Thomas, Nigel

Percussionist who attended the Royal College of Music and gave the world premiere of Sir Andrzej Panufnik’s “Concertino for Timpani, Percussion & Strings” with the London Symphony Orchestra on 24^th January 1981. In 1981, he became the principal percussionist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1988. In 1988, he took up the same role with the LSO. Then, he re-joined the LPO in 1990 and stayed with them until 1992. In 2003, he returned to the LSO, and has remained with them for several seasons.

The LSO teamed up with Helene Grimaud at the Barbican on 8^th October 2004 for a performance of “Piano Concerto No. 3” by Bela Bartok, which was followed by The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.

On 29^th April 2006, they joined forces with mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, bass Gerald Finley, the London Symphony Chorus, tenor John Mac Master and soprano Twyla Robinson for Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” (“Choral”).

The LSC and LSO worked in tandem again on 14^th June 2007 in a concert that included Les Noces by Igor Stravinsky and October Cantata by Sergei Prokofiev, bookending Claude Debussy’s “First Rhapsody for Clarinet”, with soloist Andrew Marriner.

In the spring of 2008, the LSO in a pair of concerts at Barbican Hall and at Palais de Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium. Included in their repertoire was “Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion” by Bela Bartok, which featured the talents of Nigel and fellow percussionist Neil Percy, with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich at the keys.

Soprano Deborah Voigt was a guest soloist of the LSO on 12^th June 2009 in an evening of operatic highlights that included “Dich, teure Halle” from Tannhauser and “Du bist der Lenz” from Die Walkure by Richard Wagner, and “Ich kann nicht sitzen” from Elektra and “Zweite Braut nacht” from Die Aegyptische Helena by Richard Strauss.

On 16^th June 2010, the LSO had lots of guests, including pianist Vladimir Feltsman, the LSC, leader Joris van Rijn, soprano Sally Matthews and conductor Xian Zhang. The ambitious program opened with “Piano Concerto No. 3” by Sergei Rachmaninoff and closed with Gloria by Francis Poulenc.

Gareth Davies was center stage on 9^th November 2011, when the LSO offered up the “Flute Concerto” of Carl Nielsen, sandwiched between The Mermaid by Alexander von Zemlinsky and “The Miraculous Mandarin—Suite” by Bela Bartok.

On 25^th November 2012, the LSO interpreted Alban Berg’s “Violin Concerto”, with the services of Leonidas Kavakos, and Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 1” (“Titan”) under the baton of Semyon Bychkov.

They delivered the world premiere of Speranza by Mark-Anthony Turnage on 7^th February 2013. It was preceded by “The Oceanides” by Jean Sibelius and “Piano Concerto No. 3” by Ludwig van Beethoven, with Lars Vogt as guest soloist.

Recordings on which Nigel appears include: Bartok: Concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Beethoven: Symphony No. 7/Triple Concerto, Classikhan, Debussy: La mer/Jeux/Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune, James MacMillan: St. John Passion, Mahler: Symphony No. 4, Mozart: Requiem, Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2, Ravel: Daphis et Chloe/Bolero/Pavane pour une infante defunte, Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5, Sibelius: Symphony No. 2/Pohjola’s Daughter, Smetana: Ma Vlast; Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie and Tippett: A Child of Our Time with the LSO; Body & Soul by Rick Astley; Lore by Clannad; Maire by Moya Brennan; The Meeting by Incantation; and, Tales Don’t Tell Themselves by Funeral for a Friend.

Sources:

Thomas, Nigel

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