Throughout, the trademark brilliance and clarity of Mahler’s orchestration was expertly realised by conductor John Traill.
(Oxford Mail)
Throughout, the trademark brilliance and clarity of Mahler’s orchestration was expertly realised by conductor John Traill.
(Oxford Mail)
He always puts the music first, and is an inspiring all-rounder.
(Robert Saxton)
[Radio 3]...is always keen to find the right person for the job: John's credentials as a performing musician (conductor), as well as his work as an academic (with a specialism in Beethoven's orchestral music) fit the bill precisely. We are delighted that you have given him the thumbs up.
(BBC CD Review Team)
John Traill is a prominent conductor, composer, and educator. He values musical endeavours at all levels and he fervently promotes music for all, with a particular focus in higher education. As Director of Music at St. Anne's College, University of Oxford, John co-ordinates music across the breadth of the academic community. With twenty years experience combining freelance performance with academic positions at leading UK conservatoires and universities, John is currently also director of the Oxford Conducting Institute, the St Anne’s Camerata, Ensemble ISIS (the new music group at Oxford Faculty of Music), the City of Southampton Orchestra, and the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra. Previous academic positions include acting Head of Performance at Bangor University, Teaching Fellow positions at Royal Holloway and King's College, University of London, and lectureships at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and Bristol University. Read full biography...
Click here to hear excerpts from this CD (this will take you to the iTunes website)
John conducts Stravinsky's The Firebird (1919 suite) at the Royal Albert Hall (OCYO, NFMY, 2010)
Click here to see John conducting, in rehearsal, the premiere of James Black's Mosaics, with the Oxford Philomusica (this will take you away from johntraill.ac.uk).
Click here to see John conducting, in rehearsal, the premiere of James Maloney's The Edmund Fitzgerald, with the Oxford Philomusica (this will take you away from johntraill.ac.uk)
Conducting composition workshops, concerts, and since 2012, the Oxfordshire Concerto Competition.
31 August 2008, Municipal Theatre, Itajai, Santa Catarina
28 August 2010
John premiered Andrew Gant's opera Don't Go Down The Elephant After Midnight, with soprano Patricia Rozario, at the Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival, Hammersmith, on 2nd and 3rd July 2008. Repeat performances at Oxford University, November 2008.
As musical director of Ensemble ISIS, John directed a residency with Sir Harrison Birtwistle and the London Sinfonietta, at the University of Oxford (October 2007).
Tim Benjamin's The Corley Conspiracy (premiere), Purcell Room, London
John was principal guest conductor of this pioneering new music ensemble, managed by Rose Hankey. Performances at the Warehouse, with notable premiers of works by Oscar Colomina i Bosch.
John directed a residency with this group during the launch of Ensemble ISIS at the University of Oxford, working with maestro Igor Dronov
Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony, special performance in the terminal adjacent to where the Titanic sailed from, 100 years to the day.
Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony, special performance in the terminal adjacent to where the Titanic sailed from, 100 years to the day.
Beethoven Symphony no.9
Performances in St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, and Town Hall, Rouen.
Mendelssohn's Elijah
Ensemble ISIS, live to film, perform Hans Eisler's score to Joris Ivens’s 1929 silent film of Amsterdam, Regen (Rain).
Ensemble ISIS, live to film, perform Ed Hughes' score to Joris Ivens’s 1929 silent film of Amsterdam, Regen (Rain).
15 November 2010. Alison Wells (soprano). This performance was part of a two-day residency with Max and Ensemble ISIS, directed by John, at the University of Oxford.
Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon, music by Polly Pen, adapted from the poem by Christina Rossetti. Kitty Karn / Nancy Crossman (Producers). WIU Music Theatre production.
John premiered Andrew Gant's opera Don't Go Down The Elephant After Midnight, with soprano Patricia Rozario, at the Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival, Hammersmith, on 2nd and 3rd July 2008. Repeat performances at Oxford, again with New Chamber Opera, were warmly received in November 2008.
Trinity Laban production, John was rehearsal conductor for musical director Tom Hammond.
19-21 September, 2007. London. Director - Sean Starke.
13-21 October 2007 (incl. repeat performances at Victoria Rooms, Bristol). COMA South West. Live performances of new score by Jean Hasse (also recorded for subsequent performances).
John recorded the soundtrack to The Caretaker's Symphony, with the City of Southampton Orchestra, and was a creative advisor for the film (about a conductor that goes mad). Ian Roderick Gray (Director). Gil Sutherland (Lead).
John conducts the premiere of this substantial opera (2'37'') by Peter Barton, written between 1967 and 2004, in this three disc recording. Based on the novel 'Le Rouge et le Noire' by Stendhal (Scott Moncrieff translation). Performers: John Traill, Gemma Hitchen, Matthew Rickard, Ross Buddie, Alexandra Dorman, Lisa Cassidy, Humphrey Berney, Andrew Mackintosh. Producer, Stef Edwards. Recorded at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, August 2004.
Richard White (Director). Bertolt Brecht and Hans Eisler.
Autumnal, op.5 (2003). Guild Records: GMCD 7389.
John regularly records with student ensembles at the RWCMD and the University of Oxford, for film and composer portfolios.
This highly praised appearance BBC Radio 3 prompted the BBC to write 'Thank you for your heartening comments. As regular listeners will realise, John Traill is a new voice on Radio 3. The production team on CD Review is always keen to find the right person for the job: John's credentials as an academic (with a specialism in Beethoven's orchestral music) as well as his work as a performing musician(an up and coming conductor) seemed to fit the bill precisely. We are therefore delighted that you have given him the thumbs up. Hopefully we'll hear from him again before too long.' Includes extracts from the following discs:
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 (c/w Weber: Adagio from the Clarinet Concerto No. 1; Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri - Sinfonia; Johan Wilhelm Wilms: Rondo from Sinfonia a grand orchestre) Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer (conductor) Channel Classics CCS SA 25207 (Hybrid SACD)
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 6 (from disc Beethoven Symphonies) Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska (conductor) BIS-SACD-1716 (Hybrid SACD)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 (c/w DVORAK: Symphonic Variations Op. 78; MARTINU: Incantation (Piano Concerto No. 4)) Philharmonia Orchestra, Rudolf Firkusny (piano), Rafael Kubelik (conductor) Testament SBT 1421 (CD, Mid Price) BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer (conductor) Naxos Historical 8.111248 (CD, Budget)
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 8 Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippe Herreweghe (conductor) PentaTone Classics PTC 5186 316 (Hybrid SACD)
BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 8 The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Paavo Jarvi (conductor) RCA Red Seal 88697 006552 (Hybrid SACD)
Radio 3's Listen Up! Festival of British Orchestras broadcast the recording of two premieres of works by Thomas Hyde and Christopher Marr. The works were commissioned by John and the CSO, performed live on 19 March 2005, Thornden Hall, Chandlers Ford, Southampton. Thomas Hyde Scherzo Capriccioso, Christopher Marr Follow the Trail.