Here is an interview from earlier in the year with Robert Hugill from Plant Hugill:

The young French Horn player Ben Goldscheider won the BBC Young Musician Brass Category Final in 2016 and currently studies at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. His debut disc was recently released on Willowhayne records [see my review], with an eclectic mix of music by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jörg Widmann, Robert Schumann, Volker David Kirchner, York Bowen and Nikolaus von Krufft. Ben recently performed Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with the European Union Chamber Orchestra at St John’s Smith Square, and I took the opportunity to meet up with him before rehearsals to chat more about life as a young French Horn player.

Read the FULL INTERVIEW here: Planet Hugill

In November 2018, Ben was part of a project run by Goldfield Productions to record the entire chamber music repertoire of Erika Fox.

“Erika Fox was born in Vienna in 1936 and came to England as a war refugee. Her highly distinctive musical style is a result of a childhood suffused with music of Eastern European origin; Chassidic music, liturgical chant embellished with heterophony, modal ancient melodic lines that have much in common with the folk music of Eastern Europe. A prolific composer, she studied with Harrison Birtwistle and Jeremy Dale Roberts and has a catalogue of 52 works showing a natural affinity for the human voice, for theatre and the stage.”

Ben, alongside Kate Romano (clarinet) and Richard Uttley (piano) recorded Erika’s piece, “Quasi Una Cadenza” for horn, clarinet and piano for NMC Records. The entire disc will be released in summer 2019.

Goldfield Productions/Ensemble

NMC Records

Erika Fox

Here, Ben is pictured with Kate Romano, Richard Uttley, Erika Fox (L-R) following the recording session at Stapleford Granary.

On the 18th November 2018, Ben played Richard Strauss’s Second Horn Concerto under Ian Brown and the Henley Symphony Orchestra at the Reading Concert Hall.

“the young virtuoso Ben Goldscheider lost no time in reminding us of its warm seductive tone and astonishing versatility.

Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No 2 places considerable demands on the soloist and on the orchestra. Both rose to the occasion to give us a most exhilarating performance. All the intricate interplay between the horn soloist and orchestral soloists was executed with immaculate precision. Towards the end, as if to remind us of role of the horn as an essential orchestral instrument, the score dictates that the soloist be joined by the orchestra’s horn section in a stirring chorus of triumph. This was done with enthusiasm and style.

To the audience’s delight Ben Goldscheider returned to the stage after the interval to play Gilbert Vinter’s Hunter’s Moon, a light-hearted portrayal by horn and orchestra of an inebriated huntsman.”

Read the full review here:

The Henley Standard

Over two weeks, Ben joined the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for performances across the USA. Starting in Chicago at the Symphony Centre, the orchestra toured to Washington (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall), Berkeley (Zellerbach Hall) and Los Angeles (Walt Disney Hall). The repertoire included Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote and Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony.

Positive reviews for the famous horn solo in the second movement of the Tchaikovsky symphony appeared in the New York Classical Review “phrased it tenderly”, the L.A times “soulfully insinuating […] could have stood in front of the orchestra as a soloist” and the San Francisco Chronicle.

New York Classical Review

Ben Goldscheider is the only student of the great Czech Horn player Radek Baborak at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. The son of professional string players, Goldscheider started to learn the cello, but turned to French horn when he was diagnosed with the lung condition Bronchiectasis at the age of six, as a way of strengthening his lungs. Progress was rapid, and at the age of 18 he won the brass category of the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016, the year that cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason ultimately triumphed.

Goldscheider’s competition programme included works that he has now recorded for his debut disc, released by Willowhayne Records and reviewed on page 62, not least Esa-Pekka Salonen’s extraordinary Concert Etude for solo horn, which demonstrates the sheer range of sound and the athleticism the instrument is capable of. As well as contemporary solo pieces-bold choices for any debut disc-Goldscheider is joined by pianist Daniel Hill in worms by Schumann, York Bowen, Krufft and Kirchner.

As Goldscheider puts it, his intention is “to capture the development of the horn as it grew from its natural state with no valves, to the full double chromatic horn today”, and this debut album showcases the music’s resulting increase in virtuosity.

Such an exploratory personality, as well as musical maturity and technical ease, bodes well for Goldscheider’s development. We’ll be hearing a lot more of him.

Ben chosen as BBC Music Magazine “RISING STAR”

1.Where were you born?

London, United Kingdom.

2.What has been the highlight of your career so far?

To choose one is simply too difficult and also a shame so therefore I will have to be difficult and choose two. Being involved throughout the entire process of BBC Young Musician was just remarkable and to get to the final and experience that atmosphere was really astounding. Also my debut in the Philarmonie Berlin was an experience I will never forget.  To play to a sold out hall as iconic as that was a dream come true.

3.Who is your musical hero?

Daniel Barenboim. What he has managed to achieve and experience in his life of music is quite remarkable and I think he really sets the benchmark for what is possible both artistically and culturally in the context of being a musician.  For me, he really shows an unrivalled passion for his art and it’s incredibly inspiring.

4.What would be your dream concert?

I think without a shadow of a doubt to commission a concerto at the BBC Proms. I have such a passion for promoting the horn as a solo instrument, with a particular focus for new music that that would really be the pinnacle of everything I want to do.

On the 21st February 2018, Ben chatted with Katie Derham on the BBC Radio 3 In Tune Programme. Click the link below to hear his interview plus a performance of music by Beethoven, Strauss and York Bowen.

LISTEN HERE

26 days left to listen at the date of publication 24/02/18

“When it comes to horn repertoire, one would be shooting themselves in the foot if they started to get picky!”

Read the full interview concerning Ben’s Debut album, horn repertoire and future plans HERE