Richard Egarr (born 7 August 1963) is a British conductor and keyboard player.

Biography

Born in Lincoln, Egarr received his early musical training as a choirboy at York Minster and at Chetham's School of Music. He was an organ scholar of

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

and studied at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. Study with

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

further inspired his work in the field of

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

. Egarr is widely known as a specialist in the baroque repertoire, but has performed repertoire over a wide historical era, from fifteenth-century organ intabulations to Dussek and Chopin on early pianos, to Berg and Maxwell Davies on modern piano. He has recorded commercially several albums of solo keyboard music for such labels as Harmonia Mundi, as well as chamber repertoire for such labels as Hyperion. In 2006, Egarr became music director of the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM). With the AAM, Egarr has made commercial recordings for such labels as Harmonia Mundi, and the AAM's own label. He concluded his tenure as AAM music director at the close of the 2020-2021 season. Egarr made his Glyndebourne debut in 2007 with a staged version of Bach's '' St Matthew Passion''. In 2012, Egarr first guest-conducted the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO). Following two additional guest appearances with the PBO, the PBO announced, in January 2019, the appointment of Egarr as its next music director, with an initial contract of 5 years. The original intention was for Egarr to serve as PBO music director-designate for the 2020-2021 season, and then to take the title of music director with the 2021-2022 season. In the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the PBO reconfigured its 2020-2021 season into a virtual season, and announced the advent of Egarr as its music director effective 1 July 2020, one season earlier than originally planned. In June 2023, the PBO announced that Egarr is to conclude his tenure as its music director at the close of the 2023-2024 season. Egarr and his family reside in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, Egarr has served as director of the Academy of the Begijnhof. Since 2019, he is Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague. In 2021, he conducted a concert in the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.

References

External links

Academy of Ancient Music page on Richard Egarr

Harmonia Mundi website, biography of Richard Egarr

Intermusica agency page on Richard Egarr

Interview with Richard Egarr on The Next Track podcast

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egarr, Richard English classical organists British harpsichordists English classical pianists British male classical pianists English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 1963 births Living people Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British performers of early music Bach conductors Bach musicians 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British organists British male classical organists