 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(June 2017) |
Dame Imogen Cooper, DBE (born 28 August 1949) is an English pianist.
| This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(June 2017) |
Dame Imogen Cooper, DBE (born 28 August 1949) is an English pianist.
Cooper was born in North London, daughter of the musicologist Martin du Pré Cooper and artist Mary Stewart. She grew up surrounded by music through her parents and her older siblings: Felicity, Josephine and Dominic Cooper. Realising that Imogen had an exceptional musical talent her parents sent her at the age of 12 to Paris to study for six years at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) with Jacques Février, Yvonne Lefébure and Germaine Mounier. This was considered a provocative move by the music establishment, and there was a lengthy correspondence in The Times between Thomas Armstrong, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and Martin Cooper, arguing the pros and cons of taking a gifted child out of conventional education to specialise so early, and in a foreign country.
In 1967 at the age of 17, the CNSM awarded her a Premier Prix de Piano, a major distinction. Cooper was mentored in her late teens by Arthur Rubinstein and Clifford Curzon, and subsequently studied in Vienna with Alfred Brendel, Paul Badura-Skoda and Jörg Demus, particularly in her early twenties by Brendel, an experience that has resonated with her throughout her performing life. Apart from spending her teenage years in Paris, London has been Cooper's principal residence.
She is particularly known for her interpretations of Schubert and Schumann, but she has also been involved in modern music, giving the premières of works such as Traced Overhead by Thomas Adès. As well as performing as soloist she participates in chamber music and lieder, and has had a long-standing partnership with baritone Wolfgang Holzmair.
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours [1] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to music. [2] She was awarded the Queen's Medal for Music in 2019. [3]
Alfred Brendel is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven.
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas.
Dame Janet Abbott Baker is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.
Dame Mitsuko Uchida, is a Japanese-English classical pianist and conductor. Born in Japan and naturalised in England, she is particularly notable for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert.
Dame Jilly Cooper, is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. Cooper is most famous for writing the Rutshire Chronicles.
Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, is an English soprano.
Dame Felicity Joan Palmer,, is an English mezzo-soprano and music professor. She sang soprano roles until 1983.
Dame Moura Lympany DBE was an English concert pianist.
Dame Gillian Constance Weir is a New Zealand-British organist.
Dame Malvina Lorraine Major is a New Zealand opera soprano.
Ann Murray, is an Irish mezzo-soprano.
Lucy Geneviève Teresa Ward, Countess de Guerbel, DBE, also known, albeit inaccurately, as Dame Geneviève Ward, was a United Kingdom-based American-born soprano and actress. She was appointed Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on her 84th birthday in 1921.
Dame Margaret Berenice Price was a Welsh soprano.
Susan Gritton is an English operatic soprano. She was the 1994 winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award and has sung leading roles in a wide-ranging repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Britten, Janáček and Strauss.
Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music.
Wolfgang Holzmair is an Austrian baritone.
Alice Coote OBE is a British mezzo-soprano. Known internationally for her performances in opera playing both female and male roles, and her recitals with piano and concerts with orchestra, Coote has performed extensively across Europe, North America and Asia. Her repertoire ranges from early and baroque music to contemporary works, and includes works which have been especially written for her. She was appointed OBE in the 2018 Birthday honours for services to music.
Dame Kathryn Alexandra McDowell, is a British classical musician and businessperson. Since 2005, she has been the managing director of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Etsuko Hirose is a Japanese classical pianist.
Joseph Middleton is a British classical pianist and lied accompanist.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
