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Christopher White (pianist)

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Christopher White
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Occupations
  • Classical pianist
  • Repetiteur
  • Musicologist

Christopher White (born 1984)[1] is an English classical pianist, musicologist and repetiteur. He plays internationally, not only the standard classical and romantic repertory, but also premieres of new music. He made a transcription of four movements of Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony for piano, playing and recording the work.

Career

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White studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating in 2007. He studied piano with Hamish Milne and Nicholas Walker, and piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek.[1][2]

White played piano concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, and Rachmaninow with the Orchestra of the City in London.[3] He played the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor by Camille Saint-Saëns at the Philharmonie Berlin in 2016.[4]

White premiered new music. On 17 July 2003, he played the first performance of Blue Medusa by John Casken, a piece for bassoon and piano commissioned by Rosemary Burton's parents for her birthday.[5] With the same bassoonist, he played in 2009 Phoenix Arising, written by Graham Waterhouse in memory of his father, the bassoonist William Waterhouse.[6]

In opera, White worked as repetiteur and conductor, including at the Frankfurt Opera and the English National Opera.[3] He was a Piano Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Centre in Massachusetts, assisting James Levine for Kurt Weill's Mahagonny, also appearing onstage as the pianist.[7] He was solo repetiteur at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2014[3] and has since been promoted to Stellvertretender Studienleiter (Deputy Director of Musical Studies).[8]

He arranged movements two to five of Gustav Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony for piano, based on Deryck Cooke's performing version.[9] In 2008, he made a recording, using the arrangement of the first movement by Ronald Stevenson which is also based on Cooke.[9] The recording was taken at Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead,[10] and released in 2010.[9] Christopher Abbot summarized in The Fanfare in a detailed review: "His transcription is not merely evidence of a familiarity with the Mahlerian idiom; it is infused with a profound understanding of the importance of this work in the larger context of Mahler's symphonic journey."[9] White played the transcription for the Gustav Mahler Society UK in London on 17 January 2010.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Christopher White". divineartrecords.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Recital - November 14th 3.00pm / Christopher White - Piano". St. Michael's Church, Bray. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Christopher White". Deutsche Oper Berlin. 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Christopher White". Berliner Philharmoniker. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Blue Medusa". Schott. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. ^ Whitehouse, Richard (2009). "Park Lane Group Young Artists New Year Series 2009 – 5". classicalsource.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b "The Gustav Mahler Society UK presents Mahler's Tenth Symphony". acflondon.org. 17 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Mitarbeiter - Deutsche Oper Berlin". www.deutscheoperberlin.de. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d Abbot, Christopher. "Mahler: Symphony No 10 / Christopher White". arkivmusic.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  10. ^ Sanderson, Blair. "Christopher White / Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Piano Transcription)". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
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