|
|
|
|
|
In answer to the question, which activity do you prefer, David always says "the one I am doing", believing that all contibute to each other: thus, the order here is simply that in writing something has to come first and last . . .
See contact page to initiate discussions regarding your requirements.
Of David Meacock's St. John Smith Square London evening recital début, Geoffrey Crankshaw wrote in Musical Opinion: "sheer excitement"; "poetry in the transcriptions"; "much pleasure to be enjoyed from Meacock's elegant articulation"; and "Of course it was Liszt's Sonata which created the fiercest demands, and they were met head on with unflinching structural grasp and a keen regard for the work's peak moments".
Following David's Swiss début, David was compared with the celebrated Maurizio Pollini, one of the world's finest pianists. That accolade was bestowed by the classical music correspondent of the Swiss newspaper The Fatherland, whose reviews are recognised as having equal standing with those of the English national press, after he participated in the prestigious Weggis Festival - an event which also attracted the celebrated flautist James Galway. Soon afterwards he contributed to a Swiss CD of contemporary music.
David has recently appeared in Slovenia where he gave a recital, a lecture and a masterclass to the Slovenian Branch of the European Piano Teachers' Association.
David plays most of the popular piano concertos favouring the Romantics. He is willing to make his own Orchestral set of Rachmaninoff's Second and Third Concertos available for performances where he is the soloist.
Recently, he played three concertos in one evening for the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home: Liszt Eb, Grieg and Rach. 2.
Orchestras, apart from his own, with whom he has appeared since completing his studies include the Amadeus Orchestra, Lambeth Symphony Orchestra, the Misbourne Orchestra, the Hitchin Symphony Orchestra, the Reading University Symphony Orchestra, Sheffield University Symphony Orchestra, the Slater Symphony Orchestra and the Whitehall Orchestra.
He is particularly at home in the core popular solo repertoire, and is happy to introduce it from the piano if required.
Born in Essex in 1966, he and his family moved to Chalfont St. Peter, in Buckinghamshire, when he was three. He started learning the piano at the age of six with the late Iris du Pré, mother of the world famous 'cellist.
While attending Dr. Challoner's Grammar School, he studied with the late Eric Hope Kt.T, a pupil of the famous pianist Solomon, and was also a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music. Concerto playing experience with orchestras dates from this time.
He continued his musical studies at the Royal College of Music, studying piano with Vice President and Senior Professor, the late Kendall Taylor CBE. At the R.C.M. he was the first student in the conservatoire's history to conduct a Mozart Piano Concerto from the keyboard.
He then obtained a Master of Music degree at the University of Reading receiving 100% marks for his final recital. The external examiner wrote: "He handled the instrument with a masterly touch control". He also displayed his musical sense of humour (and courage/foolhardiness?!) by including a virtuoso transcription of The Beautiful Blue Danube for the first M. Mus recital!
His other teachers have included Philip Fowke, Dr. Jonathan Dunsby and the late Charles Proctor OBE, a 'grand pupil' of Liszt, who had studied with Liszt's pupil Emil Sauer (editor of Peters editions of Liszt) in the 1930's.
Following successes helping other pianists with Repetitive Strain Injuries, David gave a lecture (later published) to eminent specialists at the Royal Society of Medicine.
A musician in the true sense of the word, David has been a finalist of national competitions, as solo pianist, accompanist, orchestral and choral conductor. He has continued to combine these skills: with the A40 Concert Orchestra playing large scale concertos and then conducting equally demanding symphonies in the second half. In the first of these double duty concerts he paired Rachmaninoff's epic Third Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony. Following this concert Steinway & Sons invited him to hire their pianos for concerts as a Steinway Artist. (see review quote below)
David has given London lunchtime recitals in St Olave's Hart Street, and St. James' Piccadilly - which, unusually for a lunchtime recital, especially in a non-major London venue was reviewed in Musical Opinion. He has also performed many concertos; including, aged 19, the Liszt Eb, when his playing was compared with that of the legendary Josef Lhévinne - a celebrated pianist of the first half of the Twentieth Century.
While favouring the Romantics, David's repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the Present day - including David's own transcriptions.
"Technically in command throughout, Meacock revealed something far more significant - a musical imagination of rich promise." Geoffrey Crankshaw, Musical Opinion.
"the piano almost outgrew the concert hall and developed
into the poetic instrument of a spirit of fantasy" Vaterland,
Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.
"Meacock is a remarkable virtuoso . . . will be remembered
for a long time to come" Tagblatt, Lake Lucerne Switzerland.
"His piano technique is truly phenomenal . . . he also possesses
the sensitivity and musicality to bring off quiet and introspective
pieces" Nigel Burton, Senior Lecturer, University of Reading.
"he tackled the immense difficulties
[ in Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto] with seeming ease." Bucks.
Advertiser.
"[ Debussy's] 'Gardens in the Rain' shimmered delightfully...
the self-composed left hand version of the Bach/Gounod 'Ave Maria'
made a charming encore" Bucks. Advertiser.
"David produced some beautiful soft tone and brought out
a number of hidden melodies which other pianists do not seem to
realise are there... Liszt's B minor Sonata is an 'Everest' which
only a limited number of pianists risk. David held us spellbound
from the [opening] mysterious descending scale to the final soft
chords" Bucks. Examiner.
David Meacock started conducting while at school, when independently of the music masters he organisted and trained an ensemble to play Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. He studied orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music with John Forster, also experiencing choral training with Sir David Willcocks and Michael Brewer. David won the top aural prize a year earlier than most other recipients.
At Reading University, David conducted four performances of Gounod's Five Act Opera, Faust, which the Reading Chronicle described as "one of the best ever University productions."
He then conducted Great Missenden Choral Society for five years, and it was during this time that he formed the A40 Orchestra which since being fully professional in September 2001 is now known as the A40 Concert Orchestra. In the meantime he formed the A40 Choir in 1995.
In April 2000, he was the only Englishman chosen to participate in a Michael Tilson Thomas led international Conductors' seminar at Miami, Florida, USA. David made make his Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London début with the A40 Choir on 16 December 2000, and was immediately invited to return on 22 December 2001 both as conductor and to make his South Bank début as a solo pianist.
He conducted the 212 singers who came a choral workshop on the Brahms German Requiem for Concerts from Scratch in London in April 2001, and was then asked to do another Spring workshop this year, on the Mozart Requiem. 380 singers - many of whom had been at the first Workshop - came to the famous Temple Church on Friday 26 April 2002. This led to David being invited to be the Conductor/Editor of a new Concerts From Scratch edition of Messiah - click here to order from the publisher - launched at the end of Summer 2002. The Mozart Requiem workshop also led to David being asked to conduct a nearly full church in another highly successful new event, Christmas Singday!. Two successful Christmas Singdays! have led to David conducting the first Easter Singday! on 3 April 2004.
His extensive conducting repertoire includes core and not so often performed choral and orchestral repertoire, and he has worked with members of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, ENO, members of the national UK orchestras, London Conservatoire professors & students and with amateurs.
David Meacock's interest in arranging started while working with church choirs, and resulted in some arrangements of Worship Songs being published by RSCM. These aim to bring the modern tradition to the typical SATB choir, maintaining the tunefulness of the best examples while also adding to their interest from the musical chorister's point of view.
His most ambitious projects have been to produce reduced orchestrations of Elgar The Dream of Gerontius (originally comissioned by Novello) and Verdi Requiem with the main aim of making both works performable by Choirs of 80+ in non major venues while nonetheless retaining the flavours of the original orchestrations. Both reductions have already had several performances throughout the country. The Verdi Requiem had its USA premiere in May 2007. Both are available on hire from David direct.
In collaboration with world renowned founder Music Director of the Ambrosian Singers, John McCarthy OBE, David has made arrangements of lighter secular numbers.
He has also put together a number of choral suites of operettas and musicals.
As a pianist, David also plays his own transcriptions.
Novello have already published David's chamber multi option orchestration of Parry I was Glad which has now been performed all over the world.
He has also composed an Easter Cantata, and other smaller works.
For full details see David Meacock compositions and arrangements page or see contact page to initiate discussions regarding your requirements.