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The English violinist and conductor, Andrew Manze, began his education at Cambridge, where he studied Classics. He then moved on to music studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, studying with both Simon Standage and Marie Leonhardt.
Andrew Manze has rapidly emerged as one of the leading violinists in the early music movement and became a leading specialist in the world of historical performance practice. He specializes in music from between 1610 and 1830. Manze then joined the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, remaining there until 1993. The following year he began collaborating with harpsichordist Richard Egarr. One of their major releases presented a 1712 collection of violin sonatas by the French composer Jean-Féry Rebel. Meanwhile, Manze formed the group Romanesca, with harpsichordist John Tell and lutenist Nigel North; the trio specialized in music of the 17th century.
Andrew Manze was appointed Associate Director and concertmaster of the London-based Baroque group The Academy of Ancient Music in 1996 and then Artistic Director of The English Concert from 2003 to 2007. He has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden, since September 2006. He was Principal Guest Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2011, and from the 2010-2011 season he assumed the role of Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Andrew Manze has rapidly emerged as one of the most stimulating and inspirational conductors of his generation. His extensive and scholarly knowledge of the repertoire together with his rare skill as a communicator and his boundless energy mark him out. From September 2006 until summer 2014 he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden. With the orchestra he made a number of recordings including L.v. Beethoven’s Eroica (Harmonia Mundi) and a cycle of the Johannes Brahms’ symphonies (CPO). From the September 2010 to August 2014, he held the title of Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2011. In September 2014 Manze became the Principal Conductor of the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hannover.
As a guest conductor Andrew Manze has regular relationships with a number of leading international orchestras including the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Münchner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
Andrew Manze is also a busy soloist on the international concert scene, appearing in one season with the Zürcher Kammerorchester, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Canadian early music group Tafelmusik, and Berliner Philharmoniker. He is known for his freedom of ornamentation, bringing an improvisatory excitement to his concerts.
As a conductor Andrew Manze he continues to expand his expertise into the music of other eras as he appears as guest conductor with more orchestras. In the 2011-2012 Season, he made his debuts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in New York (his American debuts), all of which resulted in immediate re-invitations. Recent guest conductor engagements include debuts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Belgian National Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, and Residentie Orkest Den Haag. Orchestral debuts in the 2014-2015 season and beyond include the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP). Alongside his regular guesting, Manze returns to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Tonkünstler-Orchester and Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and also returns in summer 2015 for his fourth consecutive appearance at the Mostly Mozart Fesival, New York.
Andrew Manze is well-known in Britain for his broadcast work. He has become a popular "presenter" on BBC radio, and made his debut with the BBC Promenade Concert in 1998. That concert was televised nationally, with Manze playing concertos by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and Mozart, and introducing the public to the enthusiasm and directness of the new ways of performing Baroque and Classic music.
Both as a conductor and violinist Andrew Manze has released a variety of CD’s, many of them award-winning. Recording for the French Harmonia Mundi label, Manze won Gramophone, Edison, and Cannes Classical awards for his recording with Romanesca of Biber's flashy and mystical violin sonatas. His playing of Antonio Vivaldi's newly discovered "Manchester" sonatas won the Premio Internazionale del Disco Vivaldi Antica Italiana. His album Phantasticus won the Cannes Classical Award and a Diapason D'Or. The later award was also given to his recording of Schmelzer's violin sonatas. Manze was named the 1998 Classical Artist of the Year. He has made a number of recordings with Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, including L.v. Beethoven’s Eroica (Harmonia Mundi) and Stenhammer Piano Concerti (Hyperion) and, most recently, a cycle of the Johannes Brahms’ symphonies (CPO).
Andrew Manze is in demand as an expert in Baroque music interpretation. He serves as a performance advisor and director for the European Community Baroque Orchestra, gives master-classes, and has been visiting professor at the Royal College of Music in London. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and a Visiting Professor at the OsloAcademy and has contributed to new editions of sonatas and concertos by W.A. Mozart and J.S. Bach published by Bärenreiter and Breitkopf and Härtel. He also teaches, edits and writes about music, as well as broadcasting regularly on radio and television. In November 2011 Manze received the prestigious ‘Rolf Schock Prize’ in Stockholm. Previous winners include Ligeti, Mauricio Kagel, Saariaho, Panula, Gidon Kremer and Anne Sofie von Otter and others..
Amdrew Manze lives with his wife (also a violinist) in England's Cotswolds region. Andrew Manze is represented by Intermusica. |
