Meet Emer McDonough

In another of regular Q&A blogs we asked Britten Sinfonia Principal Flute, Emer McDonough a few questions ahead of her performances of Debussy's Syrinx and his Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp this February in Norwich, Cambridge, London and Southampton.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

Being on the same stage as Martha Argerich when she played Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major. I cannot begin to describe the colours she created. I'd never heard such exquisite, evocative and sultry sounds from a piano.

When are you happiest?
When we are all on holiday and all is harmonious between my three boys ...


What is your earliest musical memory?
Watching my big sister play the piano and feeling so desperate to learn too.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?
My mother. She is everything I admire in a person. Kind, gentle, thoughtful, tactful, unbelievably intelligent, the most attentive listener.... I really could go on and on.

What has been your most embarrassing moment?
Misunderstanding a conductor's beat in the second movement of Liszt's Piano Concerto No.2 and going off piste for what seemed like an age. It was just horrible. I still don't know what I played or if he was in 2 or 4. I still blush and feel queasy when I think of it.

What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from my wedding ring and poems, pictures and stories by my kids, my holy communion cross is my most treasured possession. I've had it since I was 6 years old and I wear with it in times of need. I'd be devastated if I lost it.

What would your super power be?
Obviously to be in two places, no make that 3 or 4 places at once!! What's the technical term for that?

If you were an animal what would you be?
I love dogs and horses but I wouldn't want to be one. I caught sight of a hawk the other day riding the wind over an under 10 rugby match I was watching and I remember thinking it would have been pretty spectacular to be soaring up there.

What is your most unappealing habit?
Being absolutely useless with any technology. Speed reading and thus gleaning all the wrong or no information. Forgetting people's names the instant I hear them. Being uncomfortable with silence......

What is your favourite book?
Anything by Colm Toibin or Sebastian Barry.  Irish literature is especially dear to me, both prose and poetry, but I still love the Shakespeare sonnets and plays I learned at school and I always return to Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
I don't really know. I must find one quickly though. I was about to say finishing a cup of tea when it's still hot but I realise that's more of a basic human right than a guilty pleasure. Perhaps watching a panel show called "A league of their own " with my husband. It's just so silly and daft.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Marcel Moyse, Roy Keane, Roger Federer, Ronaldo, Messi, Jessica Ennis, Judy Dench, Fireman Sam, Johnny Wilkinson, my husband, my closest friends and my three boys who all are football mad hence mainly sport themed dinner party.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?
To when my 2 year old slept.

How do you relax away from the concert platform?
I run, a lot.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Passing my driving test first time with a stupendous parallel parking manoeuvre & my children, oh and the principal flute stuff. I'm really very proud of that too.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
To be calm and take each moment as it comes. I forget to abide by this but the intention is often there.

In a nutshell, what is your philosophy?
 "Go to bed early" seems like a good one but not very eloquent. I say it a lot to the little people and to myself but rarely does anyone, including myself, listen! So I think to treat others as you would like them to treat you is my philosophy in a slightly cracked nutshell.

Emer performs Debussy's Syrinx, a new work by Daniel Bjarnason and Debussy's Sonata for flute, viola and harp with fellow principal players, Clare Finnimore (viola) and Lucy Wakeford (harp) in Britten Sinfonia's At Lunch Three tour. Performances take place in Norwich on Fri 19 Feb, Cambridge on Tue 23 Feb and London on Wed 24 Feb. More info here

An extended version of this programme will also be performed at Southampton's Turner Sims Concert Hall on Thu 25 Feb. More info here

You can read Emer's full biography here.

Stephen Bell's Desert Island selection

Britten Sinfonia's prinicipal horn, Stephen Bell is currently touring with the orchestra as soloist in Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with Mark Padmore. Leeds Town Hall asked him to come up with his own Desert Island Disc selection and these are his choices;

HANDEL – CORONATION ANTHEM, ZADOK THE PRIEST
Not that I’m particularly a Royalist, but there has to be good reason for including this anthem at every Coronation since 1727! From that opening orchestral crescendo until the wonderful first entry of the choir, this music is simply joyous and uplifting – one of the main reasons my wife chose it to walk down the isle at our wedding in 2007. Our village church was packed, and with a local choir and visiting musicians, it made for a very special and emotional start to our big day.

STRAUSS – EINE ALPINESINFONIE
As a horn player, there is nothing better than being in a section of horns in full flight, and Richard Strauss excels in writing full-bodied unison horn melodies. At the climax of this wonderful tone poem (at the summit of the mountain) is such a melody written for all 8 horns, and even though I have been lucky enough to perform this piece on many occasions including a couple of times at the BBC Proms, it still never fails to thrill. Also, this was the first piece I bought on CD when I visited Hong Kong in the early 80’s and came back (as did most of the orchestra) with the latest must have gadget - a CD Walkman.

MICHEL CAMILLO – WHY NOT?
I’ve played the piano since I was four years old, and despite the best efforts of my elderly and rather strict piano teacher, my greatest pleasure was playing music by ear rather than off the printed page. I was first introduced to Michel Camillo in 1985 when he was performing at The Blue Note Jazz Club alongside such notable jazz musicians as Dave Weckl (drums) and fantastic trumpeter Lew Soloff. His music has a distinct Caribbean flavour (he was born in the Dominican Republic) and he plays with effortless style, huge rhythmic intensity and sounds like he must have at least three hands! Why Not? is the title track of his first album released at around the time I met him in New York.

MAHLER – SYMPHONY NO 2
Mahler 2 has without doubt one of the most thrilling endings to any piece – and again, one that always has a buzz to be part of in performance. Mahler is one of those composers who always has the bigger picture at the centre of all his vast musical structures, and at the end of almost 90 minutes, this magnificent final section never fails to thrill audiences and performers alike.

MOZART – HORN QUINTET IN Eb
It goes without saying that Mozart’s contribution to the repertoire of the French Horn is so significant (especially the four well-known concertos), but in many ways, the pinnacle for me is the wonderful Quintet in Eb for horn and strings - (slightly unusual line-up of string quartet which has violin, 2 violas and cello) - and which combines the stylistic horn writing of the concertos with the brilliant sense of chamber music that Mozart seemed to produce so naturally. It was also the piece that I made my first commercial recording with, alongside the fabulous members of the Lindsay String Quartet for ASV records.

LUXURY ITEM – Fawlty Towers DVD collection (and something to play them on.)
Still pricelessly funny after almost 40 years!

BOOK – Margery Williams: The Velveteen Rabbit

Charming, innocent and still enjoyed.

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You can catch Stephen Bell performing Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings in Southampton on Thursday 10 February, Birmingham on Friday 11 February and in Leeds on Saturday 19 February 2011.