Ben Goldscheider horn
London Chamber Orchestra
Christopher Warren-Green conductor
Superstar Ben Goldscheider joins LCO to perform two outstanding works for French horn. It’s easy to see why Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto is one of his most enduringly popular works: full of cheerful tunes and upbeat accompaniments, the last movement must be one of the most recognisable melodies out there.
Ben also gives the London premiere of a new horn concerto by Gavin Higgins, a former horn player himself who has won a string of awards for his Concerto Grosso for Brass Band.
The concert opens with Elizabeth Maconchy’s Music for Strings, which has it all: a warm, sombre opening, a light and wispy second movement, a big old viola solo in the third movement and an extrovert, happy-go-lucky finale.
One of the most popular symphonies of all time – Sibelius’ Fifth – concludes the programme, so sit back and let the incredible musicians of the LCO, conducted by Christopher Warren-Green, transport you to a sparse and spectacular Nordic landscape.
We are extremely grateful to The Fidelio Charitable Trust and Vaughan Williams Foundation for their generous support of this concert.
About Ben
Nominated by the Barbican as an ECHO Rising Star for the 2021/22 season, Ben Goldscheider has given recitals at major concert halls across Europe including at the Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Pierre Boulez Saal, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Köln Philharmonie and Wigmore Hall, amongst others. Ben has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo and made his BBC Proms concerto debut in 2022 performing the Ethel Smyth Concerto for Horn and Violin with Elena Urioste and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kazuki Yamada.
In the 2023/24 season, Ben will premiere multiple new commissions for horn including concerti, solo and chamber works. Highlights include debuts and the world premiere performances of Gavin Higgins’ Horn Concerto with BBC National Orchestra of Wales in collaboration with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and the London Chamber Orchestra in addition to Huw Watkins’ Horn Concerto premiering with Britten Sinfonia in collaboration with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at the Köln Philharmonie.
His recordings include Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Brain on Three Worlds Records with newly commissioned pieces by Huw Watkins and Roxanna Panufnik and a solo concerto recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra featuring the works of Arnold, Schoenberg and Gipps conducted by Lee Reynolds. Ben also recorded the solo horn call from Wagner’s Siegfried with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
Ben is a member of the Boulez Ensemble and principal horn of the West-Eastern 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. In 2023, Ben was appointed Artist in Association at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
