Israeli conductor for concert

Press, 24 July 1985, Page 18

Israeli conductor for concert

Doron Salomon, one of Israel’s top young conductors, will wave the baton at this evening’s concert by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in the Christchurch Town Hall. This is his third tour with the orchestra. He will be joined by two soloists, violinist Valerie Rigg, and oboeist Ronald Webb. The concert will include works by Bach and Handel in its first half. The Handel music is his Concerto Grosso in G Minor and the Bach, his Concerto for violin and oboe. The second half is Debussy’s Sacred and Profane dances, Respighi’s Three Botticelli Pictures and Kabalevsky’s Comedians Suite. Doron Salomon was bom in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he began his musical studies. His father was one of the founders of the Israel Philharmonic and his mother is a singer. In 1974 he was awarded a scholarship by the Ameri-can-Israeli Cultural Foundation for studies overseas

and went to the Royal College of Music in London to specialise in conducting. He completed the course with distinction and during that time also took part in master classes by Leonard Bernstein in Jerusalem. He first conducted the N.Z.S.O. in 1982 and was immediately engaged for tours in 1984 and 1985. Valerie Rigg is acting assistant concertmaster of the N.Z.S.O. She was born in Masterton and started playing violin at the age of 13. She commuted to Wellington for lessons with Alex Lindsay and at 16 became a member of his String Orchestra. Two years later she went to London for nine years of study and freelance playing, and joined the orchestra on her return home. She plays on a fine French J. B. Vuillaume violin. Ronald Webb was educated in Christchurch and learned oboe at secondary school before going to Wellington to study with Guy Henderson, principal oboe

with the then National Orchestra. He was principal oboe of the first National Youth Orchestra in 1959 and the following year went to Lon-’ don to study with Terence MacDonagh, professor of oboe at the Royal College of Music and principal oboe in the Royal Philharmonic. He has been principal oboe of the N.Z.S.O. since 1975. He also teaches at Victoria University and the Wellington Polytechnic. This evening’s concert will begin at 8 p.m.