Christopher Glynn is a British classical pianist and festival director. He is especially known for his work as an accompanist with many leading singers and for his work as Artistic Director of the Ryedale Festival.

Biography

Born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, Christopher Glynn read music at New College, Oxford and studied piano with John Streets and Malcolm Martineau at the Royal Academy of Music. He has subsequently performed in recital with singers including Sir Thomas Allen,

Ian Bostridge Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. Early life and education Bostridge was born in London, the son of Leslie Bostridge and Lillian (née Clark). ...

, Claire Booth,

Allan Clayton Allan James Clayton (1981) is a British tenor singer. Clayton was a chorister at Worcester Cathedral and a choral scholar in the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2007-09 and winner of the Royal Phi ...

, Sarah Connolly,

Lucy Crowe Lucy Crowe is an English soprano in opera and concert. She has performed at international opera houses and music festivals such as the Glyndebourne Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival. Career Born in Staffordshire, England, Crowe studied ...

Sophie Daneman Sophie Daneman is a British soprano specializing in the baroque repertoire. Biography Sophie Daneman, a daughter of the actor Paul Daneman, studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She became known during the 1990s with t ...

Bernarda Fink Bernarda Fink (born 29 August 1955) is an Argentine mezzo-soprano. Born in Buenos Aires to Slovene parents who immigrated from Yugoslavia, Fink studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She won First Prize at t ...

, Anthony Rolfe Johnson,

Christiane Karg Christiane Karg (born 6 August 1980) is a German operatic soprano. The award-winning singer became known for performing Mozart roles at the Salzburg Festival, and made an international career. Career Born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, Karg studied ...

, Jonas Kaufmann,

Yvonne Kenny Yvonne Kenny AM (born 25 November 1950) is an Australian soprano, particularly associated with Handel, Mozart and bel canto roles. Biography Born in Sydney, she first studied at the University of Sydney in science, hoping to become a biochemi ...

, Emma Kirkby, Felicity Lott,

Christopher Maltman Christopher Maltman (born 6 February 1970) is a British operatic baritone. Christopher Maltman was born in Cleethorpes and was educated at Warwick University where he received a degree in Biochemistry and subsequently studied music at the Royal A ...

, Ian Partridge,

Joan Rodgers Joan Rodgers C.B.E. (born 1956, Cleator Moor, Cumbria, England) is an English operatic soprano. She was married to the conductor Paul Daniel, and married Alan Samson in 2013. She studied singing with Audrey Langford. She made her professional o ...

, Kate Royal,

Nicky Spence Nicky Spence (born 1983) is a Scottish operatic tenor who performs in opera, oratorio and recital in both the UK and internationally. Life and career Spence was born and raised in Dumfries. He was educated at Wallace Hall Academy in Thorn ...

, John Tomlinson,

Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and '' ...

Ailish Tynan Ailish Tynan (born 1975) is an Irish operatic soprano. She was born in Mullingar, Ireland. Career Tynan trained at Trinity College Dublin, the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2000, ...

and

Roderick Williams Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE (born 1965) is a British baritone and composer. Biography Williams was born in North London to a Welsh father and a Jamaican mother. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and Haberdashers' A ...

. Glynn also performs with many well known instrumentalists and chamber ensembles, and on period pianos and fortepianos with artists including Rachel Podger. He has also performed and recorded as a pianist with The Sixteen, Voces8 and

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall ...

. Glynn performs internationally, appearing at venues such as

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festival Th ...

, Concertgebouw,

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe In the Middle A ...

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nati ...

, Vienna Konzerthaus and the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. He is especially noted for his Lieder in English initiative, longstanding collaborations with singers including Roderick Williams and Claire Booth, and a series of recordings of neglected English song composers. He has also curated concert series and festivals for the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

and the National Portrait Gallery

Awards

Glynn was awarded the accompaniment prize in the 2001 Kathleen Ferrier competition, the 2002 Geoffrey Parsons Award, the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and the 2003 Gerald Moore Award. In 2012 he won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for his performance on the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

Light and Gold album with

. In 2021 Glynn was made a Fellow of the

Ryedale Festival

Since 2010 Christopher Glynn has been Artistic Director of the Ryedale Festival, where he has been widely praised for the breadth and flair of his programming. He has also championed the role that regional festivals can play on the wider artistic stage.

Lieder in English

In 2015 Christopher Glynn initiated a Lieder in English project, reviving the art of translation to bring

art songs An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such songs ...

and

Lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

to a broader audience. He commissioned Jeremy Sams to create new translations of Schubert's song cycles and later recorded them for Signum Records with singers including

, John Tomlinson and

. Subsequent projects have included translations of Hugo Wolf's

Italienisches Liederbuch (English: Italian songbook) is a collection of translations of anonymous Italian poems and folk songs into German by Paul Heyse (18301914). It was first published in 1860. In 1892, the composer Hugo Wolf (18601903) published a collection of 22 L ...

and song cycles by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

. The project was described by The Telegraph as ‘quietly daring yet superbly accomplished’ and by The Guardian as ‘an unusually direct Lieder experience’

Recordings

Schubert in English Vol. 4: with Rowan Pierce and Roderick Williams

Schubert - The Fair Maid of the Mill: with Nicky Spence

Schubert - Swansong: with Sir John Tomlinson, Sophie Bevan, Julian Bliss and Alec Frank-Gemmill

Schubert - Winter Journey: with Roderick Williams

Mozart Violin Sonatas: with Rachel Podger

Beethoven Violin Sonatas: with Rachel Podger

Mussorgsky - Unorthodox Music: with Claire Booth

Grieg - Lyric Music: with Claire Booth

Grainger - Folk Music: with Claire Booth

The songs of Donald Swann: with Felicity Lott, Kathryn Rudge, John Mark Ainsley and Roderick Williams

Home: with Eric Whitacre and VOCES8

Songs by Eric Coates: with Kathryn Rudge

Songs by Hamilton Harty: with Kathryn Rudge

The songs of Elgar: with Julia Sitkovetsky

Martin Suckling - The Tuning: with Marta Fontanals-Simmons

The Peasant Poet: with Ailish Tynan, Katie Bray, James Gilchrist and Roderick Williams

The Distances Between: with Ailish Tynan, Katie Bray and Marcus Farnsworth

Songs of Michael Head: with Ailish Tynan, Catherine Wyn Rogers, Roderick Williams
(Hyperion CDA67899)
Brahms: Zigeunerlieder with Consortium and Andrew-John Smith
(Hyperion CDA67775) *
eger: Choral Music with Consortium and Andrew-John Smith
(Hyperion CDA67762)
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem with The Sixteen (COR16050)
* The Ancient Question: with Hila Plitmann and Julian Bliss and Andras Kaljusutes (Signum SIGCD276) * Light and Gold: with Eric Whitacre and the Eric Whitacre singers (Decca)

References

External links

Artist website

Agent website

Ryedale Festival website

Hyperion records

Signum Records

Royal Academy of Music

Meet the artist - Christopher Glynn

Guardian article

Christopher Glynn performing with Kate Royal

Christopher Glynn performing with Roderick Wiliams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glynn, Christopher 1974 births Living people Musicians from Leicester English classical pianists Male classical pianists Accompanists Artistic directors (music) Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Academics of the Royal College of Music Grammy Award winners 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century British male musicians