James Golborn
Musical Director | Conductor
Professional Stick Waver
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James Golborn is a London-based pianist, conductor and composer with a unique background spanning both jazz and classical music. He studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he completed a Bachelor’s degree in composition and a Master’s degree in jazz percussion, graduating in 2016. Highlights of his time there included composing and co-producing full-length musical Fleeced!, which went on to tour to Edinburgh Fringe Festival after its initial run at The Gate Arts Centre in Cardiff, and conducting a performance of his piece Voyager I for 50-piece orchestra in the Dora Stoutzker Hall.
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Composition projects since have included a commission for narrator, two clarinets, string quartet and percussion for the Bristol-based Insight Ensemble; composing, arranging and underscoring musicals and plays for venues including Harlow Playhouse, the Union Theatre, the Gaiety Theatre (Isle of Man) and the Underbelly Festival at the Southbank Centre; and more recently recording flute and piano piece Erin with the Luna Duo.
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As well as composing for stage, James has over five years of experience as a musical director for professional stage productions. He went on to study classical conducting privately with Peter Stark and with John Landor on the London Musical Arts conducting course. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been acting conductor of the London Lawyers’ Chorus, preparing a virtual performance of Haydn’s Te Deum in C No. 2. James works as a ballet pianist at the Royal Academy of Dance, Pineapple Studios and the highly esteemed Thomas’ London Day Schools.
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For more information please visit www.jamesgolborn.com
Pippa Griffin
Leader
Cool violinist
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Pippa is a musician from London, specialising in acoustic and electric Violin and Viola, experienced in genres from Classical, Musical Theatre, Film and Pop. Since graduating from the London College of Music with a First Class Honours in Music Performance and a Diploma in Conducting Pippa has continued to have a varied freelance career.
Pippa plays with a variety of ensembles from orchestras and chamber groups to theatre, pop and function bands for concerts, weddings, and events. Notable performance venues include the Royal Festival Hall, Trafalgar Square, Royal Concert Hall and St. John’s Smith Square. Pippa also regularly performs in Musical Theatre shows and is currently leading the strings in the Thank You For The Music ABBA Tribute Tour.
As a session musician, Pippa has recorded strings for artists including Novelty Island and Ryta Ray at Abbey Road Studios, where she has also recorded original compositions written for Belle String Quartet, of which she is Co-Founder and Violist. Pippa also records her own multi-instrumental arrangements which she shares online.
Pippa teaches Violin, Viola and music theory and currently works at Ealing Junior Music School.
For more information please visit www.pippagriffin.com
Chris Childs
Founder | Orchestra Manager
The one who sends all the emails
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After taking up the violin for a hobby as an adult, Chris soon found himself playing in various amateur orchestras across London, where he discovered the joy of playing classical music. Chris is currently a long-term member of the Wandsworth Symphony Orchestra and has played violin as part of a pit band for local amateur productions of the musicals Funny Girl, Big Fish and Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein.
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Having previously played as the Leader of the City Showtunes Orchestra, Chris decided to combine his love of playing with his passion for musical theatre, and formed the Richmond Light Orchestra in 2021.
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Chris runs his own business from home, working both as a freelance Graphic Designer, and also as a Cake Artist.
