Joanna MacGregor

Joanna MacGregor (born 16 July 1959) is a classical, jazz and contemporary pianist.

Biography

MacGregor grew up in North London, and was educated at home by her Seventh-day Adventist parents until she attended South Hampstead High School at the age of 11. Her mother is a piano teacher who studied at the Royal Academy of Music. Joanna studied music at New Hall, University of Cambridge (1978–81) and was taught by Hugh Wood. After Cambridge, she did a Masters in performance at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Christopher Elton. She also studied at the Van Cliburn Piano Institute in Texas which included masterclasses with Jorge Bolet.

In the early years of her career, she made a living from writing music for TV. Her first significant break was being selected as an artist for the Young Concert Artists Trust in 1985. Her next major break was a record deal with Collins Classics, with whom she made fifteen recordings. These recordings tend towards 20th century composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Bartók, Ives, Messaien, Birtwistle, Britten and Hugh Wood. There are also recordings of Bach and Scarlatti.

She has performed in over sixty countries often appearing as a solo artist with many of the world's leading orchestras. These include the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The conductors with whom she has worked include Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis and Michael Tilson Thomas. She has premiered many compositions ranging from Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Django Bates to John Adams and James MacMillan. In 1997 she gave an unusual performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 at London's St John's, Smith Square, with a brass band, The Marple Band, as part of the European Brass Band Championships. She has toured South Africa with jazz artist Moses Molelekwa, recorded with pop artist Talvin Singh and toured China (with her own music combining traditional Chinese instruments and electronics) with Jin Xing's Contemporary Dance Theatre of Shanghai.

On 20 May 1990, The BBC broadcast a radio play that she wrote entitled Memoirs of an Amnesiac about the life of Eric Satie. It was nominated for the Prix Italia, a prestigious radio award. In September 1991 her musical adaptation of The Caucasian Chalk Circle was performed at the Unicorn Theatre.

She organised the Platform Festival of New Music from 1991 until 1993. This included an eight-day festival at the Arts Theatre in Great Newport Street in 1991 which featured performers Simon Limbrick and the Norwegian cellist, Oystein Birkeland, and composers ranging from Paul Kellett (The Birth of Liquid Desires 2 `eight minutes of wildness' for 13 cellos) to the George Crumb.

Between 1997 and 2000, she was Professor of Music at Gresham College, London, giving free public lectures. She has received honorary Professorships and Fellowships from the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music and an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University. MacGregor was appointed as Member of the Arts Council England in 1998 alongside Anish Kapoor, Brian McMaster, and Andrew Motion. She resigned in 2004.

MacGregor was the subject of an edition of The South Bank Show in December 2001. She also presented her own series entitled Strings, Bows, and Bellows for BBC Television.

She made her conducting début in 2002 and regularly directs her own orchestral projects. She has had a very close artistic partnership as conductor and performer with the Britten Sinfonia for the past ten years.

In 2005, she was appointed as Artistic Director of the Bath International Music Festival. The climax of the festival was a programme of renaissance and electronic music with herself, Brian Eno and the Bath Camerata in Bath Abbey.

In 2010 she curated Deloitte Ignite, a three day festival celebrating the opening of the season at London's Royal Opera House. A series of installations and performances with an arboreal theme were available to members of the public for free during the daytimes, with three ticketed evening concerts, including the 'Lying Down Concert' which featured Joanna MacGregor, Kiki Dale and Ilona Jantti.

She was appointed Head of Keyboard at the Royal Academy of Music in November 2010, taking up the role from September 2011.

Books

Her series of piano teaching books for children called "Piano World" were published in May 2001 by Faber Music. They feature storytelling, cartoons, games and include companion CDs with cartoon style narration and musical accompaniments.

Awards

In 2008 she was awarded a Doctor of Music honorary degree by the University of Bath. She is Professor of Musical Performance at Liverpool Hope University.

In 2003, she was recognised for her innovation and crossover appeal with a Royal Philharmonic Society award for imaginative programming and tireless work in opening up music to a new audience. Other awards include European Encouragement Prize for Music 1995, NFMS Sir Charles Grove Award 1998, and South Bank Show Award for Classical Music 2000

Sound Circus record label

In 1998, she launched her own record label SoundCircus in association with Unknown Public. The label combines new recordings with re-releases of the Collins material. MacGregor was able to buy back the rights to these Collins recordings. The most successful release on Soundcircus was "Play", a diverse collection mainly of solo piano pieces. "Play" was nominated for the Mercury Prize 2002. It came within two votes of winning the award. Initially, the label was internet based and mail order only. The label was distributed in the UK by MackTwo until it went out of business. The label is now distributed by New Note.

Discography

Collins Classics

• MacGregor on Broadway. (1991) Collins Classics.
• Hugh Wood: Piano Concerto, Op. 31. (1993) BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis. Collins Classics 20072.
• Bartók/Debussy/Ravel - Piano Works. (1994) Collins Classics.
• Krauze/Messiaen - Quartets. (1994) Collins Classics.
• Olivier Messaien - Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant Jesus. Collins Classics.
• Ives: Sonata No.1/Barber: Sonata, Op.26/Excursions, Op.20 . (1993)
• The Music of George Gershwin. (1992) Collins Classics 13622. MacGregor's performances of numerous short pieces by Gershwin alongside the composer's "Piano Concerto in F" and the original jazz band version of "Rhapsody In Blue."Carl Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra provide invaluable instrumental support.
• Britten: "Paul Bunyan", Piano Concerto/Saxton: Music to Celebrate. Collins Classics.
• Birtwistle: Antiphonies for Piano and Orchestra/Nomos/An Imaginary Landscape. Collins Classics.
• Rhapsody in Blue. (1993) Collins Classics.
• Britten - Piano Concerto. English Chamber Orchestra, Stuart Bedford. Collins Classics. Also re-released on Naxos.
• Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas, Collins Classics.
• Erik Satie's piano music, Collins Classics.
• Counterpoint, contains Bach's Art of Fugue and works by Conlon Nancarrow. Collins Classics.

Sound Circus

• Piano Language. Sound Circus SC001.
• Outside in Pianist. Sound Circus SC002.
• Perilous Night. Sound Circus SC003.
• Harrison's Clocks. Sound Circus SC004.
• Lou Harrison Piano Concerto. Sound Circus SC005.
• Damba Moon, Ensemble Bash. Sound Circus SC006.
• Play. (2001), Sound Circus SC007.
• Neural Circuits, features works by Olivier Messiaen, Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt and Nitin Sawhney alongside music based on traditional Ghanaian melodies. Sound Circus SC008.
• Deep River. (2006) Sound Circus SC009.
• Sidewalk Dances. (2006) Sound Circus SC010.
• Bach's 6 French Suites, Sound Circus SC901.
• Satie: Piano Music. Reissue on Sound Circus SC902.
• Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas. Sound Circus SC903.
• Quiet Music. Sound Circus SC904.
• Counterpoint: Bach / Nancarrow. Sound Circus BN2CD.

Concerto repertoire

Piano and Orchestra

• John Adams: Century Rolls
• Bach: Concerto In D Minor Bwv 1052, Concerto In F Minor Bwv 1056
• Bartok: Concerto No.3
• Django Bates: What It's Like To Be Alive (Piano Concerto For Joanna Macgregor)
• Beethoven: Concerto No.4 In G Op.58, Concerto No.5 In E Flat Op.73
• Berg: Chamber Concerto
• Birtwistle: Antiphonies, Slow Frieze
• Britten: Concerto, Young Apollo
• Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue, Concerto In F Major
• Lou Harrison: Concerto For Piano And Selected Orchestra
• Harvey Bird: Concerto With Pianosong
• James Macmillan: Concerto No 2
• Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie, Oiseaux Exotiques
• Mozart: Concerto In E Flat K 271, Concerto In D Minor K 466, Concerto In C K 467, Concerto In A K 488, Concerto In C Minor K 491
• Prokofiev: Concerto No.2 In G Minor Op.16, Concerto No.3 In C Op.26
• Rachmaninov: Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini Op.34
• Ravel: Piano Concerto For The Left Hand, Piano Concerto In G
• Schnittke: Concerto For Piano And Strings
• Shostakovich: Concerto For Piano, Trumpet And Strings In C Minor Op.35, Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No.2 In F, Op.102
• Stravinsky: Concerto For Piano And Wind Instruments
• Hugh Wood: Piano Concerto

Radio performances

Performances on BBC Radio 3:

• "Lunchtime Concert: Joanna MacGregor" Live from London's Wigmore Hall - Villa-Lobos, Gismonti, Moraes and Piazzolla, 18 September 2006 13:00-14:00
• Through the Night: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791): Marriage of Figaro Overture; "Piano Concerto No 23, K488, in A. Joanna MacGregor (piano)" [Recorded in Stavanger Concert Hall on 8 September 2005, 20 July 2006 25:00-25:30
• "Performance On 3: Bath International Music Festival - Joanna MacGregor, Andy Sheppard and the Britten Sinfonia" 6 June 2006 19.30-21.30
• "Performance on 3: Bath International Music Festival 2006 - Joanna MacGregor, Brian Eno and Bath Camerata", 1 June 2006 19:30-21:00
• "Sunday Gala: Bath International Music Festival - solo recital", Sunday 21 May 2006 14:00-15:30
• "Lunchtime Concert" Second of four concerts by members of Britten Sinfonia. Pieces by Dowland, Gismonti, Yarde, Piazzolla. With Joanna MacGregor (piano), Jason Yarde (saxophone) 5/4/06
• "Big Band Special: Chelsea Festival", featuring the BBC Big Band with pianist Joanna MacGregor. Radio Two 24 October 2005
• "Performance on 3: Ulster Orchestra - Gershwin and the Russian Gold" (Joanna MacGregor soloist on Gershwin: Piano Concerto), 22 September 2005 19:30-21:30
• Hear and Now A recital from this year's "City of London Festival" by pianist Joanna MacGregor, celebrating American music ranging from John Cage to Nina Simone and Thelonious Monk. 13.8.05
• "In Tune: Joanna Macgregor and Andy Sheppard", 15 June 2005 19:00-19:19
• "Hear and Now: City of London Festival - solo recital", 13 August 2005 23:30-1:00
• "Lunchtime Concert: Music by Bach and Shostakovich", 18 January 2005 13:00-14:00
• "Lunchtime Concert" Recital by pianist Joanna MacGregor, Bach: Goldberg Variations 24 May 2004
• "Performance on 3" Pianist Joanna MacGregor directs the Britten Sinfonia, Andy Sheppard (saxophones) and Shri Sriran (tablas). The programme includes works by Louis Hardin and Bach's The Art of Fugue 24 November 2003
• "Lunchtime Concert" Direct from the Wigmore Hall. Joanna MacGregor (piano), Andy Sheppard (saxophone) and Aref Durvesh (tabla) play music by Dowland, Ligeti, Messiaen and Chick Corea (Live) 16.9.02
• "Hear and Now" Cheltenham Festival of Music by soprano Valdine Anderson, pianist Joanna MacGregor and Sinfonia 21 under Martyn Brabbins. Music includes the world premiere of Julian Anderson's `Shir hashrim' and Jonathan Harvey's Bird Concerto with Pianosong. 14 July 2001
• "Lunchtime Concert" Live from London's Wigmore Hall. Joanna MacGregor (piano). Barber: Excursions, Op 20. Crumb: A Little Suite for Christmas, AD1979. Traditional arr MacGregor: Russian Folk Songs. Stravinsky: Three movements from `Petrushka'. 2 April 2001
• "BBC Proms 2000." Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Joanna MacGregor (piano), Ensemble Bash, Aref Durvesh (tabla) 18 July 2000
• "Lunchtime Concert" A recital given at St George, Brandon Hill, Bristol by pianist Joanna MacGregor. Byrd: Hugh Aston's Ground. Ades: Traced Overhead. Dowland: Forlorn Hope Fancye. Birtwistle: Harrison's Clocks. Bach: Contrapunctus II (The Art of Fugue). Nancarrow: Three Studies for player piano. Matthew Fairclough: Altered Ends, Revealed Beginnings. Somel Satoh: Incantation II. Cage: Water Music. Joanna MacGregor: Dance It. Jonathan Harvey: Tombeau de Messiaen. Bach: Allemande (Partita in D, BWV828). Alistair Nicholson: 42nd Street. 30 January 2000
• "Lunchtime Concert" from St George's, Brandon Hill, Bristol. Joanna MacGregor (piano). Ives: Bad Resolutions and Good; Three Page Sonata. Cage: Sonatas for prepared piano Nos 14 and 15. Cowell: Aeolian Harp; The Snows of Fujiyama. Cage: Sonatas for prepared piano Nos 2 and 5. Gershwin, arr Finnissy: Nashville Nightingale. Cage: Sonatas for prepared piano Nos 7 and 12. Copland: Variations. (Inventing America) 12 June 1998
• "The Gershwin Songbook" Pianist Joanna MacGregor plays the composer's arrangements of his own songs, including `'S Wonderful', `Oh, Lady Be Good' and `I Got Rhythm'. 2 May 1998
• "BBC Proms 97" Joanna MacGregor (piano), Ensemble Bash. Trad, arr Ensemble Bash: Yaa yaa kole. Steve Reich: Music for Pieces of Wood. Cage: Sonatas 2 and 5 for prepared piano. Orphy Robinson: Suite d'Lorenzo. Cage: Sonatas 14 and 15 for prepared piano. Frederic Rzewski: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues. Django Bates: The Catering Trade (first London performance). 23 July 1997
• "Joanna MacGregor. Piano recital." Berg: Sonata, Op 1. Schoenberg: Six Little Pieces, Op 19. Four Broadway Arrangements - Harold Arlen, arr Django Bates: It's only a paper moon. Cole Porter, arr Gary Carpenter: Love for sale. Jerome Kern, arr Michael Finnissy: Can't help lovin' dat man. Al Dubin, arr Alasdair Nicholson: 42nd Street. 6 January 1995
• "1994 Bath International Festival" Joanna MacGregor (piano) performs Bach: Pieces from the Anna Magdalena Notebook. John Woolrich: Piano Books 3 and 4 (world premiere). Satie: Gnossiennes Nos 1 and 5; Gymnopedies Nos 1 and 3. Gorecki: Piano Sonata No 1, Op 6. Thelonius Monk: Round Midnight; Monk's Point. Nina Simons: Good Bait. 22 9 June 1994
• "BBC Lunchtime Concert" Live from St John's, Smith Square, London Joanna MacGregor (piano). Bach French Suite No 5 in G (BWV 816). Nancarrow Prelude and Blues. Satie Sports et divertissements. Debussy Six Etudes. 28 February 1994
• "BBC Proms" BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Mark Wigglesworth, with Gwyneth Jones (soprano), Joanna MacGregor, (piano), Cynthia Millar (ondes martenot), live from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod (Tristan and Isolde) 30 July 1993
• "Jazz at the Bath Festival" Recorded in the Guildhall, it features Human Chain (Django Bates, keyboards and tenor horn; Iain Ballamy, saxophones; Stuart Hall, bass; Martin France, drums) with pianist Joanna MacGregor in specially commissioned music by Django Bates and, in between, MacGregor playing solo in pieces by Nancarrow, Cowell, Ligeti and Rzewski. During the interval, Joanna MacGegor talks about her venture into jazz and improvised music. 10 July 1993
• "Joanna MacGregor". (piano). Bach: French Suite No 5. Hugh Wood: Three Pieces, Op 5. Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales. Chopin: Ballade No 4 in F minor, Op 52. December 1992
• "The Proms: Hugh Wood Piano Concerto premiere, Royal Albert Hall", 10 September 1991

Radio interviews

Interviews on BBC Radio 3

• "In Tune": Interview about role and musical choices as the artistic director of this "Bath Festival 2006". 18 May 2006 17:00-19:30
• "Morning Performance". Tommy Pearson talks to pianist Joanna MacGregor and introduces her recordings. Music by Bach, trad African, Fairclough, Satoh, Satie, Monk, Gillespie/Dameron, Andrew Toovey, Cage 11 December 2002
• "The Music Machine". Tommy Pearson talks to pianist Joanna MacGregor about her "life and career." 6 May 1994
• The pianist Joanna MacGregor and composer Hugh Wood talk about Wood's piano concerto whose premiere MacGregor is about to perform at the proms. MacGregor: Piano part of the concerto is absolutely enormous, structurally vast. On hearing rehearsal husband said it was as if Messiaen walked into a jazz bar. Wood: Hadn't collaborated very much with MacGregor. Writing went very smoothly for a slow worker. MacGregor: Made decision early on to play with the music - takes pressure off players and conductors. Have always wanted to work together - go back a long way to when Wood was her tutor at Cambridge and he was berating her over Palestrina and Beethoven. Wood: Dreams often come true, and come true in a very nice way. 10 September 1991
• "The Works: Joanna MacGregor" 19 May 1989

Interviews on BBC Radio 4

• "Great Lives: Joanna MacGregor on Nina Simone" 19 September 2006 16.30-17:00
• Front Row: Bath International Music Festival 2006
• "Front Row: Musicians setting up their own labels" 22 February 2005 19.15 - 19.45
• "Front Row: The Art of Fugue" 17 November 2003 19.15 - 19.45
• "Desert Island Discs: Joanna MacGregor" 1 June 1997

Television

• "Forty Eight Preludes and Fugues" BBC TWO. No. 14 10/10/2000, No. 15 30/8/2000, No. 16 21/8/2000, No. 17 16/8/2000, No. 18 31/8/2000, No. 19 3/10/2000, No. 20 17/8/2000, No. 22 17/8/2000, No. 23 5/8/2000, No. 24 15/8/2000.
• "Last Night of the Proms". Featured soloist.
• "Strings, Bows, and Bellows" BBC TWO. "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" by Frederic Rzewski (16/10/1994), "Autumn in Warsaw" by György Ligeti (30/10/1994), "Third Construction" by John Cage (23/10/1994), "Sin Medida" by Julio D'Escrivan (06/11/1994), "Sonata for Piano and Cello" by Alfred Schnittke (20/11/1994), "Falling" (04/12/1994), "De Profundis" with James Crabb (29/04/1995), "Uninterrupted Rests" by Toru Takemitsu (22/04/1995), "Piano Sonata" with James MacMillan (06/05/1995), and "Tentle Moments" with Django Bates (13/05/1995).
• "Soundbites" BBC TWO 14/11/1992 Joanna MacGregor playing Erroll's Blues and Erroll's Bounce by Erroll Garner.
• "Omnibus at the Proms: Pictures at an Exhibition" BBC TV 30/08/1991
• "Making It". Documentary following three talented young instrumentalists, fresh out of London music colleges, as they take first steps towards establishing solo career. Includes Joanna MacGregor touring North Devon village halls. Granada, 16 November 1986 10.30pm.

External links

• Joanna MacGregor's concert schedule
• Homepage of Joanna MacGregor and the Sound Circus record label
• Biography at Ingpen & Williams
• Biography at Bach-Cantatas.com
• Biography at Musicianguide.com
• PDF of Django Bates' programme notes for Paper Moon