St Jude-on-the-Hill
Central Square
London
NW11 7AH
Bernstein West Side Story Overture
Price Adoration (arr. Morton)
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (arr. Farrington)
Ives Three Places in New England
Crawford Seeger Andante for Strings
Gershwin An American in Paris (arr. Farrington)
Fantasia returns to Proms at St Jude's to open this year's festival. Entitled 'An American Celebration', the concert features the work of Twentieth Century composers from the USA. At the heart of the programme is Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. The concert closes with Gershwin's iconic An American in Paris. Martin James Bartlett plays with Fantasia for the first time.
Martin is an English pianist who has twice reached the keyboard finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year, winning the competition in 2014.
Martin possesses a fearless technique – the British pianist is the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang, a Swiss prize in recognition of the achievements of a young pianist while forging an international solo career.
Bartlett’s early success was as the winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2014. This led to engagements with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and, in 2015, his BBC Proms debut.
Tom is Fantasia's Conductor & Artistic Director.
Tom’s start in music was fortuitous, as he was lucky to be introduced to an inspiring violin teacher by his grandmother at the age of four.
At eight he became a chorister of Westminster Abbey, an experience he describes as ‘transformative’, benefitting from musical training that featured high profile occasions like singing the solo at the Royal Wedding in 2011. Tom then attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, a state comprehensive that champions music and the arts.
He continued with the violin, sang, played the organ, and started to explore conducting, enjoying the process of rehearsals and the ability both to make music with and to bring together large groups of people. It was in his final year at school that he saw the potential for a career in it, founding Fantasia Orchestra in 2016.
Tom now enjoys a busy career with major orchestras, including with the BBC Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland. In his rare moments of downtime he enjoys running, listening to jazz, and cooking, likening the process to conducting — it being about balance, flavour, pacing and bringing people together.
St Jude-on-the-Hill
Central Square
London
NW11 7AH