Dec. 18, 2008 – Arts Alive presents Richard Ormrod, the acclaimed and accomplished British pianist, who will perform the first classical concert of the Tillett Gardens season at 8 p.m., on Feb. 11, 2009. If Ormrod's press notices from across Europe, the United States, Central and South America were not so filled with references to his impeccable classic training and rigorous technique, St. Thomians might be forgiven for thinking a rock star is coming, rather than a classical musician. For example, London critics have called his playing, "rousing," and "thrilling." From a California critic comes "Ormrod lifts off."
A musical prodigy, Ormrod cut his musical teeth at the age of ten on the music of Mozart. By the time he was 17, he had won five international competitions, the coveted artist-in-residence spot at the Aspen Music Festival for five seasons. He was featured in a television documentary on young musicians after winning the first prize in the Texaco Young Musicians Competition.
His musical training British institutions from the Welsh College of Music and Wells Cathedral School, where his musical education began, to King's College, Cambridge, and studies with a long list of piano impresarios. Now based in London, Ormrod serves on the faculty of the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Leipzig Hochschule fur Musik, as well as the University of Wales and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Ormrod's repertoire leans towards the traditional classical composers, yet his interpretations are winning praise. Stephen Walsh, former music critic of the London Observer, lauded his interpretive talent, calling him "one of the most literate pianists I know, in both the musical and more general senses." He has been hailed for his restraint and touch as well as his flourishes–all depending on the composer, but all well received. That facility and versatility with making the traditional new again may devolve from the pianist's long fascination with chamber music. Chamber music, where smaller venues and intricate interrelationships between instruments and artists require finely nuanced musicianship, has molded his formidable talent.
He has toured with several chamber music partners; in early 2008 he reprised his earlier United States tour with the Trio d"Archi di Praga Society. In 2009, he will join the Czech Nonet for their 85th Anniversary Season. He is also an alumnus of the Dorian Wind Quintet, which reprised their American tour three times. He credits his constant exposure to chamber music and its demands, which began in his student days, as broadening his musicianship enormously.
As a soloist, Ormrod has performed widely, including at some of Europe's most prestigious venues like Bournmouth and London's Barbican, where he debuted at the Beethoven Gala on New Year's Eve 2000 under the conductor David Parry. He repeated that appearance on New Year's Eve 2004. He has frequently performed as a soloist in the United Kingdom and toured internationally with the Czech Philharmonic Camber Orchestra in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Ormrod recorded and released his first CD, "Schubert's A Major Sonata, D 959," in 2001, and he has recently recorded the complete piano works of Frank Schmelzer. He has been broadcast live to 38 countries. Music lovers of St. Thomas can look forward to an evening of piano classics of virtually flawless technique and masterful interpretation from Richard Ormrod.
Tickets for the concert are $30, or $70, which includes the prix fixe dinner; reservations are recommended. Tickets are available at Tillett Gardens in the Tillett Gallery, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information or to make reservations, call 776-8566 or e-mail ArtsAlive@Tillett.net. The program is fund in part by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
