Paul Adrian Rooke (Conductor) was born in 1945 in Peterborough and educated at Bishop’s Stortford College and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where he studied with Peter Tranchell, Phillip Radcliffe, George Guest and Raymond Leppard. After graduating he spent 36 years teaching music in secondary schools, in High Wycombe, Hatfield and Hitchin. He retired from teaching in 2002 and has established himself as a free-lance musical originator and editor, in particular transcribing and editing music by Elgar and Rutland Boughton. In 2005 Paul edited and transcribed Boughton’s Oliver Cromwell Symphony. This was premièred – 100 years after it was written – by Hitchin Symphony Orchestra on 26 November 2005, a performance which attracted great interest and which ultimately led to the CD recording of the work by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Dr Vernon Handley, with Roderick Williams as the baritone soloist. This CD recording, on the Dutton Epoch label, was issued in February 2007.
Early in 2007, Paul helped to form a new company, Elgar Works, whose purpose is to provide assistance in all practical ways to performers and promoters wishing to put on works by Elgar. One aim of the company is to make available for sale or for hire the full scores and instrumental parts of all of Elgar’s music, including many which are now out of print, so that choral societies and orchestras may obtain them at reasonable cost. So far the company has provided vocal scores of The Spirit of England (for the Three Choirs Festival of 2007), of The Black Knight (for Solihull Choral Society) and of the Coronation Ode. In addition, Paul is Chief Originator for the Elgar Complete Edition and has set all the violin music for Volume 37 (which was published on Elgar’s 150th birthday: 2 June 2007) and Volume 4 (Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf) the publication of which is imminent.
Paul has conducted and composed from his student days. The list of compositions includes various carols and solo songs as well as the song-cycles Crimson Joy, A Memory for Darkness, When I Was in Love with You and The DTs. There is also a String Trio, a Flute Concerto, the opera The Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke, Jubilee Overture (written to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Hitchin Concert Orchestra in 1989) and Ariel and Caliban (a suite for Wind and Percussion commissioned in 1990 by North Hertfordshire Youth Orchestra). His two symphonies have been given their premières by Hitchin Symphony Orchestra in November 2001 and 2006 and have been very favourably received. A commission by Stevenage Choral Society for the Stevenage Jubilee Arts Festival 2002 of a choral work involving children’s choir, adult choir and orchestra resulted in The Selfish Giant. This was given its première at The Gordon Craig Theatre (Stevenage) by Kingshott School Chamber Choir, Stevenage Choral Society, and Hitchin Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robin Osterley. Future plans include the composition of a pianoforte concerto, a piece for speaker, baritone, male voice choir and orchestra (to be performed jointly by Stevenage Male Voice Choir and Hitchin Symphony Orchestra on 22 November 2008 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the choir) and a third symphony.
In April 1984 Paul conducted a most successful production of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by John McCabe in the presence
of the composer.
The following September he became conductor of Hitchin Concert Orchestra and now has a wide repertoire
of 20th century British pieces and some adventurous modern works by Jeremy Aknai, Malcolm Arnold,
Gordon Crosse, Douglas Coombes, John McCabe, Martin Vishnik – and himself.
He is delighted that his own website, designed by his son Nicholas of
Moondog Designs, appeared on the Internet
in November 2001 and has now has regularly about 150 hits
per month.
For those interested, the address is
http://www.pauladrianrooke.com.
This page was last modified on 18th November, 2007.