Conductors
Carlos
Carlos del Cueto is a Gates Cambridge Scholar, pursuing postgraduate studies at Clare College. He was born and grew up in Mexico City, where he studied the piano with the eminent Carlos Barajas. In 2001 he began his conducting studies under the tutelage of the American choral conductor John Guthmiller. Carlos has been active as a conductor ever since.
Before coming to Cambridge Carlos read music and graduated with First Class Honours from Cardiff University, where he was very active as a conductor and pianist working with the university’s chamber orchestra, chamber choir, symphony orchestra, choral society, and contemporary music group. During the course of the past year he established strong relationships with various ensembles across Cambridge, and led performances of numerous works including Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Franck’s Symphony in D minor, and a highly acclaimed performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Clare College Music Society. In addition to working with CUSO, plans for the year include concerts with the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra and a chamber concert with the Cambridge University Music Club.
Currently, Carlos studies conducting principally with Peter Stark and Stuart Stratford, whom he assisted during the ETO production of Verdi’s Falstaff in 2005. Last year he participated in the RNCM Conducting Weekend with Baldur Brönnimann, and he has also had conducting tuition from Christopher Adey and Alexander Polishchuk. He continues to study the piano with Richard Ormrod, and when in the USA with renowned jazz pianist Kenny Werner.
Besides the symphonic repertoire, some of his chief interests are nineteenth-century opera, the sacred music of J.S. Bach, and late Beethoven. Carlos has also done extensive conducting work with musicians from diverse backgrounds (professional, amateur, jazz, young musicians), as well as creating and teaching workshops on rehearsal technique and general musicianship. These activities have taken him around the world to cities such as San Francisco, Madrid, Lyon, London, and Naples. In addition, Carlos has studied Indian classical music with Samir Chatterjee. Since 2001 he has conducted choral and instrumental ensembles for the SYDA Foundation, for which he currently serves as guest conductor. Recently he traveled to India, where he trained and conducted groups of young Indian musicians in various forms of Indian music, such as Vedic recitation and traditional bhajans.
Carlos brings to rehearsals and performances an energetic, thorough, and joyful approach that incorporates elements from his diverse musical and cultural background.
Julian
Julian Black has recently graduated from Christ’s College and will be studying in Cambridge for a Bachelor of Music in piano in 2007-8. He attended the Royal College of Music Junior Department for four years, during which time he studied the French Horn with Philip Box and Julian Baker, Piano with Natasa Lipovsek and Composition with David MacBride. He joined the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain on the French Horn in 2002, with whom he has performed such works as Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie, Don Juan, and Mahler's First and Eighth Symphonies under such conductors as Sir Roger Norrington, Marin Alsop and Sir Simon Rattle.
On coming to Cambridge, Julian received an Instrumental Award on the French Horn, and performed with his Wind Quintet in such locations as the Fitzwilliam Museum. He took up conducting at the end of his first year, conducting Beethoven’s First Symphony and Ravel’s Ma Mère L’Oye Suite in February 2005. Further concerts included Vaughan Williams’ Fifth Symphony in Michaelmas Term 2005 and Wagner’s Overture to Parsifal, Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le Toit and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony in Lent Term 2006. During this time, he received conducting lessons from Peter Stark and a conducting masterclass from Martyn Brabbins and attended the Canford Conducting Summer School. He currently studies conducting with Sir Colin Davis.
Julian’s largest project, spanning a year and a half in preparation, was to put on a fully staged production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with orchestra in West Road Concert Hall, which ran for four performances in February 2007. He also conducted the world première of an opera by Ed Nesbit as the CUOS May Week Production. Other projects in the previous year included a performance of Handel’s Messiah with Christ’s College Music Society and Cambridge University Baroque Ensemble (CU3E) in Great St. Mary’s Church, Cambridge. Julian has also been one of the conductors for CUMS II this year, and has greatly enjoyed conducting them in Dvořák’s Sixth Symphony and the Schumann Piano Concerto. He also works closely with Christ’s College Chapel Choir, of which he is a member, and whom he conducts on a regular basis in Evensong and public concerts.
Future plans include conducting both CUMS I and CUMS II in 2007-8 as well as CUSO, with whom he is greatly looking forward to working this year. Also planned is a performance of Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias early in Michaelmas Term 2007.