Cellophonics play at the Festival of Chichester

Adrian Bradbury

Adrian Bradbury was principal cello in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain before winning scholarships to Churchill College, Cambridge (where he read Veterinary Science and Music) and then to the Royal Academy of Music.

After further study in Berlin he developed an international career in chamber music as the cellist in Composers Ensemble (winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Award, 2002), Jane’s Minstrels, Trio Gemelli, Touchwood Piano Quartet and Chamber Domaine, giving world premieres of solos, duos, trios and quartets by Thomas Adès, Judith Bingham, Tansy Davies, Dai Fujikura, Hugh Wood and John Woolrich.

Adrian is a regular guest principal player with orchestras including London Sinfonietta, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera and Welsh National Opera and is Cello Tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of GB.

His research into ensemble synchronisation, in collaboration with Professor Alan Wing, was published by the Royal Society and led to invitations to curate the ‘Music and Brain’ series at the 2010 Aldeburgh Festival and to appear as speaker on BBC Radio 4’s ‘PM’ and ‘Today’ programmes and as soloist on BBC Radio 3’s 2015 ‘Why Music?’ weekend.

Together with pianist Oliver Davies, Adrian recorded the complete operatic fantasies of the 19thcentury cello virtuoso Alfredo Piatti on the Meridian label, a 2 CD project released on 1 July 2020.

Ben Rogerson

Cellist Ben Rogerson is a member of the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Mozart Players.

He spent the Noughties with the Irish Chamber Orchestra giving concerts with artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Anthony Marwood and Nigel Kennedy in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, and the Community Centre on Inis Boffin.

His life with the BBCCO involves a more eclectic range of music making, from classical and pop concerts, to recording music for TV, film, radio and CD. Earth Wind and Fire, Kylie Minogue, and Dame Edna Everidge are amongst the artists they have worked with recently, and the orchestra is resident for Radio 2’s flagship show ”Friday Night is Music Night”.

Ben loves appearing as a guest with the Academy of St. Martin-in the-Fields, Britten Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra and gives chamber music concerts with the Minerva Ensemble and Ferrer Quartet.

Solo projects have included Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No1 with Richard Hickox, and Haydn’s C Major Concerto under the baton of David Watkin, both at the Endellion Festival in Cornwall.

Ben studied at the Royal Academy of Music where his cello teacher was Derek Simpson of the Aeolian Quartet, and at SUNY Purchase, USA, with Julia Lichten of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

He has also played for many theatre productions (RSC, the National Theatre and the Globe), and has made a number of recordings, including Hans Gal’s Sinfonia Concertante with Kenneth Woods (solo cello), Philip Glass’s ”In The Penal Colony“ with Music Theatre Wales, and Bach’s ”Goldberg Variations” with the Le Page Ensemble.

For several years Ben coached the cello section of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, a role he has also fulfilled for the National Youth Orchestras of Wales, and of Great Britain, and the Royal Academy of Music. He teaches the cello at Tonbridge School and the Royal Grammar School in Guidlford.

Michael Atkinson

Michael Atkinson was born on Teesside and after learning with Joan Dutton and Caroline Dale won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London with Andrew Shulman. Whilst at the College Michael won most of the cello and chamber music prizes as well as rehearsing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the English Chamber Orchestra in preparation for a performance by Rostropovich.

1994 Michael co-founded the Fidelio Trio which with whom he toured to Hong Kong and France as well as giving the UK premiere of Takemitsu’s Between Tides at the South Bank Centre.

In 1999 Michael joined the New Music Players as they embarked on a 3 year residency at York University. They also held residencies at Bristol University and Dartington International Summer School.

Michael joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2001 with whom he has also appeared as guest principal. The orchestra performs 12 concerts at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall every year in addition to its season at the Barbican Centre and international touring.

Under the auspices of the British Council Michael has travelled to Dubai and Japan coaching chamber music and training musicians in leading creative workshops.

Christopher Allan

After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Christopher Allan joined the acclaimed contemporary group, ”the gogmagogs”.

He plays regularly with the Britten Sinfonia and is co-principal cello with the Orchestra of the Swan.

Christopher is an active chamber musician, performing with the Le Page Ensemble, London Cellophonic, the Fibonacci sequence and Sound Collective amongst others.

He was solo cellist with the Mike Westbrooke company and has collaborated with numerous creators, including John Tavener, Max Richter, Django Bates, Stephen Warbeck, Errollyn Wallen and Paul Clark.

His interest in contemporary and cross arts work has lead to associations with an array of different projects and artists, from Gare St Lazare’s “Here All Night” (an exploration of music in the work of Samuel Beckett, ”White Light Festival“ Lincoln Centre, Boston, London, Dublin), to the Clod Ensemble, Hofesh Shechter (most recently in Paris, June ’21), Chroma (Fair Isle, September ’21, “Towards Light” project), Opera North, Goldfrapp, Mumford and Sons, Opus 20, Cellorhythmics, Sabreen, Sachal Studios, Quincy Jones and Guy Barker.

Christopher has curated many concerts, often in collaboration with actors (recent projects have included “Wind, Sand and Stars”, based on the writing of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), and has arranged for Hofesh Shechter, Mumford and Sons and the Almeida Theatre.

He has also played for many theatre productions (RSC, the National Theatre and the Globe), and has made a number of recordings, including Hans Gal’s Sinfonia Concertante with Kenneth Woods (solo cello), Philip Glass’s „In The Penal Colony“ with Music Theatre Wales, and Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” with the Le Page Ensemble.

Christopher plays a William Forster cello built in London in 1800.