LSO Discovery

Lucy Hale
^1994–2021

Born in 1994, Lucy was an extraordinary force for good, never letting the disability she lived with limit her musical dreams. She shone at composition in her days attending the Royal College of Music Junior Department, and proceeded to study at the Royal Northern College of Music as an undergraduate with Adam Gorb and David Horne, and as a postgraduate with Gary Carpenter and Emily Howard. She graduated from her Masters in 2019 with a distinction.

In a few short years she achieved so much: she was the inaugural Young Composer in Association with BSO Resound, Young Composer in Residence with Orchestras for All, and a dedicated Associate Musician with Drake Music. She brought such energy and curiosity to every pursuit, and had a seemingly endless appetite for collaboration and innovation. She wrote music for choreographers, film, for the opening of the high-profile venue HOME in Manchester, and for flautist Kathryn Williams’ album Coming up for Air released by NMC Recordings.

She received commissions from Drake Music in partnership with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestras for All, the National Open Youth Orchestra, Lasham Music Festival, Feelgood Theatre Productions and the Royal Northern College of Music. Lucy's works have been performed at venues including the Barbican Centre, Institute for Contemporary Arts, Manchester Cathedral, The Place, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh and the Imperial War Museum North.

As a Rosie Johnson RPS/Wigmore Hall Apprentice Composer, Lucy was due to write a new work for performance at Wigmore Hall. Instead, in the planned concert on 4 June 2021, one of her existing works Sustain and Snap for cello was performed in tribute to her.

Her compositions give a clear picture of a composer whose imagination knew no constraints: from the wintry brilliance of the flute quartet Zeta to the incendiary drama of the orchestral work To Run With The Tigers. With such confidence, each work takes us straight into its own captivating sound world.

One need only look at her Twitter feed or writing on her website to get a sense of Lucy’s signature passion: she had an eloquent, positive, reasoned voice beyond her years on matters of equality, access and creativity. Whatever Lucy had to say, it was always full of heart and wit, and always worth hearing.

_{Tribute courtesy of the Royal Philharmonic Society}

Julián Gil Rodríguez
LSO Principal Second Violin

A violinist from Bogotá, Colombia, Julián Gil Rodríguez has held positions in the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Spain, and since 2013 has been a proud member of the LSO, with whom he has had the pleasure of travelling the world making music. Julián tremendously enjoys the popular music scene which has led him to perform in London venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and Jazz Café. In his free time he can be found on his bike trying to keep up with his friends.

Maxine Kwok
LSO First Violin

Maxine Kwok began her professional orchestral career touring America with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields while an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music. She successfully auditioned for the LSO String Experience scheme and became a permanent member of the First Violin section after graduating with an ARAM and first class honours degree.

Maxine can be seen on YouTube in duo concerts and masterclasses filmed at LSO St Luke’s, and also on the LSO Play web app. Maxine is keen on sharing her musical experiences with the younger generation and has enjoyed coaching the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain and the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra in Aix-en-Provence. She has written articles for and been interviewed by Classic FM, the Violin Channel, the Strad, Musical Orbit and Bachtrack among others. Maxine has also recently enjoyed hosting and presenting shows for Scala Radio.

Sofia Silva Sousa
LSO Viola

Sofia Silva Sousa is a Portuguese viola player. She holds a Bachelor's degree from the Royal Academy of Music (2018) where she studied with James Sleigh and Martin Outram, and a Master's degree from the Royal College of Music (2020), having studied with Nathan Braude. She has been an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel since 2018, under the guidance of Miguel da Silva, where she is the recipient of a generous scholarship from an anonymous donor.

Sofia performed her solo debut concerto with the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra in 2016, and the Orquestra Gulbenkian in 2018, after being awarded Prémio Maestro Silva Pereira (Portuguese Young Musician of the Year). Sofia is a member of the Tejo String Quartet, and started an apprenticeship in 2020 at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris. Sofia became a Member of the LSO in 2020.

Daniel Gardner
LSO Cello

Daniel Gardner began playing the cello at the age of six, and by the time he was eleven he had a won a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Music Junior Department studying with Joan Dickson and Margaret Moncrieff. During his time at the RCMJD Daniel was successful in many competitions, including gaining first prize in the Gordon Turner memorial prize. Daniel went on to study at the senior department of the RCM with Steven Doane, winning first prize in many cello and chamber music prizes. After studying in the US and Manchester, Daniel joined the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and later made the move to London as number four cello with the Philharmonia Orchestra, before becoming a member of the LSO.

Angie Newman
BSL interpreter

Angie Newman has worked extensively across music and deaf education for many years. Her knowledge and expertise in these areas, combined with her skills as both a British Sign Language interpreter and a musician, enable her to make music more accessible to young deaf people and adults, bridging the worlds of deafness and music, something she feels passionate about.

She has worked for six successive years with the BBC interpreting family Proms, including CBeebies Proms. She works with a variety of leading orchestras in the UK, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and many others, interpreting for their education and community programmes. Angie loves to relax by walking, cycling, playing the piano and violin, and practising yoga. 

In today's concert, Angie will be adapting her British Sign Language interpretation to include more visual and gestural elements.