Who’s Who
Leon Lovett – Musical Director
Leon read music at Cambridge and then went on to Berlin and Rome from 1957 to 1961, when he became Assistant Conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra.
He also conducted Scottish Opera and was Musical Director of the New Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells for 30 years (later in association with English National Opera). During this time he conducted over 20 British opera premieres.
He has conducted most of the British symphony orchestras and appeared frequently in all of London’s major concert halls, on BBC radio, Television and the ‘Proms’.
He has performed at many prestigious music festivals abroad and has been Musical Director of the English Baroque Orchestra since 1975.
Julia Frape – Leader
Julia Frape was appointed leader of the Cambridge String Players in April 2003. She has been a professional violinist for 20 years, having studied at the Royal Academy of Music. Her teachers included Christopher Hirons and Trevor Williams.
She has played regularly with most of the country’s principal orchestras, in particular the City of London Sinfonia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Sinfonia and the Rambert Dance Company.
Julia is a member of the Windsor String Quartet and is currently Head of Strings at the Perse School in Cambridge.
Lesley Fotherby – Resident Artist
Lesley Fotherby trained in art at colleges in Bath and London and at Leicester University after which she taught in secondary schools, worked in a Young Adults Centre and tutored adult education classes before becoming a full-time painter. She has been gallery artist with Chris Beetles Gallery since the 1980s and exhibits there regularly. Chris Beetles exhibits work by contemporary artists, together with that of 19th century watercolourists and illustrators. Further details can be found on the following website: www.chrisbeetles.com
The work Lesley is doing in preparation for her next exhibition (Chris Beetles Gallery, Ryder Street, St James’s, London) is mostly in oils and watercolour and covers a variety of subjects from landscapes to performers. It will feature many sea pictures and a variety of subjects from landscape to performers. The landscape work is influenced by where she has lived, from the Yorkshire Dales to South Cambridgeshire.
Lesley feels fortunate to have been able to work for many years with performers who have allowed her to sit in on their classes and rehearsals including the National Youth Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. She is particularly interested in movement and how to portray something transitory, be it the position of a musician in performance or the way light changes a landscape. Some of Lesley’s paintings are displayed in the foyer during the intervals of CCSO concerts.
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