For the second year running, Queenswood was honoured to host a recital by the Principal Artist of the prestigious Hertfordshire Festival of Music.

On Thursday 9 June, horn player Ben Goldscheider and pianist Richard Uttley gave an astonishing performance of works from the classical repertoire, along with a new composition by Mark Simpson which was written especially for Ben and which received its debut at the Barbican last autumn.

Earlier in the day, Ben ran a masterclass for three highly talented young horn players – one of whom had travelled from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire especially for the occasion!

We are extremely proud of our association with the Hertfordshire Festival. Over the last two years we have been delighted to welcome such luminaries as violinists Tamsin Little and Chloe Hanslip, composers Judith Weir and James Francis Brown, and the much lamented conductor Tom Hammond, who founded the festival, and to whose memory Ben dedicated this week’s recital.

BEN GOLDSCHEIDER

Nominated by the Barbican as an ECHO Rising Star, this season Ben has given recitals at major concert halls including the Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Elbphilharmonie, Koln Philharmonie and LSO St. Lukes. He made his debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo at the Barbican performing Ruth Gipps Concerto, and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ed Gardner at the Royal Festival Hall performing the Knussen Concerto.

Highlights over the last year have included the release by Three Worlds Records of Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Brain, a solo concerto recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra and his debut at the Aldeburgh Festival.

Ben is a member of the Pierre Boulez Ensemble and principal horn of the West-East Divan Orchestra. He was a prize-winner at the 2019 YCAT International Auditions and a BBC Young Musician Concerto Finalist in 2016. Born in London, in 2020 Ben completed his studies with honours at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin with Radek Baborák.

RICHARD UTTLEY

Richard has been recognised for his ‘musical intelligence and pristine facility’ (International Record Review), ‘amazing decisiveness’, and ‘tumultuous performance’ (Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph). He studied at Clare College, Cambridge, graduating with a double first in Music, and then at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Martin Roscoe. He won the British Contemporary Piano Competition in 2006 and was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust International Auditions in 2011.

He has released three solo recital discs to critical acclaim and made numerous chamb er recordings. His playing has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC World Service, Classic FM, BBC Two, BBC Four, and Sky Arts. Significant recital appearances include Auditorium du Louvre, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Klangspuren Festival (Austria), Konzerthaus Berlin, Modulus Festival (Vancouver), Royal Festival Hall, Sage Gateshead, Wigmore Hall, and tours of China and Columbia.