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Tom Service (born 8 March 1976) is a British writer, music journalist and television and radio presenter, who has written regularly for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' since 1999 and presented on
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
since 2001. He is a regular presenter of
The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
for Radio 3 and has presented several documentaries on the subject of classical music.


Early life

Service was born in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and attended
Kelvinside Academy Kelvinside Academy is an independent day school in Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 1878. It has a capacity of over 600 pupils and spans two years of Nursery, six years of Junior School (primary school), a transition year of Senior Preparatory, and ...
, where he learned
cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
and
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
. He studied Music at the
University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...
, then studied for a masters in Music at the
University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
. He wrote his PhD thesis on American composer and musician John Zorn.


Career


Broadcasting

He joined
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
in 2001 presenting ''Hear and Now'', and from 2003 he has presented '' Music Matters''. From 2016, he started presenting a weekly show also on Radio 3, called ''The Listening Service'', which drew comparisons to
David Munrow David John Munrow (12 August 194215 May 1976) was a British musician and early music historian. Early life and education Munrow was born in Birmingham where both his parents taught at the University of Birmingham. His mother, Hilda Ivy (né ...
's programme ''Pied Piper'', which aired on the same station in the 1970s Since 2011 Service has presented
The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
, broadcast on Radio 3, from the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
and Cadogan Hall, as well as presenting special editions of ''The Listening Service'' in 2017 exploring the musical pathways between featured composers and the BBC Proms Guide. In 2014 Service made the first of a series of documentaries with historian
Amanda Vickery Amanda Jane Vickery (born 8 December 1962) is an English historian, writer, radio and television presenter, and professor of early modern history at Queen Mary, University of London. Education and career Vickery was born in Preston, Lancashi ...
, produced by Reef Television for the BBC, titled ''Messiah at the Foundling Hospital''. The programme received mixed reviews with ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' criticising the delivery of both presenters and its inaccuracies and ''
The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...
'' being very positive. A second film, ''La traviata: Love, Death and Divas'' followed in 2016. The third film, also in 2016 with Amanda Vickery, was the documentary ''Leningrad & the Orchestra that Defied Hitler'' for
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
about the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the performance of Symphony No. 7 (Leningrad Symphony) by
Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
. In 2015 Service wrote and presented ''The Joy of Mozart'', a documentary for BBC Four, which ''The Daily Telegraph'' described as "joyous" and "richly enjoyable". The film aimed to deconstruct some of the myths surrounding
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
and the romanticism that has been built around his life and relationships. This was followed in January 2016 by ''The Joy of Rachmaninoff'' featuring
Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...
,
Steven Isserlis Steven Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. He has led a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. Acclaimed for his profound musicianship, he is also noted for his diverse reper ...
and
Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...
. Also in 2016 Service presented a documentary film tribute to
Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
for BBC 4 called ''Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: Master and Maverick'', described by
David Chater David Chater (born 1953) is a British broadcast journalist. Chater has more than 35 years' experience in international television news, having worked for Independent Television News, Sky News and Al Jazeera English. He joined ITN in 1976, Sk ...
of ''The Sunday Times'' as “memorable” and with a “lucid commentary”.


Writing

Since 1999 Service has written about classical music for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper. In his 2012 book ''Music as Alchemy: Journeys with Great Conductors and their Orchestras'', he examined music through studies of and interviews with six conductors, each preparing a performance with their
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
. In a four-star review in ''The Daily Telegraph'', Sameer Raham described the book as "excellent" and an "enthralling study". Suzy Klein of ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' also found it to be "excellent", while expressing disappointment that the conductors themselves weren't able to clearly describe "what makes an exceptional, alchemical conductor". ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' found the interview portions "not particularly rewarding" but said "the book's strength is in its mix of stories and perspectives". In 2013, Service collaborated with
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
and conductor
Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), ''V ...
to write the book ''Thomas Adès: Full of Noises. Conversations with Tom Service''. '' Opera News'' described the book as "two hundred pages of brilliant talk" and said of Service that "there's no doubting the intelligence he brings to the project". ''
Classical Music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
'' magazine described the conversations as “a great battle of wills and provokes an unapologetically complex book”.


Teaching

Service was Professor of Music from 2018 to 2019 at
Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...
and has taught at the
Trinity College Of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
.


Personal life

In 2015 Service married violinist
Alina Ibragimova Alina Rinatovna Ibragimova (russian: link=no, Али́на Рина́товна Ибраги́мова; ba, Алина Ринат ҡыҙы Ибраһимова born 28 September 1985) is a Russian-British violinist. Early life and education ...
whom he first met while interviewing her for ''The Guardian''. They lived in
Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, London. The couple divorced in 2018.


References


External links

*
Recording
from
Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...
2012:
Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...
talks to Tom Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Service, Tom 1976 births Academics of Trinity College of Music Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of the University of York BBC Radio 3 presenters Classical music critics The Guardian journalists Musicians from Glasgow Living people