Author: The Cross-Eyed Pianist

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Headshot_AlexandraHarwood

Who or what inspired you to take up composing, and pursue a career in music?

I started writing music when I was four, so I have no memory of why this was! My mother said that when I was three, I would watch television, go to the piano and play the music I’d just heard. I also loved placing my favourite story-books on the piano and would make up accompaniments as I read them. When I started school (Bedales School) aged four, I had piano and theory lessons and the head of music encouraged me to compose musicals! I wrote my first musical, ‘The Wombles’ aged four, which the school produced and then during the rest of my school life there (until I was 18), I wrote several more musicals, which were all performed. I never questioned that I was anything other than a composer (even though I learned the piano and clarinet during those school years), except I had a secret fantasy to be a heart surgeon!! I was a huge film and television addict as a child, which I think laid the ground for my career as film composer.

Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?

Along the way I’ve had some incredible teachers to whom I am indebted for their guidance, encouragement and teaching and to list them all would take a whole page, but Melanie Fuller at Bedales and Joseph Horovitz, during my undergraduate study at the RCM gave me the most formative and solid foundation that I rely on still to this day. Milton Babbitt, when I did my Masters at the Juilliard School, gave me much worldly advice and shared his experience and knowledge, even though musically we were worlds apart. For concert/classical compositions, my most significant influences are Stravinksy, Prokofiev, Ravel, Britten, Shostakovich and Sondheim; put those all in a pot and stir them up and out comes something like me!

For my theatre and film compositions, it is normally the film or play, director and producer that will dictate what music is needed and I can write in a wide variety of styles, but in the end I think my melodic voice comes through.

What have been the greatest challenges/frustrations of your career so far?

As a classical composer, earning a living was by far the greatest challenge! And in my 40s it was juggling being a single parent of three children whilst trying to start a new path towards film composing. I owe my children everything for their eternal patience during the time I did a second Masters degree at the National Film and Television School and since then for practically having no mother available when I’m chained to my desk up against tight film deadlines!

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?

It was a very unexpected moment when Leon Bosch commissioned me to write four pieces for I Musicanti’s 2017/18 concert series at St John’s Smiths Square. In my mind, I’d turned my back on writing concert music, once I’d decided to focus on being a film composer. Ironically, last year, in a recording session for a feature film that I scored for Disney, ‘Growing Up Wild’, Leon was in the session orchestra and discovered my music through that. His commissioning me was like life tapping me on the shoulder, making sure I did not forget my roots!

I have found writing concert music again frightening, as I’ve got so used to writing to picture and having a film to support. even if I prefer having those constraints!

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles and orchestras?

For a commissioned piece, it’s important to know the ability of the players you are writing for, along with the planned time they have to rehearse. I think for a future life of any piece, it’s important for the musicians to know this is a piece they can program again and that it’s performable! With these particular commissions for I Musicanti, I am aware I have virtuosic musicians to write for, and I worry that I’d let them down by not writing something that gives them a platform to show their skills and gift. But at the same time, I have tried not to let this cloud my idea of what the piece should be as a whole.

There is no greater pleasure than hearing my work brought to life my real musicians and in the case of i musicanti, world-class musicians.

Of which works are you most proud?

There are a few pieces I wish could be performed again. I composed two pieces that had Royal premieres; a piano quintet for my father’s 70th birthday that was ‘Theme and Variations’ of Happy Birthday, performed in front of Prince Charles and a piece for chamber choir, ‘God of the Sea’ performed for Princess Margaret at Windsor.

I think the concert piece I am most proud of was my cantata ‘The Happy Prince’ which was performed with narrators, choir and orchestra at St John’s Smith’s Square in 1993. The reviews it received recommended it was performed at the Proms and that is still something I dream of. My father wrote the libretto and we would both love to hear it performed again.

How would you characterise your compositional language?

My concert work is melodic and probably the best description of its harmonic language would be neo-classical/bi-tonal.

How do you work?

I have a studio at home for my film composing, which involves a computer, screens and full size Roland RD700 weighted keyboard. But right behind me sits my Steinway Grand, which I bought in the New York Steinway showroom after I graduated from Juilliard. It’s my most treasured possession and signed inside by Steinway’s grandsons.

Most of my film work and all my concert work begins at the piano, with manuscript paper and pencil, and eventually gets put into the computer for editing.

Who are your favourite musicians/composers?

I have very eclectic taste and impossible to list all, but to name a few, other than my main influences I listed above, I’d include (in no particular order): Leonard Bernstein, John Williams, James Horner, Chet Baker, Bach and Stevie Wonder!

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Seeing Robert Carson’s production of Britten’s opera, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in Aix-en-Provence’s open-air theatre in 1991. One of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Perseverance, don’t listen to naysayers and keep a still centre!

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Hanging out with my three grown up kids and dogs at home, wearing pjs and drinking cups of tea and watching a movie with them! This is always perfect happiness for me.

What is your most treasured possession?

My late mother’s wedding ring, that I wear, and my Steinway Grand piano.

What do you enjoy doing most?

I’m most at peace when I’m working.

Alexandra Harwood is an award-winning film composer, whose films have screened worldwide and include awards and nomination for BAFTA Cymru, BIFA, Anima Mundi, Edinburgh Film Festival, IDFA and Locarno.

After graduating from the Royal College of Music (Dip Mus) and then The Juilliard School (MA) Alexandra was composer in residence for the Juilliard Drama Division, during which time wrote for theatre productions in New York and England. Amongst numerous commissions that have been performed world wide are The Happy Prince (cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra) libretto by Ronald Harwood, St John’s Smith’s Square, London; Untitled (voice and percussion) for Audra MacDonald, Avery Fisher Hall, NY; and  Sonatina (alto flute and pianoThe National Flute Convention, chosen repetoire,  2009,USA ; Theme and Variations-  written for Sir Ronald Harwood’s 70th Birthday, performed in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales.

Experience in theatre and concert work led to taking an MA in film composition at the National Film and Television School, which began a career as a film composer.

Film scores include, Dancing in Circles (BAFTA Cymru winner 2015 dir. Kim Strobl), What A Performance! Pioneers of Popular Entertainment (BBC) , Z1 (BIFA winner 2013 dir. Gabriel Gauchet), Girlfriend in a Coma (BBC), Harry Potter Celebration (Warner Bros.), The Substitute (dir. Nathan Hughes-Berry), Satan Has a Bushy Tail (Film London. dir. Louis Paxton), Kids Say (Flourman Productions. dir. Lilian Fu), The Key (MewLab Productions. dir. Kim Noce and Shaun Clark), No Man’s Land (IDFA nomination 2013 dir. Michael Graverson), Four and Flat Frog (Inkymind Studios), Automatic Flesh (Ballet Rambert).

alexharwood.com

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Who or what inspired you to take up conducting and pursue a career in music?

A series of unfortunate accidents! As a fairly straightforwardly academic child I stumbled into an open evening given by the brass teachers of the local peripatetic service. I really can’t remember why I thought it was a good idea, but there was a tuba lying on a classroom table and it chose me there and then.

As a tuba player in youth orchestra I had a lot of bars rest – often whole movements or pieces. To relieve the boredom (and if I’m honest to try to stop myself being a nuisance to people with actual notes to play), I started bringing the scores to rehearsals and following those. It didn’t take long for me to start wanting to hear more of different sections of the orchestra, or wonder how it would work at a different tempo, it was then a short step to formal study, though I don’t think even then that I had any thought of doing it for a living.

Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life?

The two most significant early experiences were that of my youth orchestra, but possibly more importantly playing in a very high-level brass band. The culture of dedication, discipline and excellence there was something I shall never forget. Punctuality, alertness and concentration were taken absolutely for granted, and the precision of ensemble and intonation was astonishing. It set standards for me.

After that, three teachers had an enormous influence. My first conducting teacher was Michael Trowski, who was also the conductor of my youth orchestra. He is a wonderful all-round musician, and a very supportive friend who I learnt from as much playing under him as in our lessons. After university I studied with Alan Hazeldine, who pushed me hard to keep focused and to treat conducting as an all-round set of skills that encompassed not only physical technique and score-reading but also mastery of the psychology of orchestras and managements. He also arranged for me to watch and meet Sir Colin Davies who offered several gems of insight that I will always treasure.

But by far the most profound influence on my career in the past decade has been working with David Parry. As his assistant and colleague at Garsington, I was given the most incredible insights into the wonderful world of opera where I have spent much of the last decade. In particular, his peerless facility in the bel canto repertoire has led that to become something of a specialism for me, although I undoubtedly conduct it very differently from him and this ability to nurture conductors without turning out carbon copies of himself is what makes him such a great colleague and mentor.

What, for you, is the most challenging part of being a conductor? And the most fulfilling aspect?

As the question implies, this is often the same thing. Every room is different and every person in that room is different. They all want and need something different from you and that will vary ensemble to ensemble, piece to piece and week to week. One of Colin Davis’ brilliant insights was that our job is not to conduct the piece, but to conduct the people who are playing the piece. The fact that the same gestures, explanations, ideas will communicate in one setting but not another is an endless challenge, but the satisfaction of finding a way to let a group of brilliant and talented people make music together to their maximum potential is one of the most fulfilling experiences imaginable.

As a conductor, how do you communicate your ideas about a work to the orchestra?

Very simply! A wonderful colleague once advised me never to say anything in rehearsal that I couldn’t express in my third language. If I couldn’t say it in German or Italian it was probably too complicated. I think this is wonderful advice. Whilst I have complicated poetic and metaphysical ideas in my head, they are only allowed out through my hands, eyes and body. If you heard me speaking to an orchestra, 99% of the time it would be about the practicalities of note-lengths, balance, intonation, and tempo.

How exactly do you see your role? Inspiring the players/singers? Conveying the vision of the composer?

I am definitely the composer’s representative in the room, and I feel very strongly that it’s my job to bring not only the composer’s ideas but their historical context, assumptions, faith, politics and personality to the rehearsal (though as per above, this generally stays in my head unless really interesting to anyone else!).

Following from that, I think that it is my job to have the whole picture in my mind, whether that be an opera or a symphony, and to be responsibility for the integrity of that. Each singer in an opera needs to be focused on their character, motivations, and emotional arc. My job is to make sure that these knit together into a story. This is why it is often a good sign if we disagree, or at the least have different emphases. Likewise in an orchestra, any given player (or section) has to concentrate on phrasing, articulation, intonation. To let them do that, and to mesh all of those individual lines into a coherent whole, I take charge of the balance, tempo and ensemble so that they focus on making music.

Is there one work which you would love to conduct?

Too many! I’ve been very very lucky and been allowed to conduct a huge range of repertoire from the 13th century to the present so have no complaints. But having gained a reputation for English music and the Italian bel canto I wouldn’t protest if someone booked me to do Walküre…. or Boris….

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in?

I am a huge fan of the various Frank Matcham theatres around the country. The Hackney Empire is my home turf and I feel a special affection for that space, but Buxton, Cheltenham and Wolverhampton are all glorious venues to make music in. That said, I’m looking forward to making my Bridgewater Hall debut next year which may change that…

Who are your favourite musicians/composers?

No favourites! Verboten!

Though more seriously I have never failed to fall in love with a piece I’m working on.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Cynically, it’s the moment when you’re spending more time and energy on doing the work that looking for it.

But fortunately success comes daily when we bring music off the page and through our performance into people’s lives. Every single audience member whose soul goes home lighter after a show is the reason that we’re here.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

They need to have an absolute clarity of purpose. They need to have addressed the big questions: Why do we do what we do, who is it for? Why is it important? They need to have this core of confidence in order to develop resilience to the thousand natural shocks that anyone in the performing arts faces daily.

I think they need to come to these conclusions for themselves and we don’t need to agree. In fact for the continued development and evolution of our profession it’s better if we don’t! It’s very unclear to me what our world and profession will look like in ten years’ time, let alone twenty. Anyone entering now needs to know why and bring with them a readiness to make music in different ways and in different places, so that we continue to touch audiences.

Arthur Sullivan’s complete incidental music to Shakespeare’s Macbeth and The Tempest with his concert overture, Marmion, performed by sopranos Mary Bevan and Fllur Wyn, Simon Callow (speaker), the BBC Singer and BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by John Andrews, is available now on the Dutton Epoch label

John Andrews is Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, Conductor-in-Assocation with the English Symphony Orchestra, whom he conducts regularly at the English Music Festival. He has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and concerts in 2018-19 include the 2018 International Composers Festival, the Bridgewater Hall with the Manchester Concert Orchestra, and the London Handel Festival with the Brook Street Band, the Malcolm Arnold Festival and Baroquestock.

His performances of Donizetti’s Pia de’ Tolomei for English Touring Opera, were praised for his ‘highly cultured, shapely and pressing direction… ’ whilst Bachtrack described his interpretation of Lucia di Lammermoor as ‘faultless’. Recent credits include Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel with the Young Artists of Garsington Opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail for the Rostock Volkstheater, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Opera Holland Park. In 2018 and 2019 he returns to English Touring Opera for Rossini’s Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, and Il segreto di Susanna for Opera Holland Park.

John is currently making a series of world-premiere recordings with the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and The Brook Street Band for Dutton Epoch and EM-Records. The first of these – Sullivan’s Music for Macbeth and The Tempest – was named a Disc of the Year in The Sunday Times, described by Hugh Canning as ‘pure delight’. Future releases include Arne’s The Judgment of Paris, and Sullivan’s Haddon Hall and The Martyr of Antioch.

His gift for combining empathy and feel for both music and musicians with an ability to directly and powerfully communicate his ideas, together with his passion for locating music in its social and historical context, brings dynamism and warmth to his interpretations of both rare and classic repertoire.

johnkandrews.com

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  1. Reject prejudice. Select the concert based on the programme rather than the performer and don’t always be led by the artist’s biography/reputation
  2. Support local and regional music-making: there’s plenty of it and it’s important to remember that the metropolis is not the only place where great music can be heard
  3. If you’ve enjoyed a concert, tell others and share your enthusiasm, especially with people who may be new to classical music (see 4 below)
  4. Go to concerts with friends, especially those who haven’t sampled classical music before
  5. Online reviews and blogs have real value. Read them. Don’t think the mainstream media always has the last word
  6. If you know musicians, support them by attending their concerts and buy their CDs – don’t expect friends to supply free tickets. (see 7 below)
  7. Musicians tend to command low or even no fees. Buy the goddam tickets (and CDs)!
  8. If you’ve enjoyed a performance, or recording, tell the artist! At places like Wigmore Hall, it’s easy to go to the Green Room afterwards to meet the performer/s. Alternatively, contact them on social media or email via their website. Go on – we really appreciate it!
  9. Please don’t tell musicians how to do their job: we are sensitive people who work extremely hard. And don’t ask “what’s your day job?” or hint that being a musician is some kind of superannuated hobby. It’s not, it’s a profession.

 

(Inspired by author Joanna Harris on Twitter)

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Who or what inspired you to take up the piano and pursue a career in music?

My grandmother owned an upright piano and used it to play simplified arrangements of jazz standards. As a young child, I used to live in the flat above and enjoyed visits during her morning ritual, which consisted of drinking Turkish/Arabic coffee, cigarette in hand, and listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie and Billie Holiday amongst other jazz artists from the Golden Era. She almost certainly passed on her pure love of music to my father, who had similar recordings playing on cassettes, LPs and CDs in our own flat most of the time.

I’m not sure that this led to me becoming a professional classical pianist though. I believe the joy experienced by amateurs while listening to or playing music is often lost on professionals (especially within the classical music industry) who often use music to serve rather personal goals in their lives, such as becoming the very best at something – a very questionable goal to aspire to in the subjective world of the fine arts, in my opinion. My family’s love of jazz certainly made me want to have music all around me and led to drum kit lessons with my father at the age of three and piano lessons at the age of five with Agnes Bashir-Dzodtsoeva – an exceptional teacher and composer who was based in Amman at the time. I moved to the UK as an eleven year old to pursue my professional training and education. This was probably what actually placed me on the path to becoming a professional, having received a solid technical foundation in the Russian School of piano playing from Agnes, a Georgian educated in Moscow.

My grandmother gave me her piano about a year after I started lessons because she felt that my electric keyboard had surpassed its usefulness. This will always be one of the most precious gifts anyone has ever offered me.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I’ve been very fortunate indeed to have received input from quite a few extraordinary musicians; I met Yo-Yo Ma as a ten year old during the first West Eastern Divan workshop, which was directed by Daniel Barenboim who has mentored me on many occasions since. He has also invited me to tour with him and the West Eastern Divan as a soloist, playing works that include Berg’s Chamber Concerto which certainly shaped my interest in the Second Viennese School. I am privileged to have been introduced to a genre by one of its top authorities.

I will certainly never forget the late Sir Colin Davis’ advice on how to start the angelic ‘Siciliana’ movement (II) as I prepared for our performance of Mozart’s Concerto no. 23 in A major with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Centre. Furthermore, my lesson with the late Pierre Boulez on his own ‘12 Notations’ for solo piano at the Royal Academy will remain one of the most important and cherished musical experiences of my life, of course.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that my piano, theory, composition and conducting teachers had the biggest influences on my development, as they helped shape my musicianship very directly. Since leaving Jordan, I have studied piano with Tatiana Sarkissova (who was my main professor in the UK), Hinrich Alpers and Tessa Nicholson, composition with Jonathan Cole and Graham Williams, conducting with Paul Brough, Denise Ham, Quentin Poole and Peter Stark. Though I have had many fantastic theory teachers over the years, the Chicago-based conductor and arranger Cliff Colnot was one of the best pedagogues one could ask for, as I discovered during the many hours I spent analysing full scores of the symphonic repertoire with him. We met during summer West Eastern Divan workshops Seville, Spain and during visits that I made to Chicago for intensive courses as a teenager.

Since moving to Berlin, I have spent a lot of time learning about early music from the renowned scholar, viol player and director of Phantasm, Laurence Dreyfus. I remember attending one of his lectures during his visit to the Royal Academy of Music in 2012 and subsequently reading his essay ‘Beyond the Interpretation of Music’ which, I can safely say, forced me to reconsider everything I had learned about studying and preparing repertoire of any genre.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Remaining moderately sane.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

I’m quite concerned about the levels of narcissism within our industry – especially since the onset of social media – so I’m careful to avoid pride, as much as I can. For clarity, I do use social media but try my best to be as pragmatic about it as possible. Focusing on the experience of performing is more of a priority for me, rather than the many emotions and thoughts that follow. They are after all pretty useless unless they help me improve.

However, if I had to choose one memorable performance to discuss, I would say that it was particularly interesting to play Schoenberg’s op. 11 to a group of students at the Hind Al–Husseini College in occupied East Jerusalem, Palestine. It is very likely that some of these students had never been exposed to any classical music at all until then (within the frame of attending live concerts). So the discussion about ‘Drei Klavierstuecke op. 11’ that followed my performance was fascinating, particularly as they had the advantage, as listeners, of having no strong standard to compare atonality to.* I remember one student saying that she imagined a scene from a horror movie while I was playing. Considering the fact that Schoenberg moved to Hollywood in 1934, I thought that this was very perceptive indeed. After all he must have influenced a whole generation of film composers as one of the University of Southern California’s and University of California, Los Angeles’ most valued pedagogues.

I’m very pleased that this event took place.

*Arabic music is mainly monophonic, with intricacy and complexity in the melodic ornamentation and rhythm rather than the homophonic movement of parts – in other words it’s more of a horizontal tradition.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

Not sure, tough one. Sorry!

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I am naturally quite a curious person, so my approach to music has always been interest-driven. What I offer in recitals is usually linked to what I have been exploring as a listener, these days, now that I am no longer a studying in a traditional sense. Certainly my engagement with English Renaissance music developed because of my interest in Renaissance music in general. I was exposed to it at the Purcell School – we had to sing a fair amount of Palestrina, Lassus and Byrd in choir – and really enjoyed the counterpoint and modality back then, although I was probably too young to fully appreciate its beauty. However, it was a performance of Monteverdi’s ‘L’incoronazione di Poppea’ at the English National Opera (especially the final duet) that really got me hooked as a listener. So by the time I met Laurence Dreyfus, I was ready to start working on and studying the genre more extensively.

There is no rich tradition of performing Renaissance keyboard music on the modern piano, (Sokolov and Gould are both true heroes of mine, as different as they are, but there aren’t many others who venture out into this territory) so the harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani’s survey of John Bull’s keyboard works was a very important and revelatory recording to listen to. Thankfully, he was very generous when I emailed him with questions, and invited me to Prague for some coaching. It was heart-warming to see how very encouraging he was about playing this music on the modern piano and using the instrument idiomatically to serve it. He had many suggestions for further keyboard repertoire that I should explore.

In general, I avoid chronological programming, so called well-balanced programming where one tries to tick boxes across genres that are limited to music written between about 1750 and 1950, exclusively nineteenth century programmes and single composer programmes (unless it’s a performance of the Goldberg Variations, which I sometimes play on it’s own, but usually start the concert with some Boulez or Schoenberg).

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

Not really, but playing at Luzern’s KKL and the new Philharmonie de Paris, both with Daniel Barenboim, were exceptional experiences – the acoustics really allow you to take risks with soft dynamics. Both halls were designed by the architect Jean Nouvel.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Playing Mozart’s K467 in Petra, Jordan as an 11 year old. Nothing quite beats Mozart in the middle of the desert, in front of a World Heritage Site as far as memorability goes!

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Artistic fulfilment and paying all the bills simultaneously.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

1) Constantly listening to and studying (not only practising) music with child-like curiosity.

2) Keeping a healthy check on one’s ego – it’s important to know when it’s appropriate to be the centre of attention (i.e on stage) and when it’s in one’s best interest to be a more generous spirit (backstage and everywhere outside the concert hall).

Karim Said’s new album ‘Legacy’ is available now on the Rubicon Classics label. Further information

Karim Said came to the public’s attention in 2009, playing concertos with the late Sir Colin Davis and the English Chamber Orchestra in London’s Barbican Centre and at the BBC PROMS with Daniel Barenboim and his West Eastern Divan. Karim has regularly toured with the Divan orchestra as a soloist, under Maestro Barenboim’s baton, performing at such halls as the Philharmonie in Berlin, Musikverein in Vienna and the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Mostly recently, Karim appeared with the Maestro as a soloist in the opening night of the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, playing the Berg Chamber Concerto.

Karim’s debut album ‘Echoes from an Empire’ (Opus Arte – 2015) was one of Gramphone’s ‘Top Ten recordings of Janacek’ (2016). The repertoire on this album was inspired by his London recital debut series at the Southbank Centre in 2013, where he played the complete solo works by Arnold Schoenberg over three recitals as part of the ‘International Piano Series’ and ‘The Rest Is Noise’ festival. As a chamber musician and song accompanist, Karim has collaborated with artists including Waltraud Meier, Dorothea Röschmann, Gabriel Croitoru, Adrian Brendel, and the Utrecht String Quartet.

Earlier this year, Karim launched the Etihad String Orchestra in his native Jordan as its first Music Director and performed with the European Youth Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko at the Dubai Opera House.

Born in Amman, Jordan in 1988, Karim commenced his piano with Agnes Bashir-Dzodtsoeva before moving to the UK in 2000, aged eleven. He studied piano, composition and conducting at the renowned Purcell School of Music and later at the Royal Academy of Music, both on full scholarships. At the Academy he studied with Prof Tatiana Sarkissova. In more recent years, Karim was coached by Hinrich Alpers in Berlin, where he is currently based. As a conductor, Karim attended masterclasses with Bernard Haitink at the Royal College of Music during his studies in the UK.

Karim Said was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London in 2017.

karimsaid.com

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