Miles Golding

Miles Golding is one of the few classical artists to have had a significant career in rock and pop music, having briefly played in the now-defunct but once popular New Zealand-based band Split Enz. Golding still occasionally plays pop and rock fare, but he has devoted most of his career to classical music: indeed, and he has served in several roles therein, appearing as orchestral player, principal violinist or leader, soloist, and chamber player. Most of the orchestras he has performed in have been period-instrument ensembles and include Academy of Ancient Music, London Classical Players, English Baroque Soloists, English Bach Festival, London Handel Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and many others. Not surprisingly, Golding's repertory in the orchestral and chamber realms has favored Baroque composers, with the names J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Telemann, and Purcell prominent on the list. But his tastes extend to most periods, taking in works by Bartók, Messiaen, and the contemporary New Zealander Douglas Lilburn. Golding's recordings are available on several labels, including DG, Hyperion, Cala, Capitol, and Chandos. Miles Golding was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1951. He spent his early years in England, but from 1958 he lived in New Zealand. He studied music at Wellington College, Victoria University, and Auckland University. After graduation from Auckland University he continued violin studies in London with Sascha Lasserson and Allegri Quartet member Eli Goren. Golding followed with brief stints in several prominent London orchestras (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and others). He also briefly played in the chamber groups Capricorn and the Meridian Ensemble. After guest-performing in a string of period-instrument ensembles, Golding joined the English Concert in 1977 at the behest of its conductor Trevor Pinnock. Golding has been a member of the ensemble ever since. Golding has also served as leader in several other England-based period-instrument orchestras since the 1980s, including Badinage, Armonico Consort, and the 18th Century Concert Orchestra. Golding began making recordings in the 1980s, his first major effort being Vivaldi's L'estro armonico, issued on Archiv Producktion (DG) in 1987. Golding remained busy into the new century. In 2003, along with his wife, mezzo-soprano Catherine Denley, he helped found a youth orchestra in his hometown of Harpenden, England. Golding reunited with former Split Enz member Tim Finn for several concerts in London in 2007-2008, and for the 2008 recording The Conversation, on the Capitol label.