Orchestra concert: Between storm and silence

The HfK Symphony Orchestra (conductor: Catherine Larsen-Maguire) is performing at the Glocke in Bremen.

 

Programme

Béla Bartók: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes, Op. 33a
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70

HfK Bremen Symphony Orchestra
Soloist: Juwon Lee (viola)
Conductor: Catherine Larsen-Maguire

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Catherine Larsen-Maguire was born in Manchester and lives in Berlin. After ten years as principal bassoonist with the Komische Oper Berlin orchestra, she decided in 2012 to devote herself entirely to conducting. In June 2023, she was appointed Music Director of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland – the first person to hold this post; following a successful first year, her contract was extended until 2029.

She studied musicology at the University of Cambridge, followed by bassoon and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. She was a scholarship holder at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and played in various orchestras until 2012.

In recent years, Catherine Larsen-Maguire has conducted a number of renowned orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the oyal Northern Sinfonia, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle and the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra. She collaborates regularly with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the OFUNAM in Mexico City.

Over recent seasons, she has worked successfully with a wide range of soloists, including Carolin Widmann, Edgar Moreau, Adam Walker, Sean Shibe, Jean Rondeau, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Guy Johnston and Sarah Wegener.

As well as European classical music, Catherine Larsen-Maguire is also very active in the field of contemporary music. The conductor has led numerous world premieres, including works by Alexander Goehr, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Mica Levi and Gordon Kampe. She collaborates with leading contemporary music ensembles such as the Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble Musikfabrik, the Ensemble Resonanz and the Ensemble Ascolta. At the Musikfest Berlin, she conducted the Ensemble Modern.

She takes great pleasure in organising projects with young people and students. She regularly leads masterclasses both in Germany and abroad, gives concerts with various international youth orchestras, served on the jury of the Besançon Competition from 2017 to 2021, and was a visiting professor of conducting at the Berlin University of the Arts. The conductor has worked with numerous youth orchestras, such as the Young Israel Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, the Underground Youth Orchestra in Athens and the Eduardo Mata Youth Orchestra in Mexico City.