Royal College of Music
YMF, March 2005
THE RIGOTTI ENSEMBLE, one of the few flute, oboe and clarinet ensembles in the country, have been an established group since 2001. The Ensemble was formed whilst all three members were in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain - Katie Bedford was principal flute, Michael O'Donnell was principal cor anglais and James Meldrum was principal bass clarinet. The trio performed in informal concerts whilst on orchestra concerts and on the advice of professors of the NYO, they decided to pursue the ensemble seriously.
All three members of the Ensemble were awarded scholarships to the Royal College of Music whilst in their last year in the NYO. They gave their first public concert at the RCM in September 2002 and since then have performed regularly in and around London. The trio have received coaching from Gareth Hulse of London Winds and Janet Hilton, Head of Wind and Brass at the RCM and are frequently invited to perform to prospective students on Open Days for the College.
The Rigotti Ensemble are currently embarking on their first British tour with festival appearances all round England and Scotland planned, including a concert at the Perth Festival of the Arts alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Along with current bookings for British festivals, the Ensemble have also started developing educational outreach projects and have already commissioned two new works for this unique combination of instruments.
KATIE BEDFORD (flute) was born in 1984 and is currently a third year scholar at the Royal College of Music where she studies with Jaime Martin. She started playing the flute when she was 8 years old and passed her Grade 8 at the age of 11. At 13, she commenced lessons with Robin Soldan and continued with him until she went to the Royal College of Music. Katie made her concerto debut with the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra - with which she toured Europe and South Africa - playing the Nielsen flute concerto.
In 2001, Katie won the British Flute Society's 'Performance Plus' competition and in the same year she became principal flute in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. With the NYO and as principal of the Royal College of Music's Sinfonietta and Symphony Orchestra, Katie has worked under conductors such as Yan Pascal Tortelier, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrew Litton and Sir Simon Rattle; she has performed in some of the most prestigious concert venues in the world including the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. Katie has been accepted into the Stuttgart Festival Orchestra and in 2004 won a place in the European Union Youth Orchestra with whom she tours regularly.
MICHAEL O'DONNELL (oboe / cor anglais) is currently studying at the Royal College of Music where he is a Foundation Scholar. He took up the oboe at 13, studying with Philip Alexander for three years before gaining piano and oboe scholarships to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Junior Department where he was taught by Steven West. During these years, he played principal cor anglais with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and principal oboe in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the NYO of Great Britain Sinfonietta. As a soloist, Michael has performed both the Vaughan Williams and Cimarosa concertos at the National Association of Youth Orchestra festival in Edinburgh.
Michael moved to London in 2002 to study the oboe with Christopher Cowie and Gareth Hulse, the cor anglais with Jane Marshall and the piano with Simon Nicholls.
As an orchestral musician, Michael has appeared in most major concert halls around Europe, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Symphony Hall Birmingham and the Royal Albert Hall London., playing under Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Sir Roger Norrington and Sir Simon Rattle amongst other notable conductors. His orchestral experience has greatly increased during his time at the RCM; he recently played principal cor anglais in the RCM Symphony Orchestra under Bernhard Haitink and, as a result of this and other principal orchestral roles, he was awarded the Knights of the Round Table Prize by the Director of the RCM in December 2004.
A keen chamber musician, Michael has performed at various festivals across the UK including the Dorset, Thaxted and Cheltenham music festivals and will be embarking on a tour of Britain later this year.
JAMES MELDRUM (clarinet) is a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music, studying with Janet Hilton, Richard Hosford and Peter Davis. He has been a member of many ensembles and orchestras, including the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, performing in the finest concert halls in the UK and Europe. He won Suffolk Young Musician competition, and was runner-up in the East of England Young Musician competition in association with the City of London Sinfonia.
In 2003 and 2004, James joined members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to take part in the Thames Festival on the Victoria Embankment. As a chamber and orchestral musician, he has performed in the Cheltenham, Perth, Thaxted, Suffolk and Dorset festivals, the BBC Proms and Snape Proms, as well as performing live on BBC Radio 3 and on television.
He has played under the conductors Andrew Litton, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Simon Rattle and Bernhard Haitink, and has performed with the soprano Susan Daniel and Bruno Nicoli, the assistant musical director at La Scala Milan. As a soloist, James has given many recitals throughout the UK and in 2002 was the soloist in Weber's Concerto for Clarinet in F minor with the Suffolk Sinfonia under Harry Curtis.
James plays on a pair of Peter Eaton Elites made for him in 2001.