over the hill at 26, Gergely Madaras completes his 2 year Junior Fellowship at the RNCM this summer. He has been awarded the inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Fellowship at ENO, and has also been signed by Askonas Holt.
It's a pleasure to be involved in their development.
Archive news items here.
Connect
