PENNY, ANDREW

"The performances are strong and impressive, deeply committed, extremely well played, and carefully planned and executed. ...You will not be disappointed with this superb release." - American Record Guideon Andrew Penny's Marco Polo recording of Cecil Armstrong Gibbs' symphonies (Naxos 8.223553).

Andrew Penny was born in Hull and graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music following clarinet studies with Sydney Fell. As a postgraduate he was the first holder of the Rothschild Scholarship in Conducting, studying with Sir Charles Groves and Timothy Reynish. He worked with Sir Edward Downes in Holland and later at the BBC Conductors' Seminar in 1985.

He has been Musical Director of the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra since 1982, the Head of Woodwind at Hymers College since 1978 and he also directed the Conductors' Course at the University of Hull for many years. In November 1999 he directed two performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, (The Symphony of a Thousand) as part of the Millennium Celebrations in that city.

Since 1992, Andrew Penny has made over thirty recordings for the Naxos and Marco Polo labels. Most of the output is of British music: symphonies and symphonic works by Sir Malcolm Arnold, Hubert Parry, Cecil Gibbs and Havergal Brian; film music by Vaughan Williams and Walton; theatre music by Sullivan, German and Holbrooke together with light music by Joyce, Duncan and Coates. He has now completed recording the full cycle of Malcolm Arnold's nine symphonies.

Besides this impressive contribution to British music, Andrew Penny has also conducted a recording of Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings in D-minor "played with ear-catching brilliance and joie de vivre" according to Gramophonemagazine and recipient of their coveted Critics' Choice award. In the Gramophone Awards of 1999, the Editor's Choice Award was made to twenty-two Naxos discs as an outstanding contribution to twentieth century British music. Three of these releases were conducted by Andrew Penny.

November, 2001

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
ALBINONI / BARBER / HANDEL (UK)	8.554584
ARNOLD, M.: Dances	8.553526
ARNOLD, M.: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2	8.553406
ARNOLD, M.: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4	8.553739
ARNOLD, M.: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6	8.552000
ARNOLD, M.: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8	8.552001
ARNOLD, M.: Symphony No. 9	8.553540
BEST OF BRITISH	8.570573-74
BEST OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC	8.570575-76
Best of British Light Music, Vol. 1	8.554709
Best of British Light Music, Vol. 2	8.554710
Best of British Light Music, Vol. 3	8.554711
Best of British Light Music, Vol. 4	8.554712
BEST OF LONDON	8.572098-99
BRIAN: Symphonies Nos. 20 and 25	8.223731
BRITISH FESTIVAL (A)	8.571088
BRITISH FILM MUSIC (UK ONLY)	8.554577
COATES, E.: Springtime Suite / Four Ways Suite	8.223521
Discover the Classics, Vol. 2	8.554246-47
DISCOVER THE CLASSICS, VOL. 3: The Concerto	8.554486-87
DUNCAN: Orchestral Works	8.223517
Elizabethan Serenade: The Best of British Light Music	8.553515
FOOD OF LOVE (THE)	8.554590
GERMAN: Richard III / Theme and Six Diversions / The Seasons	8.223695
GERMAN: Symphony No. 2 / Welsh Rhapsody	8.223726
GIBBS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3	8.223553
GREENSLEEVES - English Pastoral Music	8.557535
HOLBROOKE: Children of Don (The) / The Birds of Rhiannon	8.223721
JACK-IN-THE-BOX - A Collection of Amusic and Entertaining Works by Classical Composers	8.570124-25
JOYCE: Toto / Dreams of You / A Thousand Kisses	8.223694
MAGIC OF SPRING (THE)	8.557785
MENDELSSOHN: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings / Violin Concerto in D minor	8.553844
Music and Video Club Vol. 2 (UK Only)	8.555082
MYSTERY OF AUTUMN (THE)	8.557791
Naxos Audiophile Kingdom	8.554915DX
NOCTURNE	7170
PARRY: Symphony No. 2 / Symphonic Variations in E minor	8.553469
PITFIELD: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Xylophone Sonata	8.557291
SALTER: Ghost of Frankenstein / House of Frankenstein	8.223477
SCANDINAVIAN STRING MUSIC	7132
STORY OF BRITISH CLASSICAL MUSIC (THE)	8.558193-94
SULLIVAN: Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures	8.554165
SULLIVAN: Ile Enchantee (L') / Thespis	8.223460
SULLIVAN: Macbeth / King Arthur / Merry Wifes of Windsor	8.223635
SULLIVAN: Merchant of Venice / Henry VIII / Sapphire Necklace	8.223461
SULLIVAN: Victoria and Merrie England	8.223677
SVEN GORAN ERIKSSONS - Klassiska Favoriter	8.503135
THREE ELIZABETHS (THE): A Musical Celebration of Britain through the Centuries	8.557032-33
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (THE BEST OF)	8.556835
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: 49th Parallel / Story of a Flemish Farm	8.223665
W.H. Smiths Vol. 16 (British Light Music)	8.554586
WALTON: As You Like It / Hamlet	8.553344
WALTON: Henry V	8.553343
Welsh Classical Favourites	8.225048