Violin

David Greed

David Greed studied at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1978 he was appointed Leader of the newly formed Orchestra of Opera North becoming the youngest leader in the country. He has appeared regularly as soloist, both with the Opera North Orchestra and with other orchestras throughout the region. David's repertoire is extensive, including the concertos of Britten, Berg, Menotti, Brahms, Elgar, Sibelius, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich No 1, Bruch, Barber, Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi, as well as other smaller works. He has appeared as guest Leader with many orchestras – Philharmonia, City of Birmingham, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, Halle, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Royal Opera House, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Irish Chamber, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra and English National Ballet. In 1999 he led the Orchestra of the Royal Opera on a concert tour of the U.S.A. In 2007 he visited Oslo for a 3 week period as guest leader of the Orchestra of the Norwegian Opera. He has recorded 'The Lark Ascending' (Vaughan-Williams) for Naxos with David Lloyd-Jones and the Orchestra of Opera North. This recording was used as part of the sound-track to the movie ‘Man on Wire’ which won a BAFTA and an Oscar for ‘Best British Documentary Film’ in 2008! He has also recorded the Elgar Concerto with Hertfordshire Youth Orchestra. His activities as a chamber musician are extensive. He founded ’Capricci’ which was a piano-based chamber ensemble giving concerts in the north of England for almost 2 decades. And he has performed many chamber concerts with various chamber ensembles from the Orchestra of Opera North, particularly the Opera North String Quartet. In 2020 he joined the Victoria String Quartet based in Manchester. In his position as Music Director of the Sinfonia of Leeds David has completed recordings of the piano concertos of Bartok, Lutoslawski, Chopin, Rachmaninov’s 3rd concerto and Beethoven’s Emperor concerto. He has also held the position of Principal Conductor of the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra (Middlesborough) and has conducted the Helix Ensemble (Loughborough), the City of Leeds Youth Orchestra, works regularly with the Wharfedale Chamber Ensemble and coaches violin at the Royal Northern College and Chetham's School, Manchester. David has also made visits to the State of Kasakhstan and has held the position of Principal Guest Conductor with its National Symphony Orchestra. He has coached violin and conducted masterclass sessions for the National Youth Orchestra and is a 1st violin coach with the European Union Youth Orchestra.. He plays on a violin by J.B. Guadagnini owned by the Yorkshire Guadagnini 1757 Syndicate. In the summer of 2022 David left his position as leader of the Orchestra of Opera North, bringing to a conclusion his tenure in that position of 44 years.