Smith, Andrew

Timpanist who started out on oboe and piano until gravitating toward percussion at the Royal College of Music.

In 1968, he became a member of the Welsh National Opera orchestra under the baton of James Levine. He took up timpanist duties with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1969. In 1972, he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.

CDs on which he appears include the Philharmonia’s realizations of The Big Country and Lawrence of Arabia soundtracks, Les Miserables: The Complete Symphonic Recording, and Virtuoso Trumpet Concertos with The Wallace Collection.

On 11^th April 2003, Andras Schiff conducted the Philharmonia in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture” and “Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor”, and Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 4 in C minor” (“Tragic”).

Christoph von Dohnanyi was at the helm for the Philharmonia’s concert at Royal Festival Hall on 5^th May 2005. The program comprised Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 in E flat major” (“Eroica”), Jean Sibelius’s “The Swan of Tuonela”, and Richard Strauss’s “Four Last Songs”, with soprano Soile Isokoski.

In 2006, the Philharmonia interpreted Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2, Op. 27”, Sibelius’s “Tapiola, Op. 112”, and Erkki-Sven Tuur’s “Concerto for Violin and Clarinet”, with soloists Michael Collins and Isabelle van Keulen.

They appeared at Southbank Centre on 25^th January 2009 in a triple-header of Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16”, with Benjamin Grosvenor at the keys, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet – Fantasy Overture”.

On 7^th May 2009, they performed Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92”, Max Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26”, with soloist Sarah Chang, and Grieg’s “Peer Gynt – Suite No. 1, Op. 46”, which culminates with “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted them at the Kultur Kongresszentrum Luzern on 24^th August 2009. The concert consisted of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 6” (“Tragic”), Kaija Saariaho’s “Lumiere et Pesanteur”, and Anton Webern’s “Im Sommerwind”.

On 26^th May 2011, Lorin Maazel conducted the orchestra as they presented “Symphony No. 7” of the Mahler cycle.

In the field of music education, Andrew has taught and lectured at the Royal College of Music and given master classes throughout the world.

Sources:

Smith, Andrew

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