Ramsbottom Choral Society & Orchestra

The Society is privileged to have Mr Wayne Marshall as its President and Miss Maggie McDonald as its Vice-President – information about their careers is shown below:

British-born Wayne Marshall travels worldwide as virtuoso organist,
solo pianist and conductor.

A renowned interpreter of Gershwin, Bernstein, Ellington and other
20th century American composers, appearances as conductor or
conductor/soloist have included many UK orchestras as well as
Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Hong Kong, Philharmonic, Amsterdam
Sinfonietta, Vienna Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Berliner Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Norddeutscher Rundfunkorchester and Flemish Radio Symphony.

His Vienna conducting debut in 2000 (Wonderful Town, Austrian Radio Symphony, Konzerthaus), was followed by Guys and Dolls (2002) and in 2003 and 2004 he conducted Vienna Symphony for Bregenz Festival’s acclaimed West Side Story. Highlights of the past two seasons have included hugely successful debuts with Vienna Radio Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, DSO-Berlin (for their New Year 2007 concerts), Washington National Opera (Porgy and Bess), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale and Sydney Symphony as well as returns to Santa Cecilia (Wonderful Town), Orquesta Sinfonica de Euskadi, Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo (Wonderful Town) and Bochumer Symphoniker, where he was artist-in-residence during 2006/7.

The current season includes Bernstein’s Mass at the George Enescu Festival, Bucharest; Porgy and Bess for Opéra Comique, Paris and Dallas Opera; further engagements with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi; and his return to Sydney Symphony.

Organist-in-residence at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, he has played in many of the world's top recital venues and in October 2004 premiered of James MacMillan’s organ concerto A Scotch Bestiary (LA Philharmonic/Salonen), followed by the UK and BBC Proms premiers and recording (BBC Philharmonic/Macmillan). His many appearances as solo pianist range from the Proms and Berlin Philharmonic to the Hollywood Bowl, and he has a varied and extensive discography. Solo appearances last season included Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Lille, Luxembourg, San Sebastian and Rome. In the current season he plays organ recitals in Beijing’s National Grand Theatre, De Doelen Hall, Rotterdam and the Vienna Konzerthaus and appears as concerto soloist with BBC NOW, Baltimore Symphony and London Symphony.

Originally from Grimsby, Margaret studied at the Royal Northern
College of Music where she was awarded both the Curtis Gold Medal
and the Elsie Sykes Fellowship. After further study in Milan, her career
was launched with three seasons spent with Glyndebourne Festival
Opera and Glyndebourne Touring Opera.

She now combines her role as a vocal coach to Sheffield Philharmonic and the Halle Choir, together with teaching in Bury and Leeds with a highly successful operatic and concert career which, to date, has encompassed a varied and impressive range of performances and commitments.