West End orchestra leader dies at 51

The death has been made known of Giles Broadbent, leader of several theatre orchestras in London’s West End. The family issued this statement:

Giles studied at the Royal Academy of Music and went on to lead orchestras for several West End shows such as Sunset Boulevard, Phantom of the Opera and My Fair Lady, amongst others.

‘Although Giles had not been well recently, we as a family are still in shock at his passing. The band will be taking a break whilst we make funeral arrangements. Giles is survived by his wife, the television presenter and former Blue Peter star Diane Louise Jordan and their daughter and grandchildren.

Giles studied at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2003 he formed the electric violin quartet Stringfever with his brothers Ralph and Neal and cousin Graham, playing all over the world from Mumbai to Beijing Music Festival in China. The band has completed almost 20 US tours and appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Friday. Stringfever’s version of Ravel’s Bolero, where all four players play on one cello simultaneously, has had more than a million hits on YouTube.