60th Birthday Celebrations

Monday 6 June 2011

Junior Department alumnus and renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber has been celebrating his 60th birthday this year with a series of special concerts.

He invited friends and family, including his brother Andrew Lloyd Webber, star pianist Melvyn Bragg and virtuoso violinist Tasmin Little, and 24 cellists from the RCM to join him on stage to celebrate a lifetime of music-making.

“It was no easy task getting so many cellos together”, Head of Strings Mark Messenger said. “But Julian inspired us to hunt high and low to find 24 cellos to perform Klengel’s Hymnus.” The group also performed the wonderful Bachianas Brasileiras no 5 by Villa Lobos and a selection of other works for cello and ensemble.

A concert at St Paul’s Church was enthusiastically received and acted as a useful warm up for a glitzy evening at the Royal Festival Hall with Philharmonia Orchestra.