Maggie
Cole
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Maggie Cole
Harpsichord
Maggie
Cole enjoys a richly varied musical life with performances on harpsichord,
fortepiano and piano. Born in the USA, she began playing the piano from
an early age. A keen interest in early keyboards led her to England where
she now makes her home. Maggie's teachers were Jill Severs and Kenneth
Gilbert and she is pleased to be part of this "family tree"
which began with Wanda Landowska.
Best
known in Britain through numerous recitals on BBC Radio 3 and appearances
at leading festivals, abroad she has performed in venues from Seattle
to Moscow, and from Finland to India. In addition to solo recitals - with
Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' a speciality, given in London, Paris, Cologne,
Basel, Mallorca and Chicago - she frequently performs in duos with partners
including Nancy Argenta soprano, Michael Chance counter tenor, Philippa
Davies flute, Catherine Mackintosh violin and Steven Isserlis cello. She
is also particularly devoted to the Classical chamber music repertoire
and explores this with her recently formed "Trio Goya" with
Kati Debretzeni violin and Sebastian Comberti cello.
From
this century, Maggie plays the concertos by Falla, Poulenc and Gerhard.
Gavin Bryars has written 'After Handel's Vesper' for her, and she takes
every opportunity to programme new works by Dodgson, Hallgrimsson, Ligeti
and Andriessen.
Maggie
performs frequently in the USA on fortepiano and harpsichord with the
chamber ensemble, "Sarasa". With the group, she takes performances
and workshops into areas where classical music is not often heard - facilities
for young offenders, hospitals, prisons and geriatric homes. This work
has become of increasing interest to her as an amplification of her extensive
private teaching practise. Maggie is harpsichord teacher on the annual
Caixa "Curso Internacional de Música" in Spain.
Alongside
her activities as a player, Maggie is active as a promoter of concerts.
Focusing on her immediate neighbourhoods, she has run a 5 year series
of charity concerts at London Lighthouse, raising a considerable sum of
money for this AIDS/HIV facility. She currently promotes concerts at Bush
Hall with the aim of bringing this hall's exceptional charm and acoustic
to a growing audience.
Recordings
of a recital on various harpsichords on Hyperion and of Scarlatti on Saydisc,
have been followed by several on Virgin Classics: a Bach recital, his
'Goldberg Variations' (a top selection in various CD surveys), Soler keyboard
sonatas, Boccherini sonatas with Steven Isserlis, and Poulenc 's Concert
Champjtre with the City of London Sinfonia conducted by Richard Hickox.
With Catherine Mackintosh she has recorded the complete Bach sonatas for
Chandos, and a solo recital of music by Handel, Scarlatti, Arne, JC Bach
and Gavin Bryars has been released on Droffig. A CD of music for cello
and fortepiano with Sebastian Comberti for his Cello Classics label has
just been released.
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