John Lees Barclay James Harvest & The Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra
Biography John Lees Barclay James Harvest & The Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra
John Lees' Barclay James Harvest
John Lees and Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme were founder members of Barclay James Harvest, the melodic rock band with classical leanings which emerged from Oldham in the late sixties. Their relationship endured through nine studio albums and two live doubles, the period of BJH's history which most fans regard as their most creative and productive, and their musical collaborations included such classics as "Mocking Bird", "Galadriel", "Child Of The Universe" and "Hymn". John stayed with BJH after Woolly left in 1979, and it would be nearly twenty years before the guitar and keyboard legends would work together again.
When it was announced in March 1998 that Barclay James Harvest would be taking a sabbatical, it was effectively the end of the original band. Henceforth the members of the band would be pursuing solo projects, albeit using variations of the Barclay James Harvest name. John renewed his musical friendship with Woolly, and they began work together with bassist Craig Fletcher and drummer Kevin Whitehead under the name Barclay James Harvest Through The Eyes Of John Lees. This line-up recorded an album of half new songs, half re-recordings of BJH classics, entitled Nexus, which was released by Eagle Records in February 1999. A tour of Germany and Switzerland followed and was recorded for the Revival - Live 1999 CD which appeared in March 2000, after which there were more concerts in Germany and Greece, plus the first concerts in England by any of the band members since 1992.
John and Woolly started work on a second studio album, with the working title North, but following the sudden death of his manager, David Walker, John didn't feel ready to make an album at that time and it was shelved. Woolly turned his attention to solo work, producing two studio albums and a live set between 2003 and 2005. By March 2005, John was ready to resume his musical endeavours, and an announcement was made to the effect that future live and studio work in collaboration with Woolly was planned, under the new name John Lees' Barclay James Harvest.
The first full UK tour by any members of Barclay James Harvest since 1992 took place in late 2006, and was a great success. The London show at the Shepherds Bush Empire was filmed and released in November 2007 as a DVD and CD entitled Legacy. 2009 saw increasing activity from the band, with live shows in the U.S.A., Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium, plus another UK tour, and the work rate continued into 2010 with songs being written for a new studio album, plus a summer festival appearance in Portugal at the Douro Rock and Blues Festival. It would prove to be Woolly's final live appearance. A recurrence of a severe depressive condition meant that he was unable to participate in a series of concerts with John Lees' Barclay James Harvest in November and December 2010, and on 13th December, tragically, he was found dead at his home.
After some deliberation at a sold out tribute concert to Woolly at Buxton Opera House in February 2011, John Lees announced that he intended to continue with the group as a a four-piece, in part to keep the musical legacy of Woolly Wolstenholme alive. Subsequently the band made a series of headline festival appearances in Germany, Switzerland, France (with Status Quo) and the UK, including a headline spot at the prestigious High Voltage Festival in London. 2012 saw JLBJH make the first ever appearances by any form of BJH in Japan, followed by UK dates and a Spring 2013 tour in The Netherlands and Germany. In October 2013 the band released North, an album of all-new material, acclaimed by critics and fans alike as the best work to be released under the BJH banner for many a year. John Lees' Barclay James Harvest continue to delight concert audiences in Britain and Europe, and recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Barclay James Harvest's first ever record with a rapturously received event in Manchester. The band are currently working on a brand new studio album. (Keith and Monika Domone, 2018)
Benjamin Ellin
Award-winning and critically acclaimed British conductor and composer Benjamin Ellin is currently co-founder and Musical Director of the Thirsk Hall Festival and De Mowbray Music, Music Director of the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, co-founder, conductor and composer of the contemporary-fusion ensemble Tafahum, Principal Conductor of the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra and President of Pembroke Academy of Music, London. Benjamin is also a founding trustee of the Evgeny Svetlanov Charitable Trust.
His belief in the positive power of music within society is reflected in the wide-ranging projects of which he is currently a major figurehead. Ellin’s belief in a musical world without boundaries is equalled by a tireless commitment as a guest artist and as a Music Director. This is illustrated by his recent work in North Yorkshire through the Thirsk Hall Festival and Rural Arts, his own ensemble Tafahum, major projects and collaborations at London’s Southbank Centre, a commitment to outreach and development work as well as appearing on stage with leading ensembles across the globe. From 2006-2010 Benjamin was also Music Director of Pembroke Academy of Music in London, which provides vital musical education and opportunities to the young members of the Walworth community.
His 2022-23 seasons features no less than two major CD releases of his own music, the World Premiere of his Symphony No. 1 to commemorate the 20thanniversary of the passing of conductor and composer Evgeny Svetlanov, full seasons of performances at Thursford and in Huddersfield with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic alongside his continued work with De Mowbray Music and the Thirsk Hall Festival.
In recent seasons Benjamin has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jena Philharmonic, Orchestre de Picardie, Hulencourt Soloists Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestre National de Lille, Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, Gunma Symphony Orchestra (Japan), St Petersburg Symphony, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Orchestra del Teatro Regio Turin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, New Russian Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Chambre de Catalogne and the Luxembourg Philharmonic amongst others.
As a composer Benjamin’s work has been performed all over the world; in the concert hall, theatre and for the screen. Recent highlights have included his oratorio, One Before Zero, commissioned and premiered by the Orchestre de Picardie in 2016, as part of the centenary commemorations for the Battle of the Somme. Following performances in France it has also been performed in Slovakia and Germany under Benjamin’s direction:
…In addition to the two soloists and the boys' choir, it was above all the composer who made the great tension of his oratorio audible on the podium of the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra and allowed everyone involved to play with such intensity that the tension was transmitted to the audience. Benjamin Ellin's oratorio is able to move the hearts of the listeners and keep alive the memory of the traumatic conditions of the war. The warmth and cordiality with which Benjamin Ellin's oratorio was received speaks for the openness of the Jena audience…. Dietmar Ebert. 11/18, Jena
In 2020 Benjamin received the first British commission for a bass trombone concerto from Opera North. Gresley was subsequently premiered by bass trombonist Christian Jones and Opera North in October 2021. His Sinfonia No 1 was performed at the Royal Opera House in London with the Royal Ballet School in 2017 as part of their Summer Showcase, his Violin Sonata has already been commercially recorded and released twice by different artists and his Violin Concerto, Miyabi was premiered by the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. Benjamin has received several commissions for works inspired by the history and culture of First Nation communities of Alberta, with whom he enjoys a close relationship, by long-time collaborator and esteemed violist Rivka Golani. Benjamin has also received commissions from organisations including the Hallé Orchestra, Opera North, Orchestre Chambre D’Auvergne (France), Orchestre de Picardie (France), Shanghai Opera, Trio Chausson, Concordia Foundation, Maison de la Culture (Amiens), the SoWeCa International Festival and the Fort Macleod International Festival, Canada.
A multiple award winner, Benjamin was a laureate and was awarded the Public Prize from the inaugural Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in 2007. In September 2009 Benjamin was awarded the Barlow Endowment Prize for composition, becoming only the second British composer in twenty-five years to be awarded the prize. The New York Philharmonic’s Principal Trombonist, Joseph Alessi, premiered his subsequent commission for a Trombone Concerto in April 2012 in the USA. Benjamin’s debut composition CD, Three States at Play, was released in Spring 2012 to critical acclaim. Tafahum’s debut album Osmosis, featuring almost all Benjamin’s own compositions, was released to critical acclaim in April 2016;
The Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra
is an industrial village in the beautiful Colne Valley near Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Here a group of amateur musicians met in 1891 to found a 'Philharmonic Band'. In its long history it has experienced both triumph and disaster (the full story of its first 100 years is told in its 250-page official history An Improbable Centenary), but for some years now it has enjoyed uninterrupted success - recognised by the award of the National Federation of Music Societies' Sir Charles Groves Prize in 1993 and a Performing Rights Society Enterprise Award in 1991 and again in 1996.
Each season the 80-strong-orchestra (augmented by outside players if necessary: it has many times fielded over 100 performers) gives four concerts in Huddersfield Town Hall, and further concerts in other venues, including our 'home' venue, Slaithwaite Civic Hall.
Its conductor from 1969 to 2001 was the late Adrian Smith who was also the orchestra's historian and publications editor. Adrian was succeeded by Chris Houlding who made his debut with the orchestra in the January 2002 concert. Under Chris’s direction the orchestra continued to flourish with some notable concerts in Huddersfield Town Hall including an acclaimed performance in 2005 of the tone poem Ein Heldenleben by Richard Strauss, and later that year one of the orchestra’s boldest undertakings to date: a concert performance of Puccini's opera Turandot. Other concerts featured Holst's Planets Suite, Shostakovich's massive Tenth Symphony, and another Opera Spectacular - Verdi's Aida, with Holmfirth Choral Society, The Lindley Band and soloists from Opera North and a last minute stand-in appearance of the internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Anne-Marie Owens. Other soloists who appeared with the orchestra include Peter Donohoe, Joanna MacGregor, Gordon Stewart and Alexander Baillie, as well as 'regulars', Alexandra Wood (violin), Ian Buckle (piano) and Myvanwy Bentall (soprano). Chris Houlding relinquished the post of Conductor and Music Director at the end of the 2006-7 season after six outstanding years. For the 2007-8 season the members of the orchestra decided to invite guest conductors to take one concert each.
In October 2008, Benjamin Ellin was appointed Music Director. Under Benjamin’s direction, the orchestra’s reputation for bold and adventurous programming, as well as championing repertoire often neglected by professional orchestras, has continued and recent performances include the Requiems of Britten and Verdi, Mahler’s Second and Third Symphonies and Tippett’s Piano Concerto, as well as fully staged and costumed performances of Puccini’s La Boheme and Tosca, Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, and Bizet’s Carmen. In 2016 the SPO was recognised by the BBC in the programme All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge as one of the top five amateur orchestras in the country.
The orchestra encourages young players, and in the last few years we have been fortunate to welcome such up and coming soloists as singers Catrine Kirkman, Marta Fontanals-Simmons and Terence den Dulk, pianists Edyta Lajdorf, Evelyne Berezovsky and Olga Jegunova, and violinists Miina Järvi and Tadasuke Iijima.
The 2016-17 season was the SPO's 125th, and an updated history, SPO - 25 Years On, has been written by Christine Stanton and is now available.
The SPO is an amateur orchestra and all playing members pay an annual subscription. Extra professional players are brought in as required to fill gaps and play specialist instruments (harp, contra-bassoon etc.) We have vacancies in most string sections and for percussion. Brass and woodwind vacancies come around less often for obvious reasons but we are happy to put your name on a waiting list. If you are interested in joining the orchestra please contact the secretary. There is no formal audition and in the first instance we invite those interested in joining to attend rehearsals to see how they get on. Membership is subject to the agreement of the committee.
