Gary Cooper (musician)
Encyclopedia
Gary Cooper is an English conductor
and classical
keyboardist (most notably the harpsichord
and fortepiano
.) He is particularly known as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Bach
and Mozart, and as a conductor of historically informed
performances of music from the Renaissance
, Baroque
, Classical
and Romantic
periods.
and harpsichord at Chetham's School of Music
, the John Loosemore Centre
, and was an organ scholar at New College, Oxford
, where he graduated with First Class Honours. In 1990 while still a student at Oxford, he co-founded the New Chamber Opera, and has conducted many of their performances, including a complete recording of Rameau's cantatas and a new production of Handel
's rarely performed opera, Orlando
, at Sadler's Wells Theatre
in 2006. Between 1992 and 2000, he was a member of the baroque ensemble, Trio Sonnerie, with whom he performed regularly throughout Europe and the United States.
Cooper made his Wigmore Hall
solo recital debut on 1 December 2000 with a performance of Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier, and has frequently appeared as a recitalist both in the UK and in Europe. Several of his performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3
, including his 22 November 2004 recital at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall in Manchester and his 29 January 2006 Wigmore Hall performance of Mozart's sonata
s for piano and violin with violinist Rachel Podger
, broadcast live as part of the European Broadcasting Union
's Mozart Day.
Gary Cooper has conducted for many ensembles including, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
, Irish Baroque Orchestra
, Hanover Band
, and English Touring Opera
(Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
and Handel's Alcina
). He also teaches harpsichord and fortepiano at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Birmingham Conservatoire, and is Visiting Professor of fortepiano at the Royal College of Music
.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
keyboardist (most notably the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
.) He is particularly known as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
and Mozart, and as a conductor of historically informed
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
performances of music from the Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
, Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, Classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
and Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
periods.
Career
Gary Cooper studied organOrgan (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and harpsichord at Chetham's School of Music
Chetham's School of Music
Chetham's School of Music , familiarly known as "Chets", is a specialist independent co-educational music school, situated in Manchester city centre, in North West England. It was established in 1969, incorporating Chetham's Hospital School, founded as a charity school by Humphrey Chetham in 1653...
, the John Loosemore Centre
John Loosemore
John Loosemore was an English builder of pipe organs. He is best known for his organ at Exeter Cathedral in Devon, which he completed in 1665.John Loosemore was born in Barnstaple where he was baptized on August 25, 1616...
, and was an organ scholar at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, where he graduated with First Class Honours. In 1990 while still a student at Oxford, he co-founded the New Chamber Opera, and has conducted many of their performances, including a complete recording of Rameau's cantatas and a new production of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's rarely performed opera, Orlando
Orlando (opera)
Orlando is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel written for the Royal Academy of Music . The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's L'Orlando after Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, which was also the source of Handel's operas Alcina and...
, at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
in 2006. Between 1992 and 2000, he was a member of the baroque ensemble, Trio Sonnerie, with whom he performed regularly throughout Europe and the United States.
Cooper made his Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
solo recital debut on 1 December 2000 with a performance of Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier, and has frequently appeared as a recitalist both in the UK and in Europe. Several of his performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
, including his 22 November 2004 recital at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall in Manchester and his 29 January 2006 Wigmore Hall performance of Mozart's sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
s for piano and violin with violinist Rachel Podger
Rachel Podger
Rachel Podger is an English violinist specialising in the performance of baroque music. She often conducts baroque orchestras from the violin, and in 2004 took up a guest directorship with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, having previously been leader of The English Concert from 1997 to...
, broadcast live as part of the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
's Mozart Day.
Gary Cooper has conducted for many ensembles including, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin is a German chamber orchestra founded in East Berlin in 1982...
, Irish Baroque Orchestra
Irish Baroque Orchestra
The Irish Baroque Orchestra is an early music ensemble based in the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Baroque Orchestra is Ireland’s only professional period instrument orchestra. It was established in 1996 by Mark Duley and Thérèse Timoney. The artistic director is currently Monica Huggett.The...
, Hanover Band
Hanover Band
The Hanover Band founded by Caroline Brown in 1980 is a British period-instrument orchestra.The group's website explains the name thus: 'Hanover' signifies the Hanoverian period 1714-1830 and 'Band' is the 18th century term for orchestra....
, and English Touring Opera
English Touring Opera
English Touring Opera is an opera company in the United Kingdom. From 1979 to 1992 it was known as Opera 80.- About the company :Opera 80 was founded in 1979 by the Arts Council of Great Britain as the successor to Opera For All; in 1992 the company changed its name to English Touring Opera...
(Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
and Handel's Alcina
Alcina
Alcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
). He also teaches harpsichord and fortepiano at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Birmingham Conservatoire, and is Visiting Professor of fortepiano at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
.
Selected recordings
- Haydn: Late Piano Works (Sonata in C, Hob,xvi:48), Sonata in Eb, Hob,xvi:49, and Sonata in Eb, Hob.xvi:52) – Gary Cooper (fortepiano). Label: Channel ClassicsChannel Classics RecordsChannel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam...
- Haydn: Symphonies 41Symphony No. 41 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 41 in C major, Hoboken I/41, is a festive symphony by Joseph Haydn. The symphony was composed by 1769. It is scored for flute, two oboes, bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.The work is in four movements:...
, 44Symphony No. 44 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 44 in E minor, Hoboken 1/44, was completed in 1772 by Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as Trauer...
, and 49Symphony No. 49 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 49 in F minor was written in 1768 by Joseph Haydn during his Sturm und Drang period. It is popularly known as La passione...
– Arion Baroque Orchestra, Gary Cooper (conductor). Label: Early-Music - Rameau: Complete Cantatas – New Chamber Opera, Gary Cooper (conductor). Label: Gaudeamus
- Mozart: Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin – Gary Cooper (fortepiano), Rachel PodgerRachel PodgerRachel Podger is an English violinist specialising in the performance of baroque music. She often conducts baroque orchestras from the violin, and in 2004 took up a guest directorship with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, having previously been leader of The English Concert from 1997 to...
(violin). Label: Channel ClassicsChannel Classics RecordsChannel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam...
(in 8 volumes). - WeelkesThomas WeelkesThomas Weelkes was an English composer and organist. He became organist of Winchester College in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and services.-Life:Weelkes was baptised in the little village church of Elsted in Sussex on 25...
: Anthems – Oxford Camerata – Jeremy SummerlyJeremy SummerlyJeremy Summerly is a British conductor. He was educated at Lichfield Cathedral , at Winchester College and at New College, Oxford . While at Oxford he conducted the New College Chamber Orchestra and the Oxford Chamber Choir...
(conductor), Gary Cooper (organ). Label: NaxosNaxos RecordsNaxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest... - Shakespeare's Musick – Gary Cooper (virginal), Gary Cooper (harpsichord), Jacob Heringman (luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
), Jeanette Ager (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
). Label: Philips Classics - VictoriaTomás Luis de VictoriaTomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...
: Requiem – Gary Cooper (organ), Keith McGowan (bajan), The SixteenThe SixteenThe Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
. Label: Coro
External links
- Artist's page Gary Cooper official web site on LoganArts Management