Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago

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Guildhall Symphony Orchestra
Ben Gernon - Conductor
Ionel Manciu - Violin

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote the first of his two violin concertos for the great virtuoso David Oistrakh in 1947 and ’48. But the later stages of its composition coincided with the meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party which produced the notorious ‘Zhadanov decree’ – part of Stalin’s post-war crackdown on artists and intellectuals. The decree named Shostakovich, Prokofiev and other leading composers as anti-Soviet ‘formalists’, and led to a ban on performances of Shostakovich’s music and to his dismissal from the Leningrad Conservatoire. In his last class there before that took effect, Shostakovich played through the Concerto for his pupils, enlisting the help of a violin student, Venyamin Basner, to ensure that the taxing solo part was playable; Basner later recalled ‘the intimate and charged atmosphere’ of this occasion. After that, the Concerto was consigned to the composer’s proverbial bottom drawer for several years. It was first performed, by Oistrakh with Evgeny Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic, in October 1955 – by which time Stalin had died and Shostakovich had (not for the first time) been rehabilitated.

Born in 1989, Ben Gernon first attracted international attention in 2013 when he won the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductor’s Award. He is praised for his effortless authority on the podium, his drive and command of the orchestra and his incisive, heart-felt and evocative interpretations and has earned himself a reputation as one of the most exciting young conductors working today. Ben took up his position of Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2017/18 season, becoming one of the youngest conductors to have held a titled position with a BBC orchestra.

Born in Bender and raised in Chisinau (Republic of Moldova), Ionel Manciu took his first violin lessons from Tamara Caftanat and later Galina Buinovschi at the Musical Lyceum C. Porumbescu in Chisinau. He made his official debut at the age of ten with the National Chamber Orchestra.

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Violin 1
Juliette Roos
Katherine Sung
Timothy Chua
Nadine Nigl
Cheuk Yin Lam
Arisa Nemoto
Joshua Dalton
Charlotte Amherst
Diogo Ramos
Tilman Fleig
Duygu Ince
Leegene Kwon
Julia Stein
Lucas Gomes De Freitas
Ada Dobrowolska
Ella Fox
Cristina Morell
Berfin Aksu

Violin 2
Andrea Timpanaro
Ruth Heney
Lyrit Milgram
Lorenzo Narici
Rebecca Raimondi
James Wicks
Aria Kitaguchi
Helena Szwoch
Riley Court-Wood
Callie Brennan
Johanna Rode
Ewelina Misztal Elena Pavoncello
Kwan Lam Lau
Pau Mercadal Macías
Victoria Farrell-Reed
Millie Ashton

Viola
Alexander McFarlane
Anna Growns
Agnieszka Zyniewicz
Philippa Bint
Oscar Holch
Jeremy Tonelli-Sippel
James Cullen
Lorena Cantó Woltèche
Kate Correia De Campos
Carlos David Contreras
Freya Hicks
James Flannery

Cello
Yoanna Prodanova
Tamaki Sugimoto
Thomas Vidal
Joshua Lynch
Francisco Javier González
Pedro Silva
Akito Goto
Dayana Harizanova
Jacky Siu
Laura Pascali
Frederick Winterson
Emma Besselaar
Dan Benn

Double bass
Lewis Reid
Miguel Pedraza
Alexandre Cruz Dos Santos
Miguel Pliego García
Mario Torres Valdivieso
João Freitas Dos Santos
Martin Ludenbach
Paloma Vallecillo Rico
Dan Molloy
Patrick Phillip

Flute
Cara Garton
Elizabeth Whitehead

Piccolo
Enlli Parri

Oboe
Bernice Lee
Laura Ware-Heine

English horn
Michael Stowe

Clarinet
Andrew Farnden
Hiu Lam Lo

Bass clarinet
Patrick Davies

Bassoon
Emma Westley
Rebecca Allen
Sara Sesu

Double Bassoon
Sara Sesu

Horn
Oliver Johnson
Emily Burley
Alex Willett
Billy Marshall
Frank Walker

Trumpet
Jacob Rosenberg
Isabelle Draper
Ben Day

Trombone
Jacob Coton
Elinor Chambers

Bass trombone
Adam Crighton

Tuba
George Lee

Timpani
Harry Malabar

Percussion
Jordan Wright-Murray
Elaine So
Peter Rayner

Harp
Manon Browning
Helena Ricci

Celeste & Piano
Thomas Ang