Julian Lloyd Webber | |
|---|---|
 Lloyd Webber performing in 2013 | |
| Born | (1951-04-14)14 April 1951 (age 73) |
| Alma mater | Royal College of Music |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | William Lloyd Webber |
| Relatives |
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Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solocellist, conductor and broadcaster, a formerprincipal ofRoyal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of theIn Harmony music education programme.
Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer and music educatorWilliam Lloyd Webber and his wife, Jean Johnstone (a piano teacher). He is the younger brother of the composerAndrew Lloyd Webber. The composerHerbert Howells was his godfather.[1][2] He won a scholarship to theRoyal College of Music in 1968 and completed his studies withPierre Fournier in Geneva in 1973.[3]
Lloyd Webber made his professional debut as a cellist at theQueen Elizabeth Hall, London, in September 1972 when he gave the first London performance of thecello concerto by SirArthur Bliss. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians, including conductorsYehudi Menuhin,Lorin Maazel,Neville Marriner,Georg Solti,Yevgeny Svetlanov,Mark Elder,Andrew Davis,Charles Mackerras andEsa-Pekka Salonen, pianistsClifford Curzon andMurray Perahia as well asStéphane Grappelli,Elton John andCleo Laine. He was described inThe Strad as the "doyen of British cellists".[4]
His many recordings include hisBRIT Award-winningElgarCello Concerto conducted by Yehudi Menuhin (chosen as the finest ever version byBBC Music Magazine),[5] theDvořákCello Concerto withVáclav Neumann and theCzech Philharmonic,Tchaikovsky'sRococo Variations with theLondon Symphony Orchestra underMaxim Shostakovich and a coupling ofBritten'sCello Symphony andWalton'sCello Concerto with SirNeville Marriner and theAcademy of St Martin in the Fields which was described as "beyond any rival" byEdward Greenfield inGramophone magazine,[6] He has also made several recordings of shorter pieces forUniversal Classics includingMade in England,Cello Moods,Cradle Song andEnglish Idyll.
Lloyd Webber has premiered the recordings of more than 50 works, inspiring new compositions for cello from composers as diverse asMalcolm Arnold (Fantasy for Cello, 1986, and Cello Concerto, 1989),Joaquín Rodrigo (Concierto como un divertimento, 1982)James MacMillan (Cello Sonata No. 2, 2001), andPhilip Glass (Cello Concerto, 2001). More recent concert performances have included four further works composed for Lloyd Webber –Michael Nyman's Double Concerto for Cello and Saxophone onBBC Television,Gavin Bryars's Concerto inSuntory Hall, Tokyo, Glass's Cello Concerto at the Beijing International Festival andEric Whitacre'sThe River Cam at theSouthbank Centre. His recording of the Glass concerto with theRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted byGerard Schwarz was released on Glass' Orange Mountain label in September 2005.
Other recordings includeThe Art of Julian Lloyd Webber (2011),Evening Songs (2012),A Tale of Two Cellos (2013),Vivaldi Concertos for Two Cellos together withJiaxin Cheng (2014) and his debut recording as a conductor of English music for stringsAnd the Bridge Is Love (2015).
In May 2009, Lloyd Webber was elected President of theElgar Society in succession toSir Adrian Boult,Lord Menuhin, andRichard Hickox.[7]
On 28 April 2014, Lloyd Webber announced his retirement from public performance as a cellist because of aherniated disc in his neck which reduced the power in his bow arm.[8] His final public performance as a cellist was on 2 May 2014 at theFestival Theatre, Malvern, with theEnglish Chamber Orchestra.
In September 2014, the charityLive Music Now announced Lloyd Webber as its public spokesman.[9]
In July 2015 Lloyd Webber was appointed Principal ofRoyal Birmingham Conservatoire.
In 2016 Lloyd Webber scripted and presented 'Classic Cellists at the BBC' forBBC TV[10] and in 2019, to commemorate the centenary of the first performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto in October 1919, Lloyd Webber scripted and presented 'Music in the Air: 100 years of Elgar's Cello Concerto' forClassic FM.[11]
In 2021 Lloyd Webber presented and scripted a five-part series forClassic FM in which he chose "30 under 30 of today's finest young musicians at a time when it has never been more difficult for them to show their talents on stage".[12][13] In November 2021Sky Arts screened the TV special "Classic FM's Rising Stars with Julian Lloyd Webber".[14] In July 2022 Lloyd Webber made a further selection of 30 Rising Stars together with Classic FM[15] and another Sky Arts special was shown in November 2022.[16] A third series of Rising Stars was announced by Classic FM in March 2023[17] and broadcast on 13 November 2023[18] In November 2023 Lloyd Webber was presented with the London Cello Society's Lifetime Achievement Award[19]
Demonstrating his long involvement with music education,[20] he formed the Music Education Consortium withJames Galway andEvelyn Glennie in 2003. As a result of successful and continuedlobbying by the Consortium, on 21 November 2007, the UK government announced an infusion of £332 million for music education.[21] In 2008, the British government invited Lloyd Webber to be chairman of itsIn Harmony programme which is based on the Venezuelan social programmeEl Sistema. The government-commissioned Henley Review of Music Education (2011) reported, "There is no doubt that they [the In Harmony projects] have delivered life-changing experiences." In July 2011 the founder of El Sistema in Venezuela,José Antonio Abreu, recognised In Harmony as part of the El Sistema worldwide network. Further, in November 2011 the British government announced additional support for In Harmony across England by extending funding from theDepartment for Education and adding funding fromArts Council England from 2012 to 2015. Lloyd Webber nowchairs the charity Sistema England. In October 2012 he led theIncorporated Society of Musicians[22] campaign against the implementation of theEnglish Baccalaureate which proposed to remove arts subjects from the core curriculum. In February 2013 the government withdrew its plans. Lloyd Webber has represented the arts sector on programmes such as BBC1'sQuestion Time,The Andrew Marr Show, BBC2'sNewsnight and BBC Radio 4'sToday,The World at One,PM,Front Row andThe World Tonight.
Lloyd Webber was part of the expert panel which produced the UK government's Model Music Curriculum in March 2021.[23]
He is a patron of the charity Quartet of Peace, which supports the further education of talented young South African musicians[citation needed], honorary patron of the Nucleo Project and an inaugural ambassador of the London Music Fund. He is also the patron ofGuildford County School and a patron of thePurcell School[24]
Lloyd Webber was appointed principal of theRoyal Birmingham Conservatoire in July 2015.[25] During his five-year tenure he oversaw the move to a new £57 million building on theBirmingham City University City Centre Campus and the merger of the Conservatoire with theBirmingham School of Acting. In September 2017 the Conservatoire received the Royal status byQueen Elizabeth II. In September 2020, in recognition of his tenure, Lloyd Webber was appointed Emeritus Professor of Performing Arts byBirmingham City University.[26][27][28][29]
Lloyd Webber received the Crystal Award at theWorld Economic Forum in 1998[30] and aClassic FM Red Award for outstanding services to music in 2005.[31] He won the Best British Classical Recording at the 1986Brit Awards for his recording of Elgar'sCello Concerto with SirYehudi Menuhin and theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra.[31] He was made a Fellow of theRoyal College of Music in 1994 and has received honorary doctorates from theUniversity of Hull,Plymouth University andThames Valley University.[31]
He is vice president of theDelius Society and a patron of Music in Hospitals[31] and the patron of the Elgar Festival[32] He has been an ambassador for thePrince's Trust for more than thirty years and a patron ofCLIC Sargent for more than thirty years.[31]
In May 2001, he was granted the firstbusker's licence on theLondon Underground.[33]
In September 2009 he joined the board of governors of theSouthbank Centre.[34] He was theFoundling Museum'sHandel Fellow for 2010. He was the only classical musician chosen to play at the2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[31]
On 16 April 2014 Lloyd Webber received theIncorporated Society of Musicians Distinguished Musician Award.[35]
Lloyd Webber was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2021 Birthday Honours for services to music.[36]
In 1974, aged 23, Lloyd Webber married Celia Ballantyne, a marriage that lasted 15 years.[37] In 1989 he married Zohra Mahmoud Ghazi, a great niece ofMohammed Zahir Shah,king of Afghanistan, with whom he had a son. His third marriage was to French-Algerian Kheira Bourahla. In 2009 he married fellow cellistJiaxin Cheng.[38] The couple have one daughter.[39]
He is a lifelong supporter ofLeyton Orient football club in east London.[40][41][42]
| Composer | Work | First performance |
|---|---|---|
| Malcolm Arnold | Fantasy for Cello | Wigmore Hall, London, December 1987 |
| Malcolm Arnold | Cello Concerto | Royal Festival Hall, London, March 1989 |
| Richard Rodney Bennett | Dream Sequence for Cello and Piano | Wigmore Hall, London, December 1994 |
| Frank Bridge | Scherzetto for Cello and Piano | Snape Maltings, April 1979 |
| Frank Bridge | Oration for Cello and Orchestra (1st public performance) | Bromsgrove Festival, Worcestershire, April 1979 |
| Gavin Bryars | Cello Concerto (Farewell to Philosophy) | Barbican Centre, London, November 1995 |
| Geoffrey Burgon | Six Studies for Solo Cello | Portsmouth Cathedral, June 1980 |
| John Dankworth | Fair Oak Fusion | Fair Oak, Sussex, July 1979 |
| Frederick Delius | Romance for Cello and Piano | Helsinki Festival, Finland, June 1976 |
| Edward Elgar | Romance for Cello and Piano | Wigmore Hall, London, April 1985 |
| Philip Glass | Cello Concerto | Beijing Festival, China, September 2001 |
| Vladimír Godár | Barcarolle for Cello, Strings, Harp and Harpsichord | Hellenic Centre, London, April 1994 |
| Howard Goodall | And the Bridge Is Love for Cello, Strings and Harp | Chipping Campden Festival, May 2008 |
| Patrick Hawes | Gloriette for Cello and Piano | Leeds Castle, Kent, August 2008 |
| Joseph Haydn (attrib.) | Concerto in D, Hob. VIIb:4 | Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, November 1981 |
| Christopher Headington | Serenade for Cello and Strings | Banqueting House, London, January 1995 |
| Karl Jenkins | Benedictus for Cello, Choir and Orchestra fromThe Armed Man | Royal Albert Hall, London, April 2000 |
| Philip Lane | Soliloquy for Solo Cello | Wangford Festival, Suffolk, July 1972 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber | Variations | Sydmonton Festival, Newbury, July 1977 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber | Phantasia (Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra) | Izmir Festival, Turkey, July 2008 |
| William Lloyd Webber | Nocturne for Cello and Piano | Purcell Room, London, February 1995 |
| James MacMillan | Cello Sonata No. 2 | Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, April 2001 |
| Michael Nyman | Concerto for Cello and Saxophone | Royal Festival Hall, London, March 1997 |
| Joaquín Rodrigo | Concierto como un divertimento | Royal Festival Hall, London, April 1982 |
| Peter Skellern | Five Love Songs for Cello, Piano, Vocals and Brass Quintet | Salisbury International Arts Festival, September 1982 |
| Arthur Sullivan | Cello Concerto (orchestrated Mackerras) | Barbican Centre, London, April 1986 |
| Ralph Vaughan Williams | Fantasia on Sussex Folk Tunes for Cello and Orchestra | Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester, August 1983 |
| William Walton | Theme for a Prince for Solo Cello | Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham, October 1998 |
| Eric Whitacre | The River Cam for cello and strings | Royal Festival Hall, London, April 2011 |
Media related toJulian Lloyd Webber at Wikimedia Commons
