Harry Bicket

Harry Bicket (born 1961, Liverpool, England) is a British conductor, harpsichordist and organist.

Bicket was educated at Radley College, Christ Church, Oxford, where he was organ scholar, and the Royal College of Music. Before Oxford he was organ scholar at St George's Chapel, Windsor, and afterwards he was sub-organist at Westminster Abbey, during which time he performed at the wedding of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew.

As a conductor, Bicket became known when he stood in as a replacement to conduct Peter Sellars’ production of Handel's opera "Theodora" with Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and David Daniels, at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1996. He has since conducted in many other opera houses and concert halls. He has become especially associated with the baroque and classical repertoire. In 2003, Bicket was conductor for the revival of "Theodora" at Glyndebourne. [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1017020,00.html Andrew Clements, "Theodora". "The Guardian", 12 August 2003.] ]

In 2003, Bicket made his Covent Garden debut conducting Handel's "Orlando" with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1058345,00.html Andrew Clements, "Orlando". "The Guardian", 8 October 2003.] ] , a production that was nominated for "Best New Opera Production" in the 2004 Laurence Olivier Awards. Bicket's engagements with the OAE have also included Handel's "Theodora" and "Rodelinda" for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In 2005, Bicket made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera conducting "Rodelinda" with Renée Fleming.

His recordings include performances conducting the OAE of recitals by Renée Fleming [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/observer/story/0,,1323764,00.html Anthony Holden, "Handel, Arias". "The Observer", 10 October 2004.] ] [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1348804,00.html Edward Greenfield, "Handel: Arias from Semele, Scipione, Orlando, Giulio Cesare, Lotario, Alexander Balus, etc, Fleming/ OAE/ Bicket". "The Guardian", 12 November 2004.] ] and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/observer/story/0,,1227570,00.html Anthony Holden, "Handel: Arias, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson". "The Observer", 30 May 2004.] ] .

In October 2006, Bicket was named the next director of The English Concert, effective as of September 2007. He first worked with the ensemble as a harpsichordist in 1984. This position is his first orchestral directorship. He lives in London.

References

elected reviews

* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,700042,00.html Andrew Clements, "Meandering meaning". "The Guardian", 16 May 2000 ("Radamisto").]
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,223079,00.html Fiona Maddocks, "So, Sigmund, why do children suffer?". "The Observer", 21 May 2000 ("Radamisto").]
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,701880,00.html Tim Ashley, "And Mozart made five". "The Guardian", 30 May 2000 (" The Philosopher's Stone").]
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,704482,00.html Erica Jeal, "Le Nozze di Figaro". "The Guardian", 10 October 2001 (Glyndebourne Touring Opera production).]
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,596447,00.html Fiona Maddocks, "Who cares where the pin is anyway?" "The Observer", 18 November 2001 ("Le Nozze di Figaro", Glyndebourne Touring Opera production).]
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,705488,00.html Rian Evans, "La Clemenza di Tito". "The Guardian", 22 February 2002 (Welsh National Opera production).]
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,837560,00.html Tom Service, "Xerxes". "The Guardian", 11 November 2002 (English National Opera production).]

External links

* [http://nyphil.org/attend/season/index.cfm?page=eventDetail&eventNum=966&seasonNum=6 New York Philharmonic brief biography on Harry Bicket, December 2006.]
* [http://www.askonasholt.co.uk/green/green/home.nsf/ArtistDetails/Harry%20Bicket Biography of Harry Bicket] on the Askonas Holt website
* [http://www.radley.org.uk/OR/Lusimus/Lus8/conductors.html Stephen Clarke, 'Becoming Conductors', "Lusimus: The Radley Newsletter" Issue 8 (January 2004)]