Yes, Ksenija Sidorova does it again with another high profile appearance on British Television’s ITV Brit Awards last Sunday night. This time instead of Nicola Benedetti it was the Classical Guitarist Miloš she was accompanying in a scintillating version of Piazzolla’s Libertango ably backed by the London Chamber Orchestra.
Miloš Karadaglic, known simply as Miloš had just received the award for Mastercard’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year with his album Latino. He is an incredibly refined player. Sadly no mention was made of Ksenija by anyone on stage even though she shared the platform with Miloš and arrived with him posing for photos outside the venue. At least Miloš blew her a kiss from across the stage to acknowledge her contribution! Come on British Media! Has nobody asked who this stunning musician is? You’ll be kicking yourselves when she picks up an award herself in a Classic Brit award ceremony in the not too distant future! There is substance below the glamorous exterior. One need only listen to her past classical albums to hear it. She plays anything from Bach and Scarlatti to Trojan and Berio with depth and panache. In fact she has just recorded Trojan’s Fairy Tales with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales soon to be released.
Perhaps one might say the Classic Brit awards represent only the more popular side of Classical Music in the UK and it’s true that there are lots of Classical musicians who do sterling work and go unrecognised but the awards also serve as an introduction or a way in to more serious music to the uninitiated and those who find Classical music exclusive and intimidating. If music appreciation was taught in schools perhaps this wouldn’t be the case because everyone would understand what makes Classical music special. One has to say that Miloš and Ksenija were in good company with the likes of Nicola Benedetti, Andrea Bocelli and Vasily Petrenko the conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, a wonderful orchestra and conductor whom I have had the honour of working with. Much deserved was the award to John Williams, composer of so many wonderful film soundtracks and to Gareth Malone with his efforts to get the nation singing in choirs again. He has managed to get kids from a school where music had no value singing in choirs and who had previously thought singing wasn’t cool. He made the seemingly uninspiring town of South Oxhey, previously lacking in any community activities sing and most recently he got the wives of soldiers from two military bases singing while their husbands were away in Afghanistan. He commissioned Paul Mealor to write “Wherever you are” for the choir with lyrics based on the letters the wives and soldiers wrote to each other. A truly talented man able to work with and inspire people from many different backgrounds.
Here is the list of award winners:
FEMALE ARTIST
Nicola Benedetti
Italia
Decca
MALE ARTIST
Vasily Petrenko
Shostakovich/Symphony No. 1 & 3
Shostakovich/Symphony No. 6 & 12
Shostakovich/Symphony No. 2 & 15
Naxos
Rachmaninov/Piano Concertos 1 & 4
Avie
Rachmaninov/Symphony No. 3
EMI Classics
MASTERCARD’S BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD
Miloš Karadaglić
Latino
Deutsche Grammophon
COMPOSER
John Williams
War Horse/The Adventures Of TinTin
Sony Classical
CLASSIC BRITS SINGLE OF THE YEAR IN ASSOCIATION WITH ITUNES
Military Wives/Gareth Malone
Wherever You Are
Decca
CRITICS’ AWARD
Benjamin Grosvenor
Chopin/Liszt/Ravel
Decca
CLASSIC FM ALBUM OF THE YEAR IN ASSOCIATION WITH MASTERCARD
André Rieu
And The Waltz Goes On
Decca
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR IN ASSOCIATION WITH RAYMOND WEIL
Andrea Bocelli
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
John Williams
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