Full
Biography
'Hazlewood's
conducting was a revelation' The Times
Charles Hazlewood occupies a unique position in British musical life.
The combination of his outstanding musical talent and versatility as
a conductor, and his passion for bringing classical music to the widest
possible audience, has led to a significant profile as a conductor in
the broadcast media, and on the world stage.
Following his studies at Christ’s Hospital and Oxford University,
Hazlewood won first prize at the European Broadcasting Union Conducting
Competition in Lisbon in 1995. June 2003 saw his Carnegie Hall debut
conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He made his BBC Proms
conducting debut in August 2006, with the BBC Concert Orchestra; simultaneously presenting
the concert live from the stage for TV. He now guest-conducts many of
the world's leading orchestras, this Season making his debut with the
Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Gothenburg and Malmo Symphonies in Sweden,
the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Philharmonia in London.
Ever since the formation of his orchestra Excellent Device (previously
Eos) in 1991, Hazlewood has blazed a trail in new ways of approaching
music for which is he is now well known; through talking to his
audience live on stage, collaborating with other art forms (sculpture,
film etc), and playing in unconventional settings. He also has a sister
orchestra – Army
of Generals – which comprises the cream of
period instrumentalists in London, who have featured in many of his
BBC films.
From 2007, Hazlewood was Music Director of the Cape Town
based lyric theatre company Dimpho Di Kopane, DDK, (Sotho for “combined
talents”), which he co-founded. For the company he conducted Carmen
and West Side Story. As composer he conceived the music for Yiimimangaliso
(The Mysteries) and Ibali Loo Tsotsi (The Beggar’s Opera) (see
reviews on reviews page) ; both of which have had hugely successful
runs in London and on tour worldwide – and The Snow Queen, which
premiered in New York in 2004.
Dimpho Di Kopane’s first feature film U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha,
(for which Hazlewood acted as Music Director and Conductor) premiered
in South Africa in spring 2005, prior to international release, and
was awarded the prestigious ‘Golden Bear’ award for Best
Film at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JGNmxQJd3AI).
Their subsequent movie, Son of Man featured a score created by Hazlewood
in collaboration with the company.
As part of his passion to reach the widest possible audience for music,
Hazlewood is well known to millions as “the face of classical
music” (The Daily Telegraph) for the BBC, for whom he has authored
and conducted the music in several groundbreaking films: Vivaldi Unmasked
(BBC1), The Genius of Mozart (BBC2/4), Beethoven (BBC2/4), Tchaikovsky
(BBC2/4), and The Birth of British Music (BBC2).
He occupies a central position on BBC Radio 3, with Discovering
Music, where he deconstructs great orchestral music with the BBC orchestras
and his own two orchestras. He also hosts Radio 2's The Charles Hazlewood
Show, exploring his vast and catholic music tastes, in sessions recorded
on his farm in Somerset. The show has won Hazlewood 3 Sony Awards.
Hazlewood’s eclecticism defies convention; in the past
six years he has conducted over fifty orchestral world premieres,
worked with the rawest new South African vocal talent, and explored
artists at the cutting edge of the pop music scene in the UK, in projects
such as ‘Urban Classic’: fusing five Grime MC’s with
the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Hackney Empire (http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/events/urbanclassic/features/event.shtml). He
launched the 'Charles Hazlewood All
Stars' at Glastonbury Festival 2008, featuring Will Gregory
(Goldfrapp), Adrian Utley (Portishead), saxophonist Andy Sheppard and
cellist Matthew Barley. He played the first ever symphony concert on
the famous Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury with the National Youth Orchestra
of Great Britain.
In August '09 Charles unveiled his latest venture, a new breed of orchestral
festival on his farm in Somerset called Play the Field. It was broadcast
on Radio 2 and attended by 4,000 people. Play the Field will return
in 2011.
Highlights of 2010 see Hazlewood back in South Africa to form a brand
new opera company in Johannesburg, curating a major Mozart festival
in Ottawa, remaking The Beggar's Opera for the 21st century (recording
and tour), and attempting to break the world record for the world's
largest orchestra in Birmingham in October
Charles Hazlewood lives with his family in Somerset.
