Alumnus Charlie Lovell-Jones releases Walton Violin Concerto recording
A recording has been released of Christ Church alumnus Charlie Lovell-Jones (2017, Music) performing the work of another alumnus: celebrated composer Sir William Walton (1902–83). The recording features Lovell-Jones as the soloist in Walton's Violin Concerto, joined by the Sinfonia of London and conductor John Wilson.
Charlie debuted at a sold-out Royal Festival Hall aged just 15. He has since been soloist with major orchestras internationally, broadcasting on radio and television, and has competed and won prizes in national and international competitions. At the University of Oxford he was a Christ Church Prize Scholar, graduating in 2020 with the Gibbs Prize in Music. Following graduation, he received a Bicentenary Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, and graduated in 2022 with the String Postgraduate Prize.
Charlie studied for over ten years with Rodney Friend MBE, and for two years with Augustin Hadelich at the Yale School of Music. He has enjoyed many masterclasses, with musicians such as Ida Haendel, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vadim Repin, Menahem Praessler, Pinchas Zukerman, James Ehnes, and Leonidas Kavakos. He won awards from foundations including Hattori, Drake Calleja, and Countess of Munster, and is also a J&A Beare Violin Society Artist. Charlie plays a 1777 G.B. Guadagnini violin, loaned by a generous benefactor.
Charlie’s debut as leader of John Wilson’s multi-award-winning Sinfonia of London took place at the BBC Proms in 2021, and has since garnered critical acclaim from Classic FM and Gramophone Magazine. The Sinfonia of London consists of leaders and principals from other top UK orchestras, as well as exceptional freelancers, chamber musicians and soloists. They meet several times a year for intensive projects, usually featuring a mix of recordings and performing.
This new album features three works by Sir William Walton, another Old Member of Christ Church, who started his time at Christ Church as a boy chorister in 1912 before being admitted as an undergraduate to read Music six years later, aged just 16. Walton’s Violin Concerto, commissioned by the violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz, was premièred in 1939 to an enthusiastic reception. Paired with the Violin Concerto is the Symphonic Suite from Troilus and Cressida and the overture Portsmouth Point.
The album has received a five-star review in The Financial Times, and BBC Radio Three has highly commended the album on Record Review. Charlie’s performance of the concerto is described as follows by Presto Music:
Lovell-Jones despatches every technical demand thrown at him with apparent ease... As undoubtedly impressive as this is, it's not all about the flashy bits, and Lovell-Jones contrasts the virtuosic sections with a terrific searching tone, not least in the opening phrases of the concerto.
For further details about the album and how to purchase a copy visit the Sinfonia of London’s website.
Other Christ Church news
