Josef Fröhlich will share with us some of his astonishing story: how he, born 1947 in a village in northern Slovakia came as a 19 year old to London, alone, a penny-less refugee, escaping after the Russians invaded Prague in 1968.
He will talk about some of the wonderful people he met on this initially bumpy journey to the top of London’s classical music scene, choosing to freelance to keep all options open, becoming the youngest ever concertmaster of the London Mozart players, then touring the world with the famous Academy St. Martin-in-the Fields; parallel also leading the English
Chamber Orchestra where he met fantastic soloists and much later had the joy of being asked to play Bach’s Double Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin.
He may share with you his knowledge and love of great violins and if we are lucky play for us something on his Nicolai Amati, made in Cremona in 1662!
As this is not a prepared talk but a free sharing of 45 years of his exciting profession as a violinist – this musician will answer your questions. He may talk about touring on very exclusive cruises where world- famous soloist were playing for super-rich enthusiasts of classical music. He may share with you how he got involved in film music and explain what a “jingle” is. He may talk about some of most memorable recording sessions.
Josef published his biography entitled “Playing for Living” after his wife, Irene Fröhlich-Wiener, IWCL member since 2002 – has begged him to do so as a gift for her 70th birthday. She asked him to talk to us – Josef is very modest and despite being used to performing in front of thousands on stages around the world – is really a very private and rather shy person. We are delighted he accepted this invitation to talk and hopefully play something for us.