Alasdair Malloy was given his first opportunity to appear in public with a glass harmonica, ie a set of wine glasses filled up with water, at the 1990 BBC PROMS. This was for a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Aquarium from the Carnival of the Animals with the BBC Concert Orchestra, a version which he eventually recorded in 1996 with The Philharmonia for IMP Masters under the baton of Djong Victorin Yu. Gramophone commented with these words: "Yu opts for the version for large orchestra complete with glass harmonica (adeptly played by Alasdair Malloy)." This initial success and interest led him to promote the instrument and use it in both the classical and pop music world. He gave the premiere of David Horne's concerto Vapours with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as part of the Northlands Festival in Thurso in 1994. The concert was largely reported in the Scottish press as being a revival of an instrument which was invented in the 18th Century (by Benjamin Franklin, who was born on 17 January 1706 and whose 300th anniversary will be celebrated this year) and which became very fashionable in the 19th Century but was sadly rather neglected in the 20th Century. Since then, Alasdair has acquired a more sophisticated version of the glass harmonica, a copy of the Benjamin Franklin instrument, which consists of rotating crystal bowls activated with pedals. It is for this instrument that Mozart wrote his beautiful Adagio and Rondo which forms the quintet K 617, the last ever chamber piece written by the composer. Alasdair’s interpretation of the piece with members of the London Mozart Players prompted Michael Church from the Scotsman to say: "As Glass Harmonica virtuoso AM made clear, what Mozart did with it was hauntingly beautiful…" Particularly attracted to the instrument’s clear and piercing sound, a few composers have included a part for glass harmonica in their soundtracks for TV, CD and film music such as Joseph James in his Sketches from the Scarlet Letter and Alasdair’s own music for the film Medusae. Alasdair also made CD recordings with the Icelandic pop star, Björk, and appeared with her in a Renegade TV Gets Dazed program on Channel 4. More recently, Alasdair presented another of David Horne’s pieces for the instrument, Fireflies, of which he gave the world premiere with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003. Visit the publicity page to hear Alasdair playing the glass harmonica.