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| Jean is a cellist and the Musical Director of the Midland Chamber Players. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music and started her career as a member of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1960's where she stayed for twelve years. During that time she played in a principal position and performed with many ensembles including the Midlands Baroque Group and The Borromini ensemble. In 1966, with Harry Van der Lyn, they founded a musical partnership which was to be the forerunner to the Midland Chamber Players. |
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| Dinah is a concert pianist and joined the Midland Chamber Players in 1978. She is a graduate of the University of Birmingham and gained a scholarship to study at the Manchester Royal College of Music with Reizenstein. She is a key member of the Midland Piano Trio and in demand as a teacher and accompanist. |
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| Jeremy is a violinist and studied in London with Sasha Lasserson. He joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as leader of the second violins and also in 1971 formed the Arioso Quartet. |
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| The Midland Chamber Players first came into being through the firm friendship of Jean Gubbins and Harry Van der Lyn who met whilst playing for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the early 1960's. Harry was a Dutch refugee who came to Britain in the fifties with a passion to bring chamber music into more peoples lives. Harry was familiar with the concept of lunchtime concerts, having performed with Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra, and he was driven to launch something similar in Birmingham. |
| In 1966 Harry and Jean formed The Harry Van der Lyn Players, which opened for their first full season in the foyer of Dr Johnson House in Bull Street, Birmingham. As the lunchtime concert audiences grew over the years, the foyer soon became too small and The Midland Chamber Players, as they were now called, began to look around for more appropriate premises. In 1969 they moved to Gallery Lecture Theatre in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery where they were to stay for the next twelve years. During that time they became a society at the instigation of Sir Adrian Boult and began to introduce a policy of commissioning new works by up and coming Midlands musicians. More than fifteen composers have written pieces for the ensemble, including Andrew Downes, the present patron, Graham Whettam, Barrie Grayson (former Birmingham Post music critic), Anthony Pither, Peter Dickinson and Ivor Keys. |
| In 1981 the season started in the impressive venue of the Birmingham Cathedral, changing their concert times from Thursday to Friday to fit in with Cathedral commitments. Sadly, Harry Van der Lyn died in 1986 after an eventful twenty years of lunchtime music and a memorial concert was held in October of that year. Many artists who had been associated with his concerts over the years took part in an benefit concert lead by Colin Gough. In that same year, Jean became the Musical Director and the Players were joined by a number of eminent Midland violinists over the following years, including Colin Gough, Cyril Perfect and David Gregory. |
| In 1993 Jeremy Ballard became a regular performer with the Midland Chamber Players and has been the violinist in the Midland Piano Trio ever since. After a number of successful years playing at the Cathedral spiralling costs meant it became time again to look for alternative city centre premises. Following a fortuitous meeting with Philip Fisher, the recently appointed administrator of the BMI, the Midland Chamber Players opened their 1997 season at the Lyttleton Theatre where where their regular recitals are still enthusiastically supported. |
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| The Midland Chambers Players Society is a Registered Charity: HT/500193/R
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