Role

:

Composer Conductor  

Country

:

United Kingdom

Birth

:

March 10, 1947 in Walsall, West Midlands, England

Genre

:

Choral

 

Andrew Parrott is a renowned conductor, musicologist, and scholar of early music. He was born on March 10, 1947, in Gloucestershire, England. Parrott grew up in a musical family, and his father was a church organist. He began his musical education at the age of six, learning to play the piano and the recorder. He later studied at Oxford University, where he earned a degree in music. Parrott's interest in early music began during his time at Oxford, where he was introduced to the works of composers such as William Byrd and Thomas Tallis. He went on to study at the Royal College of Music in London, where he focused on early music performance practice. In 1973, he founded the Taverner Consort and Players, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of early music. One of Parrott's early successes was his recording of Handel's "Messiah" with the Taverner Consort and Players in 1976. The recording was praised for its historically informed performance style, which was a departure from the more traditional approach to the work. The recording was a commercial success and helped to establish Parrott's reputation as a leading figure in the early music movement. Parrott has gone on to conduct many of the world's leading orchestras and ensembles, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has also been a guest conductor at many of the world's leading music festivals, including the Salzburg Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival. In addition to his work as a conductor, Parrott is also a respected musicologist and scholar of early music. He has written several books on the subject, including "The Essential Bach Choir" and "The Classical Musician's Recording Handbook." He has also taught at several universities, including Oxford and Yale. Parrott's contributions to the world of classical music have been recognized with several awards and honors. In 1999, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to music. He has also been awarded the Handel Prize by the City of Halle, Germany, and the Medal of Honor by the Czech Republic. One of Parrott's most notable achievements was his reconstruction of Bach's "St. Mark Passion." The work had been lost for centuries, and Parrott spent years researching and piecing together the surviving fragments of the score. The reconstructed work was premiered in 2006 and was hailed as a major discovery in the world of classical music. Parrott's dedication to historically informed performance practice has been a major influence on the world of classical music. His recordings and performances have helped to bring early music to a wider audience and have inspired a new generation of musicians to explore the works of composers from the past.

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