‘He’s due for a serious revival!’ So says Leslie Howard at the end of Leonard Salzedo, a Life Composed in Music, the film Leonard’s daughter Caroline made about her father for his centenary last year.
To kick start this, the Leonard Salzedo Society is organising a Celebration Concert at Conway Hall, London, on Saturday 24 September 2022, 101 years after Salzedo was born, and featuring established musicians, some of whom knew Salzedo, and those at the very start of their career, including students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and reflecting the Society’s aim to support new artists.
Born in London in 1921, Salzedo, who died in 2000, enjoyed a long career as a violinist and conductor, as well as a composer who wrote over 150 works, a vast musically diverse legacy which demonstrates a love of his craft and an insider’s knowledge of the orchestra.
The Concert will begin with Salzedo’s most famous piece, the Divertimento for Three Trumpets and Three Trombones, whose opening fanfare was used for many years by the Open University, played by the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble.
Viv McLean will play piano music reflecting Salzedo’s Sephardic heritage and his particular skill as a ballet composer: Cancion en la Noche from Ladinos and the Tango from ballet The Fugitive, which was commissioned by Marie Rambert when Salzedo was still a student, the first of 17 ballet scores and the start of a 30-year collaboration with Ballet Rambert.
The concert will continue with a range of songs written across Salzedo’s composing career, featuring mezzo Lotte Betts-Dean, with pianist Ben Costello, and baritone Geoff Williams with students from Trinity Laban.
Salzedo was an accomplished violinist, as illustrated by virtuoso solo violin pieces Rhapsody and Partita, which Ann Hooley will play.
The concert will end with the Viola Concerto, written for Professor Richard Crabtree and conducted by maestro Leslie Howard, accompanied by students from Trinity Laban.
Book tickets online for the concert at Conway Hall London on 24 September.
For more information about Leonard Salzedo visit the Impulse Music website.