Mark Chivers
Viola

How have you spent Christmas?
This year I had a well earned rest at home with Liz my wife (who is No.4 1st Violin in the orchestra). We met each other when I joined OOTS. I got back from a tour in Tokyo on the 23rd December which was preceded by the second stint of my trial for the position of principal Viola at English National Ballet, so I think I deserved some time off!!!

Do musicians get much of a Christmas holiday?
Usually not! Everyone seems to want to go to concerts during the festivities. This year I planned a quiet Christmas due to my schedule of the previous 3 months.

What are your new years resolutions?
Go to the gym more than I do now!! Do more work on our house in Haddenham in Buckinghamshire which dates from 1700.

This year, In addition to your work as a musician for OOTS, you have also made some arrangements of traditional Christmas melodies which the Orchestra has played in its Shipston and Southam concerts, how long did it take you, how did the commission come about, it is different when you write for friends...?
The arrangements were an idea that I and David Curtis had due to the lack of repertoire for strings at christmas. So I was commissioned to write 2 suites of 20 minutes in total (ranging from “Troika” by Prokofiev to “Let it Snow” by Jules Styne). I started work in August fitting it around my playing schedule. Hopefully another suite is in the pipeline for 2008 making 30 minutes of music just in time for the return of the Stratford Christmas concert!!
It's really nice to arrange with your friends in mind.

What else do you do when you're not with OOTS?
I am principal viola at the National Symphony Orchestra which tours with Katherine Jenkins among others. I do a fair amount of commercial session work in London (everything from film scores to cd's). In 2007 I also appeared miming in 2 hollywood films including Kiera Knightley's new flick “The Duchess”. I had to dress up in clothes from the 1750's!!! Aside from that I can be found leading English National Ballet and playing in CBSO among others and working on the upcoming cd release of “Swan Unbuttoned” a string quartet jazz cd of my arrangements featuring Simon Chalk, myself, Liz and Nick Stringfellow. It should be available for the “Spring Sounds Festival” in May.

What do you most enjoy about playing with OOTS?
Definitely the friendships, David Le Page, Cathy Leech, Ivor McGregor and Claire O'Connell all played at our wedding at Magdalen College in Oxford. It was a really special moment
and as David played “The Lark scending” there was not a dry eye in the house. Also I think the feeling that everyone is in OOTS to make music and to enjoy themselves, which is a rare combination in the profession today. The strings do a lot of concerts together and the cammeraderie is really great.

Why did you choose the viola as your instrument, who made it and where did you train?
I played the violin until I was 18 years old, but because I was tall and had long arms and fingers I changed to viola once at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and the rest, as they say, is history!!! I play on a viola which is loaned to me from a private collection. It was made by Stefano Scarampella in 1860 and is worth around £100,000!! I try not to have sleepless nights!!