The Team

Our team are our strength.

As the orchestra is part of the Arts Group, we can provide services in addition to the orchestra and choir, ranging from orchestrations and arrangements through to producing a full-scale concert with sound and lighting.  

The key players in the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain team are introduced here.

 
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Music Director

Robert D.C. Emery

Award-winning Robert D.C. Emery is a multi-skilled musician, equally at home playing or conducting classical and light music.   His work has taken him all over the world conducting the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, British Philharmonic, National Symphony, Royal Liverpool PhilharmonicThe London Chorus, Japan Philharmonic, Basel Symphony , Singapore Lyric, Evergreen Philharmonic and the Central Aichi Orchestra.  He has worked alongside world-class musicians and artists, such as Sir Simon Rattle and Bernard Haitink through to Blur/Damon Albarn, Russell Watson and Petula Clark

Robert is highly in demand as an orchestrator and has recently provided arrangements and produced albums recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Clear Sound Studios, Los Angeles.  He is a specialist in the rock/pop crossover format, producing hit tours for Lovebugs/Basel Symphony and Seven/21st Century Orchestra; both in Switzerland.

His other work includes being the Chief Executive of The Arts Group Ltd which encompasses the world’s leading musical instrument review and tuition website, Ted’s List; a creative production house, Arts Festivals; the partnered choir of the NPO, the National Philharmonic Chorus of Great Britain; and finally an artist agency, Arts Associates.

 
 
 
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Leader

Lizzie Ball

Lizzie enjoys a multi-genre career as a violinist (and occasional vocalist) weaving between classical, jazz, rock and world music.  Besides leading Arts Symphonic since it's inception, she is also leader of Nigel Kennedy’s Orchestra of Life, a role for which she was handpicked by Kennedy.  As a solo artist, ensemble performer and orchestral leader , Lizzie has performed across the world from the Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonic, to the Teatro Colon Buenos Aires and Beacon Theatre in New York, as well as major Arts festivals in the UK, Europe, US and Latin America, including BBC Proms, Latitude Festival, Wilderness Festival, Morelia Arts, and Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Lizzie’s creation of “Classical Kicks”, a unique night of classical music performance at the legendary Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in Soho, London (the first classical night in the clubs 55 year history) has been met with critical acclaim and is the perfect platform to marry exposure for up and coming artists with established artists, in which exciting new musical territory is explored crossing all genres. 

Lizzie has an MA in Music from St. Johns College, Cambridge and postgraduate performance diplomas from Royal College of Music/Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied with renowned teachers Yossi Zivoni and David Takeno. She plays a Joseph Kantucsher violin (1967) and is delighted to be endorsed by Strymon pedals, AER amplifiers, and Thomastik strings, and Eastman Music LA.

 

 
 
 

 

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Orchestral Manager

Dave Danford

Dave Danford is a professional percussionist at heart, where his music covers a wide variety of genres including orchestral concerto performances, live concerts with Alfie Boe, Evelyn Glennie, Karl Jenkins, Bryn Terfel and Russell Watson, recording sessions with the Canadian vocal group Aliqua and Dru Masters (composer for The Apprentice, BBC), and musical theatre productions including the London Coliseum run of Bat Out of Hell The Musical.

His collaborations with former BBC Radio 1 DJ Judge Jules have been heard on dance floors all over the world, and other work in the dance music genre includes collaborations with producer Darren Tate, and a number of self-produced projects under the artist name Reveri.

He has given masterclasses and performed solo recitals at a number of the UK's music conservatoires and universities (including the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama).

Dave's work as a composer, arranger and music producer covers many different genres. He writes accessible contemporary classical music (including Gweddi performed at the Welsh Proms in 2012 and his Cello Concerto, performed at St Davids Cathedral Festival in 2015), modernised traditional music (including arranging and directing the music for the opening ceremony of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 2012) and works as a record producer for an array of bands and artists (including his own folk fusion project Adran D). His music is published by Alto Publications.

As an established orchestral contractor, Dave is responsible for managing the NPO, British Sinfonietta, the Cinematic Sinfonia and the Welsh Session Orchestra.

 

 
 

The NPO is just one part of a larger group. 

The Arts Group Ltd comprises a variety of entertainment solutions.  

Supported by all these branches of The Arts Group, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain can provide more than the average orchestra. You name what you need for your event, and we bet The Arts Group can provide it!

 
 
 

Proud members of The Arts Group