Julia Thornton is a professional harpist, who to date has released two albums: Harpistry (2003) and Eye of the Storm (2004).

Musical life and career

Julia Thornton began to play the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

aged 11. Having wanted to do so since the age of three, her parents initially managed to stave off her persistence, allowing her piano lessons at the age of 9. Eighteen months later, having taken well to the piano, she was allowed to have her first harp lesson. Beginning on an Irish instrument called the

clarsach The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great ...

(an instrument that is smaller than a concert harp and doesn't have its pedal mechanism), Thornton was initially taught by a local teacher who had to return to her native Czechoslovakia after a year. After this, she was taught by Daphne Boden (who eventually became her professor at the Royal Academy of Music). Within a year, Boden asked Thornton's parents if they would buy her a concert harp – a huge financial investment. Thornton's first harp belonged to Boden – a Japanese instrument called an Ahomaya. Thornton extended her studies by attending the Junior Department of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

on Saturdays, where she began also to learn percussion. At this time she also became a member of the

National Youth Orchestra A youth orchestra is an orchestra made of young musicians, typically ranging from pre-teens or teenagers to those of conservatory age. Depending on the age range and selectiveness, they may serve different purposes. Orchestras for young studen ...

. Having won a scholarship to the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

, she studied there between 1990 and 1995, winning many prizes for her harp-playing (including the Julia Leney and Renata Schefelstein harp awards, and both the harp prizes at the Royal Overseas League competition). She was also awarded the Mathias Prize for the best performance of his Santa Fe Suite at the International Harp Competition in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. After completing her studies at the Academy, Thornton's work consisted of a mixture of teaching, orchestral and solo work. She performed with a wide variety of orchestras and opera and ballet companies, and gave recitals including performances at the Cambridge, Beaumaris and Cheltenham music festivals. She also joined the panel of

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

's "Live Music Now!", which enables young musicians to perform in various communities around the country, such as in schools, day-care centres, homes for the elderly, homes for those suffering from

Alzheimers Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

or dementia, prisons and young offenders' institutes. Thornton's main breakthrough came at a yoga demo in 1999, where she was playing the harp and was spotted by Clare Davies, wife of

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...

's producer, Rhett Davies. Following an audition, she began working with Bryan Ferry, performing on the harp and percussion instruments on his "As Time Goes By" tour, which comprised a collection of 1930s standards such as the title track. In 2001 she was asked to join the

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

reunion tour – a tour that involved 50 days of percussion playing only. Despite her love for the harp, Thornton took this opportunity. The tour involved visits to Australia and Japan, and playing in some of the world's major venues, such as Wembley Arena. The seeds of her first album, "Harpistry", were sown during her involvement with a mediaeval instrumental group, Arcana Mundi, a concept dreamed up by

Craig Leon Craig Leon (born 7 January 1952) is an American-born record producer, composer and arranger currently living in England.International Who’s Who in Classical Music 2005'', Routledge, 2005. Leon was instrumental in launching the careers of many ...

, who would later become her producer. Thornton signed a deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in 2002, and between trips abroad with Bryan Ferry, she sourced the material for her first album, with help from Leon. She recorded "Harpistry" in the

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in 2003, before going to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on another Bryan Ferry tour. On 1 September 2005, www.PlaybillArts.com reported that ''Harpistry'' charted at no. 13 on the Billboard Classical chart. Thornton released her second album, "Eye of the Storm", on her own label, Crossways Records, due to frustrations with EMI. In spring 2007, Thornton became a member of a new band, The Metaphors, which featured Roxy Music founding members Andy MacKay and Paul Thompson on reeds and drums respectively, together with Hazel Mills on Keyboards and T J Allen on guitar and effects. That summer, they recorded their first album. The six-song collection called ''London! Paris! New York! Rome!'' was released on

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in March 2009, and became available as a disk from their website a month later. To date The Metaphors have played a limited number of live dates. In June and July 2009, Julia returned to her percussion and harp duties for the 30th anniversary tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the World for a 21-concert tour of U.K. and Europe. According to her webpage, Julia has plans to go into the studio and record her own music and record with members of Lunar Dunes, a band that she has sat in with. Julia is also following up on her interest in yoga by taking classes towards becoming a yoga instructor.

Personal life

Julia grew up in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. Commenting on her wide range of musical tastes from

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

, she said "My parents were

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

!" Her precise date of birth is not generally known, but FreeBMD states that she was born in the first quarter of 1972. Julia is married to fellow Rod Stewart band member and guitarist Don Kirkpatrick.

Video

(2000) ''Live at the Grand Rex''
Roxy Music (2001) ''Live at the Apollo''
''Konixxtreffen 2002 Concert'' (extra on ''Bryan Ferry: The Bete Noire Tour'' 2008 DVD reissue)Bryan Ferry: Bete Noire Tour (2008)
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Classic FM TV Classic FM TV was a television channel owned by British radio station Classic FM. Until 14 December 2007 it was available as a television channel on the Sky Digital satellite and Virgin Media cable TV services. After that, Classic FM TV only bro ...

''Greatest Hits Vol.1''
''

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

'' (2005) with

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne, released on 9 June 1978 by CBS Records. It is an album musical adapted from the sci ...

– Live on Stage'' (2006)

Recordings

(2001) ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

Susheela Raman Susheela Raman (born 21 July 1973) is a British musician. She was nominated for the 2006 BBC World Music Awards. Her debut album '' Salt Rain'' was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2001. She is known for energetic, vibrant, syncretic, and u ...

(2001) ''Salt Rain''

(2002) '' Frantic''
Julia Thornton (2003) ''Harpistry'' *
Julia Thornton (2004) ''Eye of the Storm''
The Bench Connection (2007) ''Around the House in 80 Days''

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

(2008) ''Breathe With Me''
Andy MacKay & The Metaphors (2009) '' London! Paris! New York! Rome!'' *Tracks from ''Harpistry'' appear on various EMI compilation disks.

Tours

Bryan Ferry As Time Goes By 1999–2000 Harp/Percussion
Roxy Music Reunion Tour 2001–2002 Percussion/Keyboards
Bryan Ferry Frantic Tour 2002 Harp/Percussion
Roxy Music Summer Festivals 2005 Percussion/Keyboards
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds 2006 Harp/Percussion
Russell Watson Spring Tour 2007 Harp/Percussion
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds Australia Sept 2007 Harp/Percussion
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds Re-Invasion of England Dec. 2007 Harp/Percussion
Andy MacKay & The Metaphors 2008 Harp
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds 30th Anniversary Tour 2009 Harp/Percussion
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds – The New Generation Tour 2012 Harp/Percussion
Rod Stewart 2013/2016/2017 Harp/Percussion

References

External links

*http://www.juliathornton.com *https://web.archive.org/web/20130630061830/http://www.themetaphors.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Julia Living people British harpists Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music British women harpists British music educators British women music educators Year of birth missing (living people)