Mr McFall’s Chamber is a flexible ensemble of mostly classical players for whom the lure of other musical styles has proved irresistible. They are well known for their eclectic mix of musical genres, programming classical and contemporary composers alongside rock, tango, klezmer and jazz.
Mr. McFall’s Chamber tour widely throughout the UK and broadcast on both radio and television. The group has released three CDs, Like The Milk, Upstart Jugglers and Revolucionario, as well as one DVD, Live at the Queens Hall. They are currently recording a new CD of music from Newcastle, including new work from BBC prize-winning jazz composer Tim Garland alongside recent works from piper Kathryn Tickell and Bolivian composer Agustin Fernández
The group has commissioned and premiered many new works by composers including James MacMillan, Edward Maguire, Cecilia McDowall, Ken Dempster, Gavin Bryers and even a chamber opera, An Everyday Occurrence, by Dave Heath. Multi-media projects have included collaboration with animation students at the Edinburgh College of Art, with painter Colin Lawson, and a number of collaborations with video artist John McGeoch.
Mr McFall’s Chamber is made up of string quartet from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with bass, piano, often vocals and frequent guests.
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"My strongest final impression was of the easy confidence of these artists; their flexible approaches to programming, and assured skills at making a variety of music sound very good indeed, were carried off without effort or fanfare. There should be more chamber groups in the world that are both this dazzling and this intimate; if there were, we’d all probably enjoy chamber music the way it was enjoyed a century ago." Paul Attinello, Vamos Festival
"NINE players, faces recognisable from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra…. Mr McFall’s Chamber put on a relaxed entertainment of hypnotic rhythms, jazzy riffs, sensitive ensemble playing and intriguing special effects. [...] At a time when classical musicians are looking for ways to be more accessible, Mr McFall - violinist Robert, who plays second fiddle to Greg Lawson’s first - has hit on a winning formula: music that constantly shifts, from miked-up contemporary chamber style through jazz to electronica." Mary Crockett, The Scotsman
"Its all immensely enjoyable, thanks to the energy and spontaneity of these live performances." International Record Review
"Music’s pigeonholes were effortlessly destroyed, inhibitions freed and pleasure let rampant [...] but whatever the mood or effect, the players were always splendid. I’d enter Mr McFall’s Chamber any day." The Times
EVENTS in 2007
with Mr McFall’s Chamber
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