Meet Harrogate Music Festival 2023’s Guest Curator!
Harrogate Music Festival 2023 guest curator Robin Green is an acclaimed piano soloist, chamber musician and conductor. For his exciting residency he’s brought together 12 musicians who will perform 10 concerts over 4 days this summer. They will be performing music that ranges from works by Dvořák and Bartok to Iron Maiden and Queen classics as you’ve probably never heard them before. Robin explains all:
What’s the appeal of playing Harrogate Music Festival?
It’s a sort of dream festival because in terms of the programming we’ve been given carte blanche. As musicians, very often when we’re travelling and doing our recitals we usually go somewhere for a day, we do the project and then we go home. What’s nice and maybe a little bit romantic about a residency is that we all live together and play together in a number of different projects. The fact you’re also contributing to the local community is really appealing.
How does the residency work?
The idea is that the 12 musicians are all contributing to the concerts, so it’s a great opportunity to showcase some of the finest musicians living in the UK.
What can you tell us about the concerts you are curating?
They are really varied. There’s some of the best classical chamber music. So there’s work by the likes of Dvorak, Mozart and Gabriel Faure. But we’re also doing a tango project featuring bandoneon, electric guitar, double bass, violin and piano. That’s quite rare to be able to put that on at a festival and Julian Rowlands is one of the world’s great bandoneon players so we’re very lucky to have him. At the same time, we’re doing some quirky things. For example, I’m collaborating with some old friends, like Vlad Maistorovici. He’s a famous Romanian violinist and composer. For years he’s been obsessed with Queen and he’s spent a lot of time making the most amazing arrangements of their songs, not just the wonderful Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You, that everyone knows, but also some of the lesser known stuff like Take My Breath Away and Love of My Life. So we really do have something for everyone!
Can you tell us about some of your other residency highlights?
The cellist and composer Christian Elliott is doing a solo project called ‘Android Summer’. This is a very eclectic repertoire including some Beatles and Iron Maiden, side by side with Strauss and Faure. It’s really amazing. There’s also a great concert called Dowland Plus. The idea is we take original works by the composer John Dowland, which would have been performed with a lute and a singer, and expand them. There’ll be works for solo guitar and bandoneon and we’re also doing works inspired by Dowland, including some string quartet arrangements written by Finnish violinist Sini Simonen.
What can you tell us about the ‘Taproom sessions’?
These are nights in a pub. All the 12 musicians will bring one bit of music by way of introduction to the audience. Some people are bringing folk music and others are bringing famous classical pieces. So I’m going to sing some Tom Waits songs and I’ve made some arrangements for violin, clarinet, double bass and me on the piano. It’s very easy for audiences to feel like they’re separate from the musicians, but the idea of the residency is that they get to know a bit about us as artists.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
I’m fortunate enough to perform the work of a lot of the world’s greatest performers like Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, but I also think it’s important to engage with lots of different types of music.
What do you hope audiences take away from these concerts?
Life can sometimes feel quite isolating and repetitive and being at a concert and being part of the experience is the foundation of our culture. I hope they get a sense of magic about what is possible with music and culture.
Festival Residency with Robin Green | Thursday July 6, to Sunday July 9 | Book online here or call the box office on 01423 562 303.