Orchestral bookings (since July 2005) ORCHESTRAS Academy of St Martin In The Fields Brandenburg Sinfonia Chameleon Arts Orchestra English Sinfonia London Mozart Players London Sinfonietta New London Chamber Ensemble Philharmonia Orchestra Sinfonia Verdi SESSIONS Cathy Giles Cool Music Ltd Hilary Skewes Isobel Griffiths London Session Orchestra EDUCATION WORK Academy of St Martin in the Fields Education Masterclass   The recital button is inactive   The Repertoire button is inactive.      Reviews Richard Todd, Friday, October 01, 2004 © The Ottawa Citizen 2004 " Let's face it, Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) was not a great composer. He wasn't even a very good one, and would be entirely forgotten today had he not written a good bit of the double-bass's basic repertoire. He was, by some accounts, the Liszt and Paganini of that instrument. Sometimes, however, a banal piece such as his showy Gran Duo Concerte for violin, double bass and orchestra can be a lot of fun to hear if the soloists can meet its extravagant technical demands. Violinist Donnie Deacon and bass player Leon Bosch performed the duo Wednesday evening with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. They definitely have what it takes, though Bosch's performance was the more impressive. It's not that he was better than Deacon per se. The violin part is exceedingly difficult, but no more than in, say, a Paganini concerto. Deacon played it brilliantly. Yet Bosch's rendition of the exceedingly showy bass part was thrilling in a way no violinist's could be. It wanders well into the range of the violin and is full of false harmonics and other string techniques that bass players are seldom required to use. The fact that he did it all with nearly perfect intonation is a major achievement in itself. Conductor Pinchas Zukerman opened the program with Haydn's six-movement Symphony no. 60 in C major. It was a pleasing performance, blemished only now and then by instances of imperfect ensemble playing. Taste can be a funny thing. Haydn and Mozart were contemporaries and they wrote in similar musical languages. Yet, for this listener at least, Zukerman's Mozart is usually too plush and artificially elegant, whereas his Haydn is robust and engaging, albeit a little anachronistic. The big work on the program was the Brahms Symphony no. 4 in E minor, op. 98. Brahms is another composer that Zukerman conducts well. His interpretations are thoughtful and relatively easy-going. Some listeners may miss the punch that others bring to the score, but these are qualities that too often wander into hysteria. Zukerman avoids that altogether, most notably in the symphony's final movement. The rest was equally pleasing. This symphony may have its share of dark clouds, but the sun shines through often enough under the direction of conductor Zukerman. The fact that the orchestra played well didn't hurt either. "   The discography button is inactive.   The Outreach button is inactive. LeonDonniePinchas.jpgLeonHyatt1.jpgLeonHyatt10.jpgLeonHyatt11.jpgLeonHyatt12.jpgLeonHyatt13.jpgLeonHyatt14.jpgLeonHyatt2.jpgLeonHyatt3.jpgLeonHyatt4.jpgLeonHyatt5.jpgLeonHyatt7.jpgLeonHyatt8.jpgLeonHyatt9.jpg        The Teaching button is inactive.

Biography
Leon is Principal Double Bass with the East of England Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. He is also a member, and on the Board of Directors, of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Leon commissioned and premiered Pueblo for Solo Bass by John McCabe, an example of his constant search for new repertoire to perform on the Double Bass. And as an always busy soloist he has given many recitals at Music Clubs and Festivals throughout Britain and Europe. Performances that he gave at the Sofia and Plovdiv Festivals were broadcast live on Bulgarian Television.

Leon's London Concerto debut took place in 1984 with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and he has also given concerto performances with Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, Stevenage Symphony Orchestra, Perfoming Arts Orchestra, The Birmingham Ensemble and the Manchester Camerata.

Leon is a founder member of the Music Group of Manchester and has performed chamber music works with the Lindsay, Medici, Brodsky, Veravo and Emperor Quartets and with Mephisto, Expose, Firebird, Camerata and the Academy of St Martin's Chamber Ensembles.

His session work includes work for Rob McIntosh and Darrell Kok (Cool Music).

In July 1998 Leon was awarded an MA in Intelligence and International Relations. Leon is currently engaged in Doctoral Research.

In August 2004 Leon was interviewed by the Observer Magazine, please click this link to read the article..

Orchestral Work
Orchestras: Academy of St Martin In The Fields, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Chameleon Arts Orchestra, English Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, London Sinfonietta, New London Chamber Ensemble, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonia Verdi. Sessions: Cathy Giles, Cool Music Ltd, Hilary Skewes, Isobel Griffiths, London Session Orchestra. Education Work: Academy of St Martin in the Fields Education, Masterclass.

Leon's orchestral work also includes the Manchester Camerata (principal 1985 - 1996), Scottish Ballet (co-principal 1985), member of the Music Group of Manchester, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia and the Northern Chamber Orchestra.

Education
Leon was born in Cape Town, South Africa 1961. Leon's schooling took place at Salt River High School, Cape Town. Leon's graduate studies took place at University of Cape Town (1978), the Royal Northern College of Music (1982) and the University of Salford (1995).

Prizes and Awards

• North West Arts Young Chamber Musicians' Platform (winner 1985)
• Leon was the first bassist to be awarded PPRNCM with Distinction

Teachers: Zoltan Kovatz, Max Runge, Rodney Slatford, Michael Calder and Duncan McTier

Leon's web links
www.leonbosch.co.uk
www.asmf.org
www.lmp.org

Leon joined Morgensterns in March 1995

Leon's web profile was last updated 19th Jul 2008