BARRINGTON ORWELL maintained an incomparable reputation in three-and-a-half decades of almost perpetual employment until his tragic death in an unexplained contrabassoon accident early in 2013. His work as a conductor was without parallel, and critical reaction was copious and unrestrained:
‘…Conductor Barrington Orwell was not able [sic]…’ South Yorkshire Bugle
‘…achieved sounds undreamed of by the composer…’ Berkhamsted Gazette
‘Orwell’s conducting…took the art to a new level…’ Süddeutscher Blatt
‘…quite simply beyond words…’ Torbay Gleaner
‘Incredible…’ Audience member
‘The Beethoven…was…fast…’ Leamington Herald
‘I think it safe to say that in thirty years of concert-going I have yet to see a display of conducting to compare with Orwell’s stupefying effort…’ South West Cotswold and District Newsletter
LEV PARIKIAN was born.
After a tediously lengthy period of growing, he became an adult.
He spends a lot of time standing in front of people waving his arms in the hope that sounds will materialise. He also spends a lot of time staring at a computer screen in the hope that words will materialise.
He lives in London with his [redacted], [redacted], and three domesticated (and, rest assured, entirely neutralised) [redacted].
He has never been to Uzbekistan.
Waving, Not Drowning 