FAREWELL TO…
Jane Manning Born 1938 Soprano
If ever there was an artist who flew the flag for new music, it was
Jane Manning. Through her 50-year career she premiered well over 300 works and became a champion of composers such as Elisabeth Lutyens, Judith Weir and James Macmillan. Weir’s King Harald’s
Saga saw the soprano partake in eight different roles and she made Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire her own in over 100 performances and three recordings. Such performative adventure, always entered into with the utmost technical focus, was at the heart of her music-making. Her debut in the mid-1960s followed formal training in London and Cureglia, Switzerland. She founded the ensemble Jane’s Minstrels in 1988 and continued to commission and perform works by up-andcoming composers until just a few years ago. Made an OBE in 1990 for services to contemporary music, Manning did dip her toes into earlier repertoire, but it was the thrill of the new which above all captured her imagination and her audiences’ devotion.
Kenneth Cooper Born 1941 Harpsichordist
As a musicologist and performer, Cooper’s deep understanding of 18th-century music made him one of the US’S most revered artists. With nearly 100 recordings to his name, including Bach sonatas with Yo-yo Ma, Cooper was equally comfortable applying his skills to contemporary works. Eminently versatile, his performances were noted for their insight and seeming spontaneity. Splitting his time between performing and teaching, Cooper was on the faculty of both the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. He served as music director of the Berkshire Bach Ensemble and maintained regular ties with major festivals across the United States.
Simon Bainbridge Born 1952 Composer
The award-winning composer’s star shone early, with notable commissions following studies at the Royal College of Music and Tanglewood. Often experimental, and with a philosophical streak, Bainbridge enjoyed commissions for the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh Festival and the Hilliard Ensemble among many. Education was very much a passion, too, and he was head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1999-2007. He also taught regularly at Juilliard, Yale and the Boston and New England conservatories.
Also remembered…
Lady Valerie Solti (born 1937) was founder of The Solti Foundation – named after her late husband, conductor Georg Solti. The Leeds-born philanthropist and former television presenter was also a patron of The World Orchestra for Peace. She worked closely with inumerable music and theatre charities and ensembles.