Alex Postlethwaite is a freelance violinist based in West Midlands. He is in much demand as orchestral leader, chamber musician, soloist and recording artist having worked with many top chart acts, including appearances on Top of the Pops, BBC, Channel 4, and French channel TF1. As a music scholar at Reigate Grammar School, he is best remembered for an atmospheric performance of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending during a thunderstorm.
Musically one of his passions is modern and contemporary music. For ten years he ran and led the Richmond Chamber Symphony, a group dedicated to playing the chamber orchestra music of the Twentieth Century, with whom he performed Schnittke’s 3rd Violin Concerto and Kaija Saariaho’s Nocturne as soloist.
Alex leads the Alexandria Ensemble whose recent concert performances include Martinu’s Piano Trio, John McCabe Musica notturno, and Schnittke Moz-Art. He also plays with the Blaze Ensemble performing chamber recitals around London. Seven years ago he was asked to lead “Toccata”, a charitable touring musical production company, consisting of a 13piece band, singers, chorus and dancers; with them he has toured Zambia, India, Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland and Kenya playing dozens of shows and raising money for a number of charities in those countries.
His favourite place is in the depths of an opera pit and leads many operatic groups including Park Opera, Guildford Opera, Windsor and Eton, and touring around stately homes in the UK with Candlelight Opera Company.
As a soloist, he has performed concerti by Prokofiev, Szymanowski, Schnittke, Bartok, Vivaldi, Mozart (including the Sinfonia Concertante with his wife Jane) and the Beethoven Triple with fellow members of the Toccata band – a far cry from the ‘cheese’ of Broadway and pop music from the seventies and eighties! Most recently was a performance of Szymanowski’s 2nd violin concerto in 2014. Hobbies include staying up late with his telescope (amateur astronomy), brewing beer, and staying active by chasing three young children around.
He leads the Alexandria String Quartet - a gigging quartet (weddings and events) and also the Jarualda Quartet, performing recitals around the UK
Recent groups leading:
Shrewsbury Symphony Orchestra (current leader)
London Shostakovich Orchestra (guest leader)
British police Symphony Orchestra (guest leader)
Dorking Philharmonia
Blaze Ensemble
Armenian Operatic Society
Epsom Light Opera
Park Opera
Guildford Opera
Maidenhead Operatic Soc.
Windsor and EToN Opera
South East London Orchestra (as dep)
Kingston Philharmonia (as dep)
Sainsbury Singers (annual shows)
Epsom College Choral Society
