Bridget Cunningham is a British-Irish harpsichordist, conductor and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

specialising in music of the Baroque period. Cunningham is Artistic Director of British period orchestra and research group London Early Opera.

Early career

Cunningham was educated at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

; the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

; and

Trinity Laban Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire h ...

. She studied the harpsichord under Robert Woolley and was awarded a Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music. Following on from this she was a harpsichordist for the Live Music Now Scheme, performed regularly at the Handel Hendrix House and played and coached singers for the all-female choir Vivaldi’s Women.

Performing

Cunningham has performed at international festivals and venues including The Innsbruck Festival,

East Cork Early Music Festival East Cork Early Music Festival is an Irish arts festival that is intended to "promote the performance and appreciation" of music written before 1750 on period instruments. Formed in 2003 under the artistic direction of Sarah Cunningham, the festiva ...

, Victoria International Arts Festival in Gozo,

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

, St John’s Smith Square, St George’s Church Hanover Square,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and at Buckingham Palace for the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term p ...

including the then

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

. She has performed for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The st ...

In Tune

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

Front Row and appeared on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

in ''Hallelujah! The story of Handel's Messiah'', and on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in ''Vivaldi’s Women.'' In November 2021 Cunningham opened the international Handel Institute conference with a harpsichord recital at the Foundling Museum and released her harpsichord album Handel’s Eight Great Harpsichord Suites. Cunningham is an advocate for directing period orchestras and singers from the harpsichord.

Research

Cunningham's research focuses on the music of George Frideric Handel and his contemporaries. She has published research on Handel’s music written and performed in Ireland alongside other Irish baroque composers. Cunningham has edited Baroque works including arias by

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

Giovanni Porta Giovanni Porta (c. 1677 – 21 June 1755) was an Italian opera composer. His opera '' Argippo'', to a libretto by Domenico Lalli, was premiered in Venice in 1717.Freeman, Daniel E. (1992)''The Opera Theater of Count Franz Anton Von Sporck ...

and

Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. Biography ...

and Handel’s previously lost opera ''Caio Fabbricio'' HWV A⁹, directing the work's modern world premiere in May 2022. In 2016 she reconstructed an eighteenth-century evening at

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being m ...

recorded by

Signum Records Signum Records, also known as Signum Classics, is a classical musical record label in the UK founded in 1997. The label began with a project to make the first recording of the complete works of Thomas Tallis. The artists for the Tallis recordin ...

and performed at the

Oxford and Cambridge Club The Oxford and Cambridge Club is a traditional London club. Membership is largely restricted to those who are members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, including men and women who have a degree from or who are current undergraduates ...

Grosvenor Chapel Grosvenor Chapel is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, in England, built in the 1730s. It inspired many churches in New England. It is situated on South Audley Street in Mayfair. History The foundation stone of the Grosve ...

, St George’s Church Hanover Square and St Peter’s Church Vauxhall, which featured on

Front Row. Cunningham is a doctoral candidate in association with Open, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, with a focus on the musicology and performance of operatic music by Handel and Hasse.

London Early Opera

Cunningham founded London Early Opera in 2008. She has directed LEO performances at Coram’s Fields, The Foundling Museum, St James’s Church Piccadilly, St. Peter’s Church Vauxhall, Grosvenor Chapel Mayfair, Southwark Cathedral and for the London Handel Festival. In 2015 Cunningham launched a series of recording projects with London Early Opera and

, capturing world premiere recordings exploring Handel’s life, influences and experiences. Her 2019 album ''Handel’s Queens'' with singers Mary Bevan MBE and

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 v ...

was shortlisted for a 2020 Gramophone Award nomination and was a CD of the month in

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. History The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toge ...

and Classica Magazine. In 2017, she directed live performances of Handel’s Water Music and a new world-premiere performance of ''River'' written by a previous winner of BBC Young Composer of the Year, Grace Evangeline-Mason. This was commissioned by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

and performed live by London Early Opera for

on the Eras`mus Boat on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

celebrating the 300th Anniversary of Handel's ''Water Music. In 2022 LEO launched their recording of Handel’s ''Caio Fabbricio'' HWV A⁹ with a modern world premiere performance at St George’s Church Hanover Square, directed by Cunningham.

Awards

* Worshipful Company of Musicians Award towards Fellowship at the Royal College of Music * Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Fund Award * Open, Oxford and Cambridge University Doctoral Stipend * Finzi Trust Scholarship * Handel Institute Research Award

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Bridget British harpsichordists Irish harpsichordists Women harpsichordists 21st-century British conductors (music) British women conductors (music) English conductors (music) Irish conductors (music) Irish women conductors (music) British musicologists Irish musicologists British women musicologists Irish women musicologists Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music Year of birth missing (living people) Living people