RNCM Session Orchestra 24/02/2024

(Addy) Adam Peters, Kaden Thompson, and Desmond Rucker, nearly lifelong friends have been making music together since the age of 14/15 in 2016. The three attended Pittsburgh CAPA high school together. During the time they spent together in school they  bonded over their love for guitar based music particularly from bands like Green Day and Nirvana who would go on to inspire the current lineup of the rock trio. Quickly they  began starting bands with various musicians, most noteble of these was Snowdonia a 6 piece art rock band that played many shows and made a modest impact on the Pittsburgh music scene  from 2016-2020. In 2020 the three graduated and found themselves as the last members of the band still living in Pittsburgh. As the pandemic calmed down in 2021 the newly reformed band now called TURTLE PARK packed their bags and left for the Royal Northern College of Music in England. It is here Turtles have been studying, hustling, and honing their skills as they prepare to release a plethora of self produced and collaboratively recorded singles.

Robert Ames is a conductor, composer, and curator at the forefront of a new generation of musicians questioning the conventions and rituals surrounding classical music. He was the youngest ever nominee for the Royal Philharmonic Society Conductors award in 2019 and is an Associate of The Royal Academy of Music. He is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Ames works closely with many of the leading figures in new music including Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Bryce Dessner, Mica Levi, Nico Muhly, Richard Reed Parry, Terry Riley, Jonny Greenwood, Anna Meredith, and Steve Reich. His prowess as an arranger has been leant to soundtracks for a multitude of films and TV series, including the upcoming re-adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1928 novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanianian (2021), and Shia LaBeouf’s Honey Boy (2017).

Recent collaborations include Vivienne Westwood,  Alexander McQueen, and Burberry from the world of Fashion, and with musicians who inhabit the pop/electronic and film music world, including Actress, Frank Ocean, Jónsi, Little Simz, Alex Somers, Thom Yorke, William Basinski, Frank Ocean, Jamie xx, Ólafur Arnalds, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Darkstar, Rival Consoles and Labrinth.

Ames has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, L’Orchestre National De Lyon, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Moscow New Music Ensemble and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. Recent conducting engagements include performances at The Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Centre, Royal Opera House, De Doelen, The Brooklyn Academy of Arts and The Sydney Opera House, as well as four appearances at the BBC Proms in the last three years.

Ames’ 2021 debut album ‘Change Ringing’ was released on the Berlin based contemporary Classical Label Modern Recordings, a division of BMG.