Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Roberto González-Monjas - Conductor
Ryan Drucker - Piano
“Before going out to play my concerto, I begin to get stage-fright. I work at it a bit and manage to calm down. Just the same I cannot take too light a view of the situation: I am in Moscow, where they’ve been looking forward so intensely to seeing me, and – worst of all – where they know my concerto so intimately I dare not play it badly.”
Prokofiev’s remark written in his diary of 1927, during his first return to Russia after almost a decade in Europe, tells us two things about the Third Piano Concerto: that it was difficult to play (even for a pianist of his abilities) and that it was popular.
The piano writing of the Third Piano Concerto may not match the especially cruel demands of the Second – designed to set the orchestra and solo piano apart (whereas in the First concerto the two were more integrated) – but the challenges are many, not least in terms of speed and stamina. Prokofiev’s friend and fellow composer Myaskovsky told him: ‘No-one but you will be able to play it.’ Nevertheless, pianist Boris Giltburg suggests the concerto could rank No. l in the chart of piano concertos that are the most ‘fun’ to play, and it has become a particular party piece for Martha Argerich and Yuja Wang to name just two of its prominent champions over the years.
Highly sought-after as a conductor and violinist, Roberto González-Monjas is rapidly making a mark on the international scene. A natural musical leader with strong vision and clarity, Roberto possess a unique mixture of remarkable personal charisma, an abundance of energy, enthusiasm and fierce intelligence. Roberto is Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of Dalasinfoniettan where his tenure commences in the 19/20 season. Roberto is also Artist in residence with Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon in his hometown Valladolid commencing in the 19/20 season. In this capacity, Roberto will conduct the orchestra in their subscription series in Valladolid, performs as a soloist, leads chamber music projects and takes part in educational activities.
Praised for his intelligent playing, formidable technique and powerful interpretations, Ryan Drucker is a Belgian-born concert pianist currently completing an Artist Diploma course at Guildhall School with Ronan O’Hora and Martin Roscoe. Upcoming performances this year include Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 (‘Emperor’), Op 73 with Southbank Sinfonia under Jeremy Summerly and Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata, Op 106 at the 2020 Dartington Festival.
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Violin I
Greta Papa*
Harriet Haynes
Sonja Tuomela
Sabine Sergejeva
Tilman Fleig
Emma Curtis
Laura Pastor Rocamora
Robyn Bell
Ana González Alonso
Kalina Mincheva
Nina Lim
Camille Said
Yunzhe Wu
Andrew Molloy
Yuriko Matsuda
Fanny Schell
Federica Gatti
Joana Praça
Violin II
Miranda Liu*
Isabella Fleming
Melissa Hutter
Hana Mizuta-Spencer
Paula Gorbanova
Julia Teresa Stein
Victoria Farrell-Reed
Sophia Prodanova
Julia Hernandez Sanchez
Gwyneth Nelmes
Matthew Sach-Keen
Joana Rodrigues
Lok Yee Feng
Demver Blancio
Ella Fox
Pau Mercadal Macías
Viola
Theodore Chung*
Matt Johnstone
Kate Correia De Campos
Lorena Cantó Woltèche
Meng-Hsien Cheng
Jeremy Tonelli-Sippel
Oscar Holch
Freya Hicks
James Flannery
Jo Eun Shim
Anastasia Ivaschenko
Matthew Kendell
Sally Belcher
Cello
Thomas Vidal*
William Clark-Maxwell
Julia Sompolinska
Patrick Moriarty
Christopher Hedges
Alexandra Fletcher
Hoi Ying Yuen
Alice Luddington
Anna Ryland-Jones
Charlotte Walker
Rachel Newbold
Evangeline Coplan
Double Bass
Piotr Hetman*
Gabriel Abad Varela
Fabián Galeana
Benjamin Du Toit
Seth Edmunds
Louis Van Der Mespel
Eleanor Roberts
Noé Garin
Suliac Maheu
Flute
Elina Bennett*
Ka Wing Wong
Piccolo
Fiona Sweeney
Oboe
Francesca Cox*
Rebecca Cherry
Cor anglais
Rose Livsey-Barnes
Clarinet
Andrew Mellor*
Raymond Brien
Bass clarinet
Julie Aaquist
Bassoon
Nadia Plummer*
Daniel Plant
Horn
Karen Starkman*
Paul Coll
Millie Lihoreau
Jacob Parker
Christos Maltezos
Trumpet
Samuel Rees*
Lucas Houldcroft
Harry Plant
Ted Riley
Trombone
Jake Durham*
David Cox
Bass Trombone
Simon Chorley
Tuba
Rory Wilson
Timpani
Aidan Marsden
Percussion
Thomas Hodgson*
Megan Landeg
Will Miles
Francisco Negreiros
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Roberto González-Monjas - Conductor
Ryan Drucker - Piano
“Before going out to play my concerto, I begin to get stage-fright. I work at it a bit and manage to calm down. Just the same I cannot take too light a view of the situation: I am in Moscow, where they’ve been looking forward so intensely to seeing me, and – worst of all – where they know my concerto so intimately I dare not play it badly.”
Prokofiev’s remark written in his diary of 1927, during his first return to Russia after almost a decade in Europe, tells us two things about the Third Piano Concerto: that it was difficult to play (even for a pianist of his abilities) and that it was popular.
The piano writing of the Third Piano Concerto may not match the especially cruel demands of the Second – designed to set the orchestra and solo piano apart (whereas in the First concerto the two were more integrated) – but the challenges are many, not least in terms of speed and stamina. Prokofiev’s friend and fellow composer Myaskovsky told him: ‘No-one but you will be able to play it.’ Nevertheless, pianist Boris Giltburg suggests the concerto could rank No. l in the chart of piano concertos that are the most ‘fun’ to play, and it has become a particular party piece for Martha Argerich and Yuja Wang to name just two of its prominent champions over the years.
Highly sought-after as a conductor and violinist, Roberto González-Monjas is rapidly making a mark on the international scene. A natural musical leader with strong vision and clarity, Roberto possess a unique mixture of remarkable personal charisma, an abundance of energy, enthusiasm and fierce intelligence. Roberto is Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of Dalasinfoniettan where his tenure commences in the 19/20 season. Roberto is also Artist in residence with Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon in his hometown Valladolid commencing in the 19/20 season. In this capacity, Roberto will conduct the orchestra in their subscription series in Valladolid, performs as a soloist, leads chamber music projects and takes part in educational activities.
Praised for his intelligent playing, formidable technique and powerful interpretations, Ryan Drucker is a Belgian-born concert pianist currently completing an Artist Diploma course at Guildhall School with Ronan O’Hora and Martin Roscoe. Upcoming performances this year include Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 (‘Emperor’), Op 73 with Southbank Sinfonia under Jeremy Summerly and Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata, Op 106 at the 2020 Dartington Festival.
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Violin I
Greta Papa*
Harriet Haynes
Sonja Tuomela
Sabine Sergejeva
Tilman Fleig
Emma Curtis
Laura Pastor Rocamora
Robyn Bell
Ana González Alonso
Kalina Mincheva
Nina Lim
Camille Said
Yunzhe Wu
Andrew Molloy
Yuriko Matsuda
Fanny Schell
Federica Gatti
Joana Praça
Violin II
Miranda Liu*
Isabella Fleming
Melissa Hutter
Hana Mizuta-Spencer
Paula Gorbanova
Julia Teresa Stein
Victoria Farrell-Reed
Sophia Prodanova
Julia Hernandez Sanchez
Gwyneth Nelmes
Matthew Sach-Keen
Joana Rodrigues
Lok Yee Feng
Demver Blancio
Ella Fox
Pau Mercadal Macías
Viola
Theodore Chung*
Matt Johnstone
Kate Correia De Campos
Lorena Cantó Woltèche
Meng-Hsien Cheng
Jeremy Tonelli-Sippel
Oscar Holch
Freya Hicks
James Flannery
Jo Eun Shim
Anastasia Ivaschenko
Matthew Kendell
Sally Belcher
Cello
Thomas Vidal*
William Clark-Maxwell
Julia Sompolinska
Patrick Moriarty
Christopher Hedges
Alexandra Fletcher
Hoi Ying Yuen
Alice Luddington
Anna Ryland-Jones
Charlotte Walker
Rachel Newbold
Evangeline Coplan
Double Bass
Piotr Hetman*
Gabriel Abad Varela
Fabián Galeana
Benjamin Du Toit
Seth Edmunds
Louis Van Der Mespel
Eleanor Roberts
Noé Garin
Suliac Maheu
Flute
Elina Bennett*
Ka Wing Wong
Piccolo
Fiona Sweeney
Oboe
Francesca Cox*
Rebecca Cherry
Cor anglais
Rose Livsey-Barnes
Clarinet
Andrew Mellor*
Raymond Brien
Bass clarinet
Julie Aaquist
Bassoon
Nadia Plummer*
Daniel Plant
Horn
Karen Starkman*
Paul Coll
Millie Lihoreau
Jacob Parker
Christos Maltezos
Trumpet
Samuel Rees*
Lucas Houldcroft
Harry Plant
Ted Riley
Trombone
Jake Durham*
David Cox
Bass Trombone
Simon Chorley
Tuba
Rory Wilson
Timpani
Aidan Marsden
Percussion
Thomas Hodgson*
Megan Landeg
Will Miles
Francisco Negreiros
