Meet the Artist

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

I always knew I would have a career in music. I can’t remember otherwise. I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I knew I would pursue music. Music in life and life in music has always been in me regardless of outside hurdles.

I started on electric guitar. In high school my curiosity was piqued watching the Eagles on MTV Unplugged play ‘Hotel California’ on nylon strung guitars and learning that Randy Rhodes of Ozzy Ozbourne played classical guitar. Around the same time I saw a video of Andrés Segovia performing Albéniz during my high school Spanish class, so with all of that I pretty much dropped my pick and started studying classical music. It took a bit of time for me to save up enough money to buy a nylon string guitar, but I found a teacher and started practicing. Nobody outside of my teacher played the classical/Spanish guitar and most didn’t know what it was.

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

During and after conservatory I read a lot about the musicians I looked up to: Julian Bream, Andrés Segovia, Sabicas (flamenco), Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein and numerous composers: Erik Satie, Heitor Villa-Lobos, George Gershwin, Manuel De Falla, John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, Serge Prokofiev, Astor Piazzolla and so many more.

I also found books on music learning and being an artist like Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner, With Your Own Two Hands by Seymour Bernstein, Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch, and Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke to be extremely helpful during the many challenging times.

I was very inspired by musicians who created their own repertoire that reflected their personal artistic vision and the times in which they lived. It helped that they had such strong personalities and technical facilities that the repertoire became theirs. I am not a composer, but like them I too felt the urge to assist in creation, so I set out to collaborate with composers and hopefully inspire new works. The collection of New Dances by David Starobin (Bridge Records) opened my eyes and inspired me to do my own commissioning project: the New Lullaby Project.

If a composer had already passed, then I looked at how I could explore their music through arrangements. I have done this most recently with the music of John Cage.

Lastly, I think the fact that I have lived without much of a safety net since college has made me commit to my endeavours fully. They can’t be just novelties or something to impress others, but successful endeavours on both the artistic and business front.

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

I had a lot of health issues during my time at conservatory. Some due to sports injuries growing up, and others due to growing up. I deal with them each day and they have less of a hold on me.

Regarding my professional career as a performer and teacher, I think my naïveté about the classical music world/business was hard to swallow. I don’t come from a musical or artistic family, so I had no idea that connections mattered or that established artists could try to sabotage another’s career. It was really eye-opening and also disappointing in many ways to see behind the curtain. Thankfully, I have an amazing team of support with my wife, so I continue to make my way regardless.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

Oh that is so hard; I’m proud of them all. The four solo discs are quite diverse with each representing an artistic place in my life of goals, beliefs and abilities. I take great pride in that each contains a premiere.

‘Tracing a wheel on water’ (2006, Music Life Program) – my first solo endeavour and most conservative, made when I thought competitions and pleasing critics was the goal. Four premieres by Daniel Pinkham, Lior Navok and Kevin Siegfried.

‘New Lullaby’ (2010 Six String Sound) – the first recording where I really pushed the envelope with an album of all contemporary commissions by “non-famous composers” as one critic wrote. The classical guitar is known for putting people to sleep, and contemporary music is completely disconnected from normal life, so I see this album as a double-dog dare to listeners. I’m right.

‘The Legend of Hagoromo’ (2015 Stone Records) – the most technically virtuosic album. It was the first guitar album on the UK label Stone Records and I was the first American artist on the label. Atypically, it has a unifying theme of Japan – yes the guitar can do more than play Spanish repertoire(!) – and includes three commissions by Ken Ueno, Martin Schreiner and Kota Nakamura, along with only the second commercial recording of the insane title track by Keigo Fujii.

‘John. Cage. Guitar.’ (2018 Stone Records) – my latest recording released on November 2nd, 2018 by Stone Records, but more importantly it is truly home-grown and a departure for me on many levels. 1) It does not include a commission, but I made all of the arrangements myself, which are published by Edition Peters (a first for the John Cage estate & classical guitar!); 2) The music surveys a single composer, and 3) includes two collaborations with other artists: violinist Sharan Leventhal (Keplar Qt) and guitarist Adam Levin.

Regarding performances, my multiple solo and chamber concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow were life-changing. My main teacher, Dmitry Goryachev is from St Petersburg, and I heard so much about Russian audiences that I was quite intimidated by them, but I performed in the country five times in five years (2011-2016) and each time it was huge for my confidence as a player and creator. My first concert in Moscow was a 2.5-hour concert with multiple encores, following a night of trying to sleep a floor above a nightclub!

An all New Lullaby concert for 10-14 year olds at a Moscow area arts school was very special with the director telling me how in shock he was that students loved the works including 12-tone, microtonal and minimalist works. Only in Russia and Germany have I had the audience to clap together as one. These experiences stay close to my heart.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

“Best” is a big word! I think my performance of Keigo Fujii’s ‘Legend of Hagoromo’ and John Cage’s ‘In a Landscape’ are unique and unmatched, at least for now, but what does that mean? I’d love to hear others perform them, and hopefully they inspire me to revisit my own interpretations.

I perform a lot of contemporary music and people are surprised that I am able to keep audiences engaged and awake with such difficult music. I’ve brought tears to eyes performing Romantic and Spanish works, as well as Bach, so if eliciting such emotion is the measure then there we go.

I have a very hard time playing the same music or style of music for a long period of time, so I think I’m quite good at varying my repertoire and presenting it to audiences in a way that makes them part of the creation.

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

Much of it depends what gets booked. Of course a Bach series will feature Bach with music related to him, a performance of my Spanish music and dance ensemble ¡Con Fuego! will feature Spanish music, and a contemporary series will feature contemporary music. On tour I will often have a chamber concert or song recital mixed into a series of solo shows. I try to work with each venue to find the right theme for them.

When I have free choice of the program I try to balance a few standards into my programs, as guitar audiences are fairly conservative, alongside more challenging works for a new listening experience. Now that I have the new Cage release and publications I will include one or two pieces from it whenever possible.

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

Jordan Hall in Boston is very special to me because I sat in it repeatedly as a student and heard my idols dance their music through the space. The sound is luscious!

Salon dei Giganti in Palazzo Te, Mantova, Italy – Such inspiration all around me through the mosaics made for easy music making, and the audience gathered at my feet made for an overwhelming experience.

El Palacio de Linares in Madrid, Spain holds a special place in my heart as my first professional performance in Spain.

Yelegin Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia is amazing!

Who are your favourite musicians?

I have so many! Most of the people I find inspiration from now are composers: I love experiencing their creations and hearing how they manipulate these black dots on paper to be so amazing and full of life.

I love players and ensembles that are not afraid of exploring new sounds, but are also able to make standards sound fresh and exciting. I love virtuosity, but only if it is multi-dimensional in personality, technique, artistry, and presentation.

There are musicians who have wonderful presentation and repertoire ideas, but not amazing technique, whom I adore, and there are players I only listen to for their technique, usually in very short bursts.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Easy: Ali Akabar Kahn in Jordan Hall in the late 90s. Blew my mind that such a musician could exist. Fist half was just under 90min, and it felt like 25! A true magician.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

On a daily scale: Having music in my life each day with good health, family, friends, and great food.

On a yearly scale:

A project completed. A new arrangement published. New works commissioned and premiered. Higher pay scale.

On a life scale:

Recordings devoted to Bach, Mussorgsky, contemporary composers, regular national and international tours.

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

Copy to learn about others and yourself, but in the end you must be yourself. A career as a musician is possible if you are consistent, patient and creative.

Take care of your health all of the time. We cannot be messengers of sound if our bodies are injured and worn out.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

Performing full-time. In a castle with the time and money to maintain and enjoy it.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Breaking bread, sharing music, solitude with my studies, and recognition for my creations.

What is your most treasured possession?

My guitar

My relationship with my wife, though I do not posses her anymore than she possesses me.

What is your present state of mind?

Curious and positive in my goals and ambitions, which is a first.

Aaron Larget-Caplan’s latest album John. Cage. Guitar. is the first classical guitar recording dedicated to the music of John Cage, and features seven early and mid-career compositions, dating from 1933 through 1950 for solo guitar, violin and guitar, and prepared guitar duo. Now available on the Stone Records Ltd label

alcguitar.com

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portraitWho or what inspired you to take up violin and pursue a career in music?

It must have been my family where music was omnipresent, although there weren’t any professional musicians – or perhaps precisely because of that! There were thousands of records in our little flat and the vinyl was on most of the time, so there was plenty of opportunity to sing along.

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

Schoenberg, Harnoncourt, Huberman. People with a mission – I always had admiration for them because I knew I could never become them.

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

Figuring out where I belong and what the strong sides are – and then realising that neither one matters. The only real challenge out there is to understand the language of what is on the page.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

I only listen to my recordings shortly before they come out – to make corrections, rarely if at all after. To me they capture a moment in time that’s gone and forgotten.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

If you understand the piece you are playing and make it understood to others you’ve succeeded. Everything else is subjective. I try to keep my palette as rich with colours as possible.

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

Usually I try to focus on something and then sit and wait until it gets out of hand and I end up with 20 different new pieces to learn:)

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

There are quite a few. Many factors have to come together: the intimacy (even in a symphony hall), the mix of warmth and dryness of the acoustics, aesthetic beauty of the venue, lighting, the audience.

Who are your favourite musicians?

Probably Nikolaus Harnoncourt – first choice as a musician/thinker/mover and shaker/inspirational force. There are no living personalities of that order as far as I am aware.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

I have a rather peculiar atrophy of memory when it comes to remembering feelings during a concert – that is a very momentous thing. In the end of the day what you might remember after a concert will most likely be like a reflection in a broken mirror.

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

Listen!

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

Being alive would be a start!

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Spending time with my wife and three daughters.

What is your most treasured possession?

The most treasured things in life, one never truly owns! Everything else are just things.

What is your present state of mind?

Concentrated. Listening to cembalo warming up…

ilyagringolts.com

Ilya Gringolts’ latest disc ‘Korngold, Adams, Violin Concerto’ with the Copenhagen Phil is available on the Orchid Classics label. Further information here

Artist photo by Tomasz Trzebiatowski

Original interview date: May 2017

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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