Opera Scotland

Richard Egarr Suggest updates

English conductor and harpsichordist.

Richard Egarr trained initially in Manchester, at Chetham's School of Music, then as an organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge. He subsequently studied with Gustav and Marie Leonhardt.

In 2006 he was appointed Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music, and has performed with them at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Luxenbourg Philharmonie, Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and at the Palace of Versailles. They have also toured together to Japan, Korea, China and Australia.

He has started to perform opera and oaratorio since he established the Choir of the Academy of Ancient Music. Such concert performances include the London Barbican (La finta giardiniera; Orfeo); Paris Champs-Elysées (La finta giardiniera); and Rotterdam De Doelen (Semele). He also works with other period ensembles, including, in the USA, the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston and Portland Baroque.

He has conducted non-period orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthausorchester and Swedish Chamber Orchestra. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra appointed him as an Associate Artist in 2011 and, since 2013, he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Hague Residentie Orchestra.

He is noted for his performances and recordings of solo harpsichord recitals. As a teacher, he works regularly at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Juilliard School in New York, Britten-Pears Foundation and the Netherlands Opera Academy.