The Whitehall Orchestra

People

Music Director - Michael Nebe

Michael Nebe has been Musical Director of the Whitehall Orchestra since 1990 and founded the
Fine Arts Sinfonia in 1994.

He undertakes conducting engagements at home and abroad and has regular tours as a solo cellist and as a member of the Plaegan Piano Quartet.

Michael was born in Germany and studied in Dortmund Hochschule, Kings College London (with Thurston Dart and Anthony Milner) and the Royal Academy of Music (under Florence Hooton and Colin Hampton). He has had world-wide tours and TV and radio performances as a cellist in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

Michael studied conducting in Dortmund, London (Morley College with Lawrence Leonard) and the Czech Republic (International Conductors' seminars, Zlin, under Juri Behlolavec, Kirk Trevor and Zdenek Bilek). His first conducting appointment was as organist and choir-master in Dortmund at the age of 14 and his professional conducting debut was at 16 with the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra.

Michael is active as a cellist, teacher, coach and adjudicator. He conducts a large and varied repertoire from Baroque to contemporary music, including opera. As composer and performer he attended the International Courses for Contemporary Music in Darmstadt, Germany and the Gaudeamus International Contemporary Music Festival in The Netherlands. He has done much pioneering work in this field both here and abroad with over 70 British and World premiers to his credit. Michael has been listed in the International Who's Who in Music since its ninth edition.

Leader - Nathaniel Vallois

Nathaniel Vallois was born in Paris in 1974 and lives in London. He gave his first solo performance aged nine in Sion, Switzerland. Two years later he was invited to play for Zino Francescatti. His teachers included Miriam Solovieff, Itzhak Rashkovsky and Ruggiero Ricci.

The recipient of many prizes and awards, he gave his major solo debut in 1993 playing Bartok's First Concerto in Canterbury Cathedral as part of the Festival. Since then he has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician in the UK. He has given many concerto and recital appearances in London's main venues, (Barbican Centre, South Bank Centre, St. John's Smith Square, Fairfield Halls, Conway Hall, Blackheath Halls, Duke's Hall) and at music festivals in Britain. He is regularly invited to perform, broadcast and give masterclasses abroad, including in Israel, France, Germany, Spain, Romania, Turkey, South Africa and the USA.

Nathaniel Vallois is the Senior Violin Teacher at the Birmingham Conservatoire and also teaches at the Purcell School of Music. He has brought out a recital CD of French music entitled Beau Soir, and in 2008 will see the release of two further CDs of chamber music. He has a great interest in historical artists and recordings and is a regular contributor to The Strad magazine and a consultant for record companies.

Nathaniel first performed as a soloist with the Whitehall Orchestra in March 1999 playing Tchaikovsky's violin concerto and since then has also performed the Shostakovitch, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Berg and Glazunov concertos. He was appointed leader of the orchestra in September 2001.

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