Soloist profile – Nelson Sinclair-Strong

Our next concert will feature soloist Nelson Sinclair-Strong performing Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No.1.

The Clarinet Concerto No.1 was in fact the second clarinet work that Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) composed for and dedicated to the clarinetist Heinrich Joseph Baermann. The first was his Concertino for Clarinet and Orchester in E flat major, Op. 26, and the third was his Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 74. All three show Weber’s complete understanding of the capabilities of the clarinet. 

Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 is distinctly different from the earlier concertino: where the earlier work is lightly playful and lyrically expressive, the Concerto No. 1 is deeply serious and dramatically, almost operatically, expressive. 

The concerto is in three movements: a forceful opening Allegro, an intensely expressive central Adagio, and an energetic closing Rondo Allegretto. 

Bringing it to life for us, will be Nelson Sinclair-Strong, who is currently studying in his fourth year at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) where he enjoys a varied schedule of solo, chamber and orchestral engagements. He has been Principal clarinet with the Royal Academy Opera in their performance of Don Giovanni, 2nd Clarinet and Eb clarinet with the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra and performed with the Manson Ensemble alongside the London Sinfonietta performing Stockhausen’s Trans. Last summer he was invited as Principal Clarinet on the Britten – Pears music course as part of the Aldburgh festival and recently invited as Principal Clarinet with Hampstead Garden Opera in their recent Opera – ‘The Secret Marriage’. He has performed at various venues including The Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Convent Garden, Snape Maltings Concert Hall and Duke’s Hall.

Nelson trained at the Kent Academy of Music where he studied clarinet, piano, harmony, composition and chamber playing. He received the Arthur Lyon scholarship to study at The Royal Academy of Music from September 2015. At RAM, he studies with Mark van de Weil, Timothy Lines, Angela Malsbury, Eb clarinet with Chi-Yu Mo and Bass clarinet with Laurent Slimane. He has featured in masterclasses with David Campbell, Tom Watmough, Karl Leister, Andrew Marriner, Robert Plane, Timothy Lines, Paul Dean, Patrick Messina and Andy Findon.

Nelson is Principal Clarinet with the London Firebird Orchestra, London Film Music Orchestra, Strand Chamber Orchestra and Hampstead Garden Opera. As of 2018 Nelson began teaching Piano and Clarinet at the Crescendo School of Music and Art.