Richard Wallace - Viola
Q. What is your instrument/ position/ job title in the Orchestra?
A. Viola player.
Q. When did you join the Orchestra?
A. At the end of 1979.
Q. What was your earliest musical experience?
A. Being taken to a BBC Welsh Orchestra concert when I was about 4 years old. I don't remember much about it - just a vague recollection of being there! After that I remember exploring my dad's record collection - often without his knowledge!
Q. What would you most like to do if you weren’t a musician?
A. I originally planned to go to medical school (oddly enough at Liverpool University), but on reflection I would be more attracted to the world of particle physics - quantum mechanics always intrigued me at school, and the more I read about it the less I understand it!
Q. What’s on your record/CD/MP3 Player/Spotify Playlist right now?
A. Ella Fitzgerald - the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
Q. What is your favourite Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra recording?
A. Probably the Mahler 5th symphony we recorded with Sir Charles Mackerras - it seemed "right".
Q. What is your most memorable moment with the Orchestra so far?
A. Playing the Suk "Asrael" symphony in Prague in 1988.
Q. What do you like to do with your free time outside music?
A. Family, and trying to find a life a long way from music!
Q. What do you like most about Liverpool?
A. Difficult to say - it just feels like home, and did so very quickly; strangely I only recently found out that my paternal grandfather came from the "Scottie Road" area - he died young and has always been a bit of a mystery character!
