Peter Cropper
The British Viola Society pays tribute to Peter Cropper , who died on 28 May 2015, aged 69.
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Peter Cropper…one of the most influential and gifted of the UK’s chamber musicians. Peter died very suddenly on Thursday 28 May 2015 in Glasgow. Robin Ireland, dear friend and Lindsay Quartet colleague for twenty years wrote a tribute for the BVS Newsletter. Read HERE
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Roger Bigley
The British Viola Society pays tribute to Roger Bigley, who died on 9th June 2013. He was 69.
Roger co-founded the Lindsay Quartet in 1965, which specialised in the Beethoven and Bartok quartets. He left in 1985 to become assistant principal viola of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester and later assistant head of strings at the Royal Northern College of Music.
The quartet first performed at the Royal Academy of Music, and went on to become Leverhulme Scholars at Keele University. They later held residency positions at the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester. The Lindsay Quartet disbanded in 2005.
Louise Lansdown, President of the British Viola Society writes:
Roger was a wonderful colleague and friend. I had the privilege of having some lessons from him and then working alongside him at the RNCM for several years. He was a soft and gentle soul who adored mischievous jokes and always had a twinkle in his eyes. Roger was a wise and devoted teacher who was captivated throughout his life by sound…always talking about Lionel Tertis’s Essay on the “Beauty of Tone in String Playing” and the Principles of Son File( `). It was a joy to behold watching Roger play String Quintets on the beloved “Archinto” Stradivarius Viola in the Concert Hall at the RNCM, shortly before the Lindsay Quartet disbanded. This was the wonderful viola he had been loaned for some of the period he had played with the Lindsay’s….
A highlight just before Christmas at the RNCM (back in the day…around 1998-2000) was the pantomime with Rodney Slatford (the then Head of Strings), Roger Bigley (then Assistant Head of Strings) and the late Dr Christopher Rowland (the then Director of Chamber Music) cross dressing…prancing around in 6-inch stilettos, wearing fish net stockings and wigs! Absolutely hilarious…thank you Roger for these priceless memories. Your contributions to music and music education will be felt for many generations to come!