The Thames Chamber Orchestra was formed by Michael Dobson in 1962 to take part in a series of concerts in the 14th century Parish Church at Kingston-upon-Thames. Since then, the orchestra has appeared at festivals at Windsor, Norwich, Fishguard, Nottingham, Cambridge, Pershore, Madley, Walsingham and at many other venues in this country and abroad, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and St John's Smith Square. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Thames Chamber Orchestra has always invited the finest chamber musicians to be amongst its members and its sense of style and warmth of sound have frequently earned much praise both from the critics and from the many guest conductors who have worked with the orchestra.
The orchestra's Principal Conductor, Keith Marshall, read music at Caius College Cambridge, before going on to study oboe at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has played in many of our most famous orchestras at the most prestigious concert halls and festivals such as the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festivals, Carnegie Hall in the USA, Suntory Hall in Japan (with the Philharmonia orchestra) and the Musikverein in Vienna with the English Chamber Orchestra. Keith has often appeared as soloist with the Thames Chamber Orchestra, playing concertos in both the Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore halls, and at other venues throughout the United Kingdom. He also conducts Lord Lloyd Webber's award winning Phantom of the Opera in London.
James Lisney enjoys a rich musical life, moving seamlessly from concerto and recital soloist to chamber musician, song accompanist and pianist director. Initiatives, such as his Schubertreise series at London`s South Bank Centre, his extensive Beethoven Project or the recording company Woodhouse Editions, provide a platform for his wide-ranging musical sympathies.
Following study with Jean Murphy, Phyllis Sellick and John Barstow, James Lisney made his Wigmore Hall debut in 1986. Early representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust in London lead to a career that has taken him to many prestigious venues and gained invitations to appear with major orchestras.
James Lisney`s repertoire ranges from baroque masterpieces to music of the present day. In the past decade, the music of Schubert and Beethoven have been a central pre-occupation (in performance and in recordings) and he regularly presents cycles of the piano sonatas and relevant chamber music. His recordings (on Naxos, Bis, Somm, Olympia and Carlton) have gained the highest recommendations.