Kate Romano

I’ve been making things happen with considerable energy for the past 7 years. I founded the Goldfield Ensemble in 2012 and in addition to our acclaimed chamber music  concerts, we’ve created collaborative events, education projects and strengthened our ongoing support for composers.  We’ve played at St Johns Smith Square, Kings College Chapel, HCMF, Kings Place and many UK festivals. We’ve commissioned new works (Arlene Sierra, Kathy Hinde, Robin Holloway, Matthew Kaner) and partnered with the Wellcome Trust and sculptor Simeon Nelson to create Anarchy in the Organism.  In 2016 we toured our  RITUAL IN TRANSFIGURED TIME Jerwood Prize-winning programme with Langham Research Centre – a bringing-together of old and new technology, sound and film, conventional and self-made instruments.

The Goldfield Ensemble is now the resident ensemble of Goldfield Productions, a charitable incorporated organisation. I’m the Artistic Director of Goldfield Productions who exist to create adventures in sound for everyone, transforming the everyday into the extraordinary. In 2018, Goldfield commissioned, created and toured or critically acclaimed new stage work: Hansel & Gretel (a nightmare in eight scenes) with words by Simon Armitage and music by Matthew Kaner.  In 2019, Goldfield will release the first album of chamber music by Erika Fox for NMC records. 

I moved into production in 2012 when I produced a touring chamber opera for Japanese-Western ensemble Okeanos. Tokaido Road (by Nicola LeFanu) combined two cultures and five art forms. The London premiere took place at Milton Court Theatre, Barbican. Our largest venue was the 2-acre Great Court of the British Museum and our smallest was a remote 13^th century church in the Cheviot Hills. With a combined opera and outreach audience of around 9000, this process and production awakened a personal passion for combining music with the power of storytelling that has shaped every subsequent production I have made.  

As a clarinetist, I regularly perform with the Goldfield Ensemble. I’ve performed at most major UK venues and festivals as soloist and chamber musician including the Purcell Room, Kings Place, St Georges Bristol, The Barbican (BBC Total Immersion).  I have given over 70 premieres and have recorded for NMC, Metier and Minabel. My two solo CDs ( here and here) both received the highest accolades including 5* reviews from Gramophone and ‘Pick of the Month’ in the chamber music section for the BBC Music Magazine.

I studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, I have an MPhil from Cambridge University and a doctorate in composition from Kings College London. From 2003 – 2016 I held a senior academic post at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was awarded a Fellowship from the School in 2014. I’ve written articles for the Guardian, The Cusp magazine and BBC Proms. I’ve been a guest speaker on BBC Radio 3 Music Matters and have written and narrated over 80 stories for Essential Classics.  As well as running Goldfield Productions, I work as a freelance producer and writer and I do a lot of fund-raising. I’m passionate about 20th century concrete, birds, landscapes of all kind, listening (and how we do it) and book shops. 

Registered charity: 1173427