Various Artists - Les Noces de Feu
Biography Various Artists - Les Noces de Feu
Thomas Bowes
Tom’s recording of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas was released in 2018 on the Navona label to great critical acclaim, with Laurence Vittes in Gramophone Magazine noting it was ‘deeply human…unusually communicative…a succession of miracles.’ His ‘Bach Pilgrimage’ is a feature of every season and future events will take him all over the world. In 2019 Tom was given a ‘Sebastian Award’ by the Ars Ante Portas Civic Association of Bratislava, Slovakia for his ‘Extraordinary contribution in maintaining public appreciation of the work of JS Bach’.
His concerto appearances in the UK, Germany and the USA have included highly praised performances of concertos by Elgar, Britten, Szymanowski and Walton.
Navona also released Tom’s recording of the complete Ysaÿe Solo Sonatas in 2020. Critics noted a depth of interpretation and characterisation. The recording was nominated for the solo instrumental category of the International Classical Music Awards.
Between 1988 and 1993 Tom was the founding leader of the Maggini String Quartet and together with his wife, the composer and pianist Eleanor Alberga, formed the duo Double Exposure in 1995. The duo toured extensively with concerts and broadcasts in the USA and Europe and together they made a major tour of China in 1997, winning the hearts of their audiences wherever they played. They returned to China in November 2019.
Tom had been a constant advocate of Alberga’s music and has given first performances of many of her works including her two violin concertos. A world premiere recording of both concertos was released on the Lyrita label in February 2022 with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Joseph Swensen.
Between 2003 and 2015 Tom was the Artistic Director of the Langvad Chamber Music Jamboree in Denmark. More recently, with Alberga, he founded the annual music festival ‘Arcadia’ in north Herefordshire, England.
Tom is privileged to own and play a violin by one of the great Cremonese makers - a splendid 1659 Nicolo Amati.
He is very active in the realm of cinema, and millions have heard him on the soundtracks of his numerous (200+)
Gavin Greenaway
is a British Emmy® award-winning pianist, composer and conductor with an extensive catalogue of achievements: conducting over 100 feature film and television soundtracks, composing for major entertainment and cultural events, and producing and songwriting with chart-topping artists.
His career in the music industry began at Sir George Martin’s iconic Air Studios on Oxford Street where he assisted on a variety of projects including Elvis Costello’s seminal ‘Shipbuilding’ with the legendary Chet Baker. Following studies at Trinity College of Music, he quickly established himself as an in-demand composer for theatre, film and television.
Commissioned to compose ‘something incredible’ to accompany the nightly firework display at Disney World’s EPCOT, Florida he created the symphonic Reflections of Earth which played there every night for 20 years and went on to win an Emmy® Award. Greenaway contributed music to numerous movies as well as writing and producing songs with Bryan Adams and Trevor Horn for DreamWorks. Additional commissions followed for projects as diverse as the Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, to music for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in 2012.
Known for having the ‘best ears in the business’, Greenaway has fostered long-standing relationships with many of the world’s eminent music creators, conducting scores for the likes of Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, John Powell, Junkie XL, and Daft Punk, and albums for artists including Andrea Bocelli, George Michael and Sir Paul McCartney. In 2006, he was engaged by Sir Paul McCartney to conduct the world premiere his oratorio Ecce Cor Meum at the Royal Albert Hall in London and again for the US premier at Carnegie Hall in New York.
In recent years, he has been instrumental in bringing some of our best loved soundtracks to the live stage, including world premiere performances of the live-to-picture productions of Interstellar, Independence Day and Casino Royale.
In 2018, Greenaway was appointed Musical Director for The World of Hans Zimmer with concerts across Europe. Gavin, who Zimmer says he trusts ‘more than I trust myself’ conducts the large symphony orchestra and presents an immersive multi-media extravaganza.
