Catherine Wilmers
Catherine Wilmers by John Plumb
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 Ilga Pitkevica and Catherine Wilmers
Melbourn 2015
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An excerpt was broadcast on German Radio WDRCatherine has made a CD of lovely but neglected works by women composers from the last hundred years which was released worldwide by ASV. It received the rare Gold Award from the French recordings magazine ‘Diapason’ and was described as 'a remarkable disc' by the HMV website.
An excerpt from the CD, Dora Bright's polka a la Strauss was broadcast on January 4th 2020 on WDR3 (West Deutsche Rundfunk), the cultural channel that offers mostly classical , jazz and world music.
John Plumb painted a super picture of Catherine, see above, in 1980.
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/apr/25/usa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Plumb
She studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won several prizes, and later with André Navarra in Vienna. Her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall was awarded by the Incorporated Society of Musicians. The Times hailed her as an "eminently serious, musicianly artist of firmly projected tone, reliable intonation and positive attack". She was awarded Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room concerts by the R.A.M. and the Kirckman Concert Society (founded to promote young artists of exceptional talent). She gave the First performance of Ian Assersohn's Cello Concerto, and Mountain Airs by Sarah Rodgers (http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/sarahrodgers/) was dedicated to her in 1999.
She was Sub-principal cellist in English National Opera for two and a half years; performances included many Czech operas with Sir Charles Mackerras and seven Ring Cycles conducted by Reginald Goodall.
For 25 years she played in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, ten of them as sub-principal cellist. Rostropovich conducted her trial concert and was invited to make comments!
Highlights included taking part in recording ‘Lord of the Rings’, Monteverdi’s ‘Ulysses’ at Glyndebourne (solo cello continuo), ‘Porgy and Bess’ with Sir Simon Rattle and giving concerts with top conductors in Japan, China, Singapore, Australia, USA, Mexico and all over Europe. There was a scary moment when the Orchestra Manager told Catherine Sir Georg Solti wanted to see her in a rehearsal interval. It turned out that he wanted her to teach his daughter the cello.
Catherine was invited to play in the World Orchestra for Peace Prom in 2000, conducted by Valery Gergiev; and let's not forget the Royal Albert Hall concert when she was spotlighted playing a solo with Englebert Humperdinck!
As a chamber musician she gave the first London performance of Andrjez Panufnik's piano trio at the Wigmore Hall, and her work has included a Brahms series with the pianist Leslie Howard at the Purcell Room and chamber concerts with singers Sarah Walker and Yvonne Kenny at the Wigmore Hall in 1982. Daily Telegraph 'Catherine Wilmers caught the evocative, eastern touches in the music' (Berlioz La Captive with Sarah Walker).
Catherine has given recitals and broadcast for SLBC in Sri Lanka and many European countries as well as varied venues in Britain, for music clubs and societies, and for many charity fundraising events. She gave a live broadcast and interview on BBC Radio 3 relating to her CD, with the late Dame Thea King as pianist.
Catherine's CD was broadcast on WNYC Radio, New York's flagship public radio station.
Edith Vance (see photo below) was Catherine's first cello teacher and they used to race each other to school to get a longer lesson. She had been a pupil of Julius Klengel in Leipzig, so perhaps Klengel is Catherine's 'cello grandfather'.
Catherine was in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Ivey Dickson wrote to her in 1976 'I always felt you had an excellent talent and am glad you are getting opportunities to use it'.
Catherine particularly enjoys giving 'Magic Carpet' concerts for primary schools, as well as chamber music concerts and recitals.
She lives in Radwell, North Hertfordshire, with her husband Graham Kingsley and loves to grow yellow tomatoes, yellow courgettes, raspberries and giant thistles! They have two grown-up children, Heather and Martin who live in London. She tries to keep up with her amazing mother who teaches English as a foreign language in Cambridge, and never stops in her active life now into her 90s. Catherine loves travelling and she and Graham have had exciting visits to Romania, India, Uzbekistan and Cambodia.
Web links referring to Catherine's career:
www.lpo.org.uk/archive/behind.html - London Philharmonic Orchestra
www.worldorchestraforpeace.com - World Orchestra for Peace
An excerpt from the CD, Dora Bright's polka a la Strauss was broadcast on January 4th 2020 on WDR3 (West Deutsche Rundfunk), the cultural channel that offers mostly classical , jazz and world music.
John Plumb painted a super picture of Catherine, see above, in 1980.
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/apr/25/usa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Plumb
She studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won several prizes, and later with André Navarra in Vienna. Her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall was awarded by the Incorporated Society of Musicians. The Times hailed her as an "eminently serious, musicianly artist of firmly projected tone, reliable intonation and positive attack". She was awarded Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room concerts by the R.A.M. and the Kirckman Concert Society (founded to promote young artists of exceptional talent). She gave the First performance of Ian Assersohn's Cello Concerto, and Mountain Airs by Sarah Rodgers (http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/sarahrodgers/) was dedicated to her in 1999.
She was Sub-principal cellist in English National Opera for two and a half years; performances included many Czech operas with Sir Charles Mackerras and seven Ring Cycles conducted by Reginald Goodall.
For 25 years she played in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, ten of them as sub-principal cellist. Rostropovich conducted her trial concert and was invited to make comments!
Highlights included taking part in recording ‘Lord of the Rings’, Monteverdi’s ‘Ulysses’ at Glyndebourne (solo cello continuo), ‘Porgy and Bess’ with Sir Simon Rattle and giving concerts with top conductors in Japan, China, Singapore, Australia, USA, Mexico and all over Europe. There was a scary moment when the Orchestra Manager told Catherine Sir Georg Solti wanted to see her in a rehearsal interval. It turned out that he wanted her to teach his daughter the cello.
Catherine was invited to play in the World Orchestra for Peace Prom in 2000, conducted by Valery Gergiev; and let's not forget the Royal Albert Hall concert when she was spotlighted playing a solo with Englebert Humperdinck!
As a chamber musician she gave the first London performance of Andrjez Panufnik's piano trio at the Wigmore Hall, and her work has included a Brahms series with the pianist Leslie Howard at the Purcell Room and chamber concerts with singers Sarah Walker and Yvonne Kenny at the Wigmore Hall in 1982. Daily Telegraph 'Catherine Wilmers caught the evocative, eastern touches in the music' (Berlioz La Captive with Sarah Walker).
Catherine has given recitals and broadcast for SLBC in Sri Lanka and many European countries as well as varied venues in Britain, for music clubs and societies, and for many charity fundraising events. She gave a live broadcast and interview on BBC Radio 3 relating to her CD, with the late Dame Thea King as pianist.
Catherine's CD was broadcast on WNYC Radio, New York's flagship public radio station.
Edith Vance (see photo below) was Catherine's first cello teacher and they used to race each other to school to get a longer lesson. She had been a pupil of Julius Klengel in Leipzig, so perhaps Klengel is Catherine's 'cello grandfather'.
Catherine was in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Ivey Dickson wrote to her in 1976 'I always felt you had an excellent talent and am glad you are getting opportunities to use it'.
Catherine particularly enjoys giving 'Magic Carpet' concerts for primary schools, as well as chamber music concerts and recitals.
She lives in Radwell, North Hertfordshire, with her husband Graham Kingsley and loves to grow yellow tomatoes, yellow courgettes, raspberries and giant thistles! They have two grown-up children, Heather and Martin who live in London. She tries to keep up with her amazing mother who teaches English as a foreign language in Cambridge, and never stops in her active life now into her 90s. Catherine loves travelling and she and Graham have had exciting visits to Romania, India, Uzbekistan and Cambodia.
Web links referring to Catherine's career:
www.lpo.org.uk/archive/behind.html - London Philharmonic Orchestra
www.worldorchestraforpeace.com - World Orchestra for Peace
EDITH VANCE IN LEIPZIG, Catherine's first teacher