BBC Concert Orchestra & John Andrews
Biography BBC Concert Orchestra & John Andrews
Idunnu Münch
mezzo-soprano, born in Munich. Trained in ballet and music from an early age. Studied singing at the Munich Academy of Music. 2010 finalist in the national singing competition. Scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Society and the Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival. 2013 and 2014 engagement at the Salzburg Festival in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Der Rosenkavalier. Participation in opera productions such as Imeneo and Mariottes Salomé at the August Everding Theatre Academy. 2015 and 2016 invitation to Esterházy Castle in Eisenstadt. Collaboration with conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Franz Welser-Möst, Ulf Schirmer and many others, as well as with orchestras such as Camerata Salzburg, Munich Radio Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic. In 2015-2017, as a member of the Stuttgart Opera Studio, she performed the roles of Page (Salome), Tigerlily (Peter Pan), Maid (Jenufa), Berta (The Barber of Seville), Countess of Ceprano (Rigoletto), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro), Mary (Flying Dutchman) and Beggar Woman (Death in Venice). In 2017/18, Idunnu Münch can be seen as the Slave in the new production of Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini at the Opéra National du Rhin and as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at the Stuttgart Opera.
Ruby Hughes
Began her musical training as a cellist, graduated from the Guildhall School of Music, London, and studied singing at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts and the Royal College of Music, London. She has won numerous awards (including the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the London Handel Vocal Competition). Ruby Hughes is the daughter of the acclaimed Welsh ceramicist Elizabeth Fritsch. In 2009, she made her debut at the Theater an der Wien as Roggiero (Rossini's "Tancredi"), where she also performed the following year as Fortuna in Monteverdi's "L'Incoronazione di Poppea." She sang Euridice (Monteverdi "L'Orfeo") at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Narcissa (Haydn "Philemon and Baucis") at the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival, Sandrina (Haydn "L'infedeltà delusa") at the 2009 Potsdam Winter Opera, Rose Maurrant (Weill "Street Scene") at the 2010 Opéra de Toulon, and Orazia (Purcell "The Indian Queen") at the Schwetzingen Festival. In the UK, she has sung major roles at English National Opera, Garsington Opera, The Opera Group, Music Theatre Wales, and Scottish Opera, including Sir Jonathan Miller's acclaimed St. Matthew Passion at the National Theatre. She has a long list of concert conductors and has been invited to perform with renowned international orchestras and ensembles. Ruby Hughes is also a passionate lieder singer and works closely with pianists Julius Drake and Joseph Middleton. Her first solo album, "Nocturnal Variations," was released in 2016, featuring songs by Schubert, Mahler, Britten, and Berg. The same month saw the release of the CD "Purcell Songs" (Champs Hill). The recording "Heroines of Love and Loss" (BIS), dedicated to early female composers of the 17th century, won the Diapason d'Or. In 2018, she released the CD "Handel's Last Primadonna" (Chandos Records), dedicated to Giulia Frasi, Handel's lyrical muse (also Theodora). She made her US debut as a lieder singer in New York in 2015, followed by her first appearance at Carnegie Hall in 2017. Recent activities include a concert and recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Minnesota Symphony under Osmo Vanska, recitals at Wigmore Hall (world premiere of “Bright Travellers” by Helen Grime), Purcell’s “Fairy Queen” with the RIAS Chamber Choir, a performance at the Vienna Konzerthaus with “Quatuor Mosaiques” and a tour with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
Miwa Rosso
is originally from Nice. She studied the piano as well as the cello. After obtaining her cello diploma at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon , she continued her studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as at Trieste in Italy. Miwa participates in the name of productions and thus forges a close relationship with lyrical art and dance. At the same time, she collaborates in studio and on stage with names of composers of film music, of musical comedies and for albums of names of popular singers. Passionate about chamber music, she creates the piano and cello duo Leos.
John Andrews
was born in Nairobi in 1976 and brought up in Manchester. He came to orchestral music by a roundabout route via the intensely competitive Brass Band tradition, having been introduced to the tuba through his Local Authority’s peripatetic music service. He went on to study at Cambridge, graduating with a PhD in 2008. Passionate about keeping music available to the widest possible audience, John teaches on the Cambridge Music Hubs programme, and has lectured at the Elgar School of Music and the Blackheath Conservatoire. His gift for combining empathy and feel for both music and musicians with an ability to directly and powerfully communicate his ideas, together with his passion for locating music in its social and historical context, brings dynamism and warmth to his interpretations of both rare and classic repertoire.
The NSO is admired for both its versatility, its ability to communicate and to connect with audiences with virtuosity, commitment and passion. It was founded in the 1940’s and immediately became a significant recording orchestra. From the 1980’s the reputation and standing of the orchestra surged forwards, successfully performing and recording for audiences in a dynamic range of genres: Classical, Film and TV scores, West End and Broadways Musicals, accompanying celebrated international singers, all of which it continues to do to this day.
Justin Pearson, General Manager and Artistic Director of the NSO, said: ‘John Andrews is a conductor who is clearly going to enhance his growing reputation for versatility, musicality and energy. Musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra have immediately responded to his vision and have singled him out as a major charismatic talent. NSO look forward to working with John on range of innovative projects over coming years.’
In describing John, Matthew Scrivener, leader of NSO and English National Ballet Philharmonic added: ‘John Andrews is an excellent musician with integrity and clear direction and with whom it is a pleasure to work. He will be a great asset to the NSO and a fine complement to our Music Director, Anthony Inglis.’
Speaking about his new position, John Andrews said: ‘I am absolutely thrilled to be taking up this post with such a wonderful group of talented and versatile musicians. They are a delight to work with and I am looking forward to a rich and rewarding mixture of projects over the seasons to come.’
As Principal Guest Conductor, John will conduct both recording sessions and live concerts across a wide range of repertoire and styles.
