Welcome to Bittersweet Symphony, a podcast about the bitter, the sweet and the bittersweet of life for classical musicians when the music suddenly stopped. Hosted and produced by me, Cliodhna Ryan, a violinist, it’s an intimate and heart-warming exploration of the human spirit. My guest in episode thirteen is oboist Dan Bates, my colleague in the Irish Chamber Orchestra. After an initial sense of exhilaration in the first few weeks of lockdown, Dan shares his experience of a crushing depression, the treatment he was offered, and the impact this had on him. His sweet memory is of the three chickens he reared; Anastasia, Garbo and Clemmie Bunting. His bitter was witnessing the effect of lockdowns on his Mum. This conversation was recorded in September 2021. Daniel Bates (MA CANTAB, FRSM, FTCL, ARAM, AGSMD) is principal oboe with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia and co-principal oboe of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Previously, he also held the principal oboe position with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at the Sage, Gateshead. He has played guest principal for all the major UK orchestras as well as various international orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Colombia, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. As a session musician, he has recorded for numerous pop acts and films, including the Harry Potter franchise and for Barbra Streisand, Mary J Blige, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder. Born in London, Daniel attended the Purcell School of Music. He was subsequently offered scholarships to every music college in the country and chose to study at the Royal Academy of Music under Celia Nicklin and Dougie Boyd. This was followed by a music scholarship to study at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read Music and the History of Art. He has performed solo concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Brasov Filharmonica, the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the English Chamber Orchestra. Solo recitals include venues such as the Wigmore Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Usher Hall and the Purcell Room. Internationally, he has given solo recitals in venues such as the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and at various European festivals partnered with musicians of international renown including Jörg Widmann, Elizabeth Leonskaya, Joan Rodgers and Anthony Marwood. As an actor, having studied classical acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, his credits include the title role in The Picture of Dorian Gray (Vienna’s English Theatre), Fedotik in The Three Sisters (alongside Kristen Scott Thomas and Eric Sykes in the West End) and Adrian Green in Casualty (BBC TV). Daniel is the founder and Artistic Director of FitzFest (www.fitzfest.co.uk), a community chamber music festival, based in Fitzrovia, central London. GET IN TOUCH WITH DAN/LINKS Dan's Website Instagram FitzFest Website GET IN TOUCH WITH BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY Instagram Twitter Facebook #bittersweetsymphony CREDITS Thumbnail Art || Colm MacAthlaoith Writers || Mick Jagger, Richard Ashcroft, Keith Richards Violin || Cliodhna Ryan Production || Cliodhna Ryan Mastering || Patrick Stefan Groenland
