musical directors

DAVID MURRAY

David has become one of the North East’s most acclaimed pianists, and is in constant demand as a soloist and as accompanist, repititeur, chamber music partner and orchestral player. He has acted as regular accompanist for Janice Cairns, David Haslam, Bradley Creswick, Ian Partridge, Alison Pearce and Sir Thomas Allen.

David is also well known as a choral trainer and as well as being conductor of Ryton Choral Society, he also leads Bishopwearmouth Choral Society and the Hexham Abbey Festival Chorus. In addition, he is Chorus Master for Brinkburn Summer Music.

David is Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Recently, David has made appearances with the international soprano Alison Pearce in Arnhem and Ghent. He plays regularly with the Northern Sinfonia and has toured with them in this country and abroad. He is featured on their Chandos recording of Walton’s The Bear conducted by Richard Hickox. He has also made a recording of music by Debussy, Faure and Rimsky Korsakov with his duet partner, Eileen Bown. They are planning further recordings featuring the music of Schubert and Rachmaninov. Eileen and David premiered the North East performances of Spectrum, 20 pieces commissioned by the Associated Board from contemporary British composers, and toured the programme throughout the North. David has established the Osborne Ensemble who have given acclaimed performances of the Dohnanyi Sextet, Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time, the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio and the Bartok Contrasts.

EILEEN BOWN

Eileen was born in Sunderland and studied at Durham University. She has an active freelance career as solo and orchestral pianist, accompanist and repititeur. She is part of a piano duo with David Murray and they have performed together throughout the UK. Their repertoire is extensive and varied and they have made a feature of seeking out and performing unusual and little-known works by such composers as York Bowen.

Eileen is well-known in the region for her work with choirs, both as a trainer and repititeur. She works alongside David with Hexham Abbey Festival Chorus, Bishopwearmouth and Ryton Choral Societies and at the Brinkburn Festival. She directs two children's choirs - Bishopwearmouth Young Singers and Brinkburn Young Singers. In addition, Eileen works in schools and colleges to lead vocal workshops and assist teachers with establishing choirs and seeking new repertoire.