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The English violinist, Thomas Gould, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with György Pauk graduating with numerous prizes and awards. In 2006 he was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust, leading to recitals at the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and venues across the UK. In 2008 he was described as “taking the orchestral world by storm” by The Evening Standard, and a year later was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music at the age of just 25.
Thomas Gould performs as soloist with orchestras worldwide including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, LA Phil New Music Group, Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne and West Australian Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with conductors such as John Adams, Thomas Adès, Nicholas Collon, Paul Daniel, Edward Gardner and Robin Ticciati.
Thomas Gould regularly appears at the largest UK venues, and in recent seasons has performed at venues including London's Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre and Royal Festival Hall, Manchester's Bridgewater Hall and Manchester Evening News Arena, and Birmingham's Symphony Hall and National Indoor Arena. He has a great enthusiasm for bringing classical music to new audiences, and has headlined events such as Nonclassical, Limelight and Classical Kicks at Ronnie Scott's, as well as performing at major festivals including Latitude, London Jazz Festival and Festival No.6.
Leader of Aurora Orchestra and associate leader of Britten Sinfonia, Thomas Gould appears as soloist and director with both groups. In demand as a guest leader and director, he appears with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, City of London Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Montreal’s McGill Chamber Orchestra. He and also enjoys regular collaborations with Sinfonietta Riga and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, playing with the latter in the prestigious Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Andris Nelsons in 2014.
Thomas Gould performs regularly with chamber music partners including pianists Alasdair Beatson and Danny Driver, cellists Adrian Brendel and Oliver Coates, in Britten Sinfonia’s ‘At Lunch’ series at the Wigmore Hall, and as a guest with the Nash Ensemble. Notable recent chamber performances include the UK premieres of Harrison Birtwistle’s Oboe Quartet at the Aldeburgh Festival and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Sextet at Sounds New Festival, and appearances at the festivals of Bath, Plush, Presteigne, Prussia Cove, Spitalfields, Verbier, Spoleto, Lanaudière and the Le Festival Bach de Montréal.
A strong advocate of contemporary music, Thomas Gould has given numerous world, UK and London premieres, including concertos by Nico Muhly, John Woolrich, Hans Abrahamsen and Christopher Ball, and works by Harrison Birtwistle, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tarik O’Regan, Joe Duddell, Mark Bowden, Dai Fujikura and Michel van der Aa.
An unusually versatile performer, Thomas Gould is also a member of swing band Man Overboard and has collaborated on projects with artists as diverse as Radiohead, Sigur Rós, Rufus Wainwright, Brad Mehldau and Sam Amidon among others.
Recent highlights include solo debuts at the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and Bridgewater Hall, and with the Hallé Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and Orchestra of Opera North. In 2011 Thomas Gould appeared across Australia as soloist and director with the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s ACO2 ensemble, and his acclaimed performances of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) with Britten Sinfonia and W.A. Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with Aurora Orchestra were broadcast by BBC Radio 3. His performance of Nico Muhly’s concerto for electric violin Seeing is Believing was streamed live from Kings Place, and his recording of it on Decca Classics was voted iTunes Contemporary Classical Album of the Year. Solo engagements in 2012 include his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Adams, performances at the Royal Albert Hall and Symphony Hall Birmingham, and an appearance as soloist and director with Sinfonietta Riga.
Thomas Thomas has recorded for Decca Classics (Nico Muhly’s Seeing is Believing with Aurora), Harmonia Mundi (J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) with Britten Sinfonia), Champs Hill Records (Piazzolla with Ksenija Sidorova, Felix Mendelssohn with Artea String Quartet, two albums with swing band The Man Overboard Quintet, and a contemporary solo album called "Bach to Parker"), ACT (with Gwilym Simcock), Pavillon Records (with Jim Rattigan and Liam Noble), Basho Records (with Trish Clowes), Hyperion (works by Joseph Jongen), Omnibus Classics (Christopher Ball’s Violin Concerto) and Meridian. In 2014 he signed exclusively with Edition Classics, the classical imprint of Edition Records, a label with a wide-ranging reach to diverse audiences. The first release in spring 2015 will be a live recording of L.v. Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending with Sinfonietta Riga.
Thomas Thomas plays a 1754 Gennaro Gagliano violin, a 1782 J.B. Guadagnini violin and a six string electric violin made by John Jordan. |
