Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra

Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra

March 3, 2023 | Yardley Hall

Past Event

Pre-show talk with Paul Laird, 7 p.m. in MTC 211.


The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, renowned for fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world’s greatest orchestral music.


Program (subject to change)

  • Michael Tippett: Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Cello Concerto in A major No. 3
  • Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto Grosso in F major, Op. 6 No. 2
  • Heinrich Biber: Battalia
  • Francesco Geminiani: “La Folia” 12 Concerti Grossi after Corelli’s Violin Sonatas

Formed by Sir Neville Marriner in 1958 from a group of leading London musicians, the Academy gave its first performance in its namesake church in November 1959. Through unrivaled live performances and a vast recording output – highlights of which include the 1969 best-seller Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film “Amadeus” – the Academy quickly gained an enviable international reputation for its distinctive, polished and refined sound. With more than 500 releases and a comprehensive international touring program, the name and sound of the Academy is known and loved by classical audiences throughout the world.

When COVID-19 sparked lockdowns across the globe, the Academy responded by establishing a digital campaign to fund the production of new performance videos. New films of Elgar and Shostakovich will be out soon, and future filming plans include recording with Music Director Joshua Bell.

In addition, the orchestra launched a new concert series at its spiritual home of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London’s Trafalgar Square. The series – the first of its kind in the orchestra’s home city for many years – has seen the Academy collaborate with international artists on concert programs devised by members of the orchestra.

Gary Hoffman, cello

Gary Hoffman’s style is characterized by fullness of sound, instrumental mastery and exceptional artistic sensibility. He made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in London at the age of fifteen, quickly followed by New York. At the age of twenty-two he became the youngest faculty appointee in the history of the Indiana University School of Music. After winning the Premier Grand Prix of the Rostropovich International Competition in Paris in 1986, he embarked on an international career, appearing with the world’s most noted orchestras, in major recital and chamber music series and at prestigious festivals.

Although he has great affection for the classical cello repertoire, Hoffman does not neglect contemporary music, of which he is a committed champion. Numerous composers, among them Graciane Finzi, Renaud Gagneux, Joel Hoffman, Laurent Petitgirard and Dominique Lemaître, to name only a few, have dedicated their concertos to him.

He is a regular guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York and is a remarkable and much sought-after chamber partner. He has made recordings for BMG (RCA), Sony, EMI and Le Chant du Monde, and now records on the La Dolce Volta label.

Gary Hoffman has lived in Paris since 1990. He performs on a 1662 Nicolo Amati, the ‘ex- Leonard Rose.’

In 2011, Mr. Hoffman was appointed Maître en Résidence for cello at the prestigious Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.

Supported, in part, by Kansas Public Radio and Peter Goulet.