Philharmonia Orchestra, Martin Musical Scholarship Fund Recital

Recital by oboist Xiaodi Liu, an award-winner of the Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship Fund. John Wilson piano.

The Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, administered by the Philharmonia Orchestra, has given invaluable support to countless young musicians since 1968. Its anonymous founder and benefactor provided enough money to enable exceptionally talented students to bridge the difficult gap between full-time study and professional status.

Xiaodi Liu was born in 1983 in Qing Dao, China, where she began her oboe studies at the age of 12 under Jingguo Dong. The following year she was accepted into the prestigious Beijing Central Conservatory College of Music studying under Weidong Wei. Between the ages of 15 and 18, she held the position of Principal Oboe in the China National Youth Symphony Orchestra directed by Xin Xu.

In 2006, Xiaodi completed her Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honors at the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Jonathan Small and Melinda Maxwell under full scholarship.

She was invited as guest soloist in the First and Second China International Oboe Festivals in 2004 and 2005, where she performed alongside eminent artists Alex Klein and Hansjorg Schellenberger. Xiaodi has given solo recitals throughout her native China, including appearances at the Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories. She recently performed the Malcolm Arnold Oboe Concerto at the Royal Derngate Theater in Northampton. Very recently, she performed the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra to great acclaim.

Xiaodi has performed as a member of the BBC and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras. Xiaodi recently won the Trewr Wye Chamber Music Competition as oboist of the Kasim Wind Quintet.

Xiaodi is currently pursuing her Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music under full scholarship. She was recently awarded the 2006 MBF Education Award and 2006 Sidney Perry Foundation Award from the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Musical Scholarship Fund. Xiaodi was awarded a Junior Fellowship at RNCM for the 2007-2008 academic year as a Junior Fellow.

The event is taking place on Thursday 10th April from 6pm. The Royal Festival Hall is located in the Southbank Centre .

How to get there

Rail - Waterloo, Waterloo East or walk over the Hungerford Bridge from Charing Cross.

Underground - The closest tube stations are Waterloo (on the Northern, Bakerloo & Jubilee lines), Southwark (on the Jubilee line) or walk over the Hungerford Bridge from Embankment (on the Northern, Bakerloo, District and Circle lines).

Buses - All the following buses stop on Waterloo Bridge and you can take the steps down to Southbank on either side of the bridge or use the pavements that slope down away from the river and then double back to take you to Upper Ground, which runs behind the Southbank Centre: 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 76, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521, X68, Riverside Bus (RV1 - which also stops on Upper Ground which runs by the back of the Southbank Centre). 77 (Upper Ground near the Festival Hall), 211 & 507 (Waterloo Road near the main station), 381 (Stamford Street). 45, 63 & 100 all stop at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, and there is a 10 minute walk along the riverside to the Southbank Centre.