Introducing... Benjamin Cunningham, Co-Principal Double Bass
How did you become involved with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)?
I auditioned during my final year at the Royal Academy of Music in 2005. I won a trial and started to come into the Orchestra.
What was your first experience of orchestral music?
I don’t remember my first performance but I distinctly remember buying a tape from a stall in my hometown’s market. It was a tape of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. I can still see what the tape looked like, with a buttercup yellow cover and a picture of a bust of the composer. I loved that tape so much and played it so much it wore out. I’d love to hear it now. I’m sure it was a dreadful recording.
How did you find yourself on this career journey?
I went to a regular high school for the first few years and was that kid who spent all of his time in the music department, hanging out. I think it was a bit of a sanctuary for a young gay kid. I’d get the head of music to write me slips which would excuse me from sports classes so I didn’t have to go and play rugby or football! A girl that I knew, who was a singer, got a place at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and told me all about it, when she came back to visit her old school. She said they had ‘Steinways in every room’ and no one had to play sport. Neither of which was true. But it was enough for me, so I sent off for a prospectus, booked my parents and me on the open day and won a place. It was there that this all really started.
What is the best thing about being part of the RPO family?
I think that, in a world where so many people feel disconnected, we have a real community here at the RPO. I spend more time with these people than I do with many other people in my life, we travel together, we stay in the same hotels, we often eat together and we make amazing music together. It’s a cliché to say we’re like a family but there is a certain truth to that cliché.
Tell us about your favourite RPO journey.
I love travelling around South-East Asia and have a particular fondness for touring in Japan. We often stay in Tokyo and take the Shinkansen bullet trains up and down the country to perform in various other places. I have so many fond memories of sitting on those trains, watching the Japanese countryside go by, passing little towns and villages that are so different to those at home and seeing Mount Fuji appear through the clouds on the horizon. Magical.
Do you have any pre-concert rituals?
People often ask this question but I’m afraid I don’t. Get changed, get on stage and do it! I actually hate the last twenty minutes or so before a performance. I get very impatient to get on stage.
Must listens – if you had to recommend one artist or composer, who would it be and why?
There is so much, so can I give a few? Late Beethoven string quartets (particularly Ops.131 and 132), late Brahms piano works and Sibelius’ Seventh Symphony. All of them feel like these composers have discovered a part of the universe where this music is God-given and eternally present, and have merely turned up the volume. How a human being can produce such music from scratch completely baffles me.
Symphonic crossover – if you could work with any artist on a performance or project, who would you choose?
We’ve actually been so lucky at the RPO to play with some real icons from all genres of music. Everyone from Shirley Bassey, through people like Garbage, to Kylie Minogue. We played with Jennifer Hudson a couple of years ago in Orlando, Florida and that was some of the most remarkable singing I have ever heard. She was also a delight. Given all of that, I’m a huge Beyoncé fan and think her last album, Renaissance, is a masterpiece. I think it would be pretty cool to work with her.
Away from music, tell us two of your favourite hobbies and why they strike such a chord.
I’m a keen gardener and have a romantically over-planted garden stuffed full of flowering plants. I always struggle to accept that I can’t fit just one more plant into that tiny patch of bare soil so they’re all falling over each other in competition. I just love the beauty of plants and visit gorgeous gardens around the UK when I can. I also took up pottery last year, which I really fell for. I love the feeling of learning a brand new skill and throwing on a wheel is such a challenge! It’s so good for the soul to embrace the innocence of having absolutely zero experience of something and throwing yourself on the wisdom of a teacher. Particularly when you do something for a living that is so specifically and highly skilled. You can feel parts of your brain wake up and stretch.
Dream dinner party – who would you invite, what would you cook?
First of all, my husband would cook because he’s a spectacular cook and no one wants to eat my food. Guests… Emily Maitlis, Jo Whiley, Billie Jean King, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Ken Clarke, Cher, Maya Angelou, Carole King, Michelle Obama. Plus a scattering of my not-so-famous friends. Both because I can’t have a party without them and they’d love to meet some of these guys!