Bridget Cunningham

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Bridget Cunningham
Occupation(s)Harpsichordist, Conductor, Musicologist
OrganizationLondon Early Opera
Websitebridgetcunningham.org.uk

Bridget Cunningham is a British-Irish harpsichordist, conductor and musicologist specialising in music of the Baroque period. Cunningham is Artistic Director of British period orchestra and research group London Early Opera.

Early career[edit]

Cunningham was educated at Southampton University; the Royal College of Music; and Trinity Laban.[1] She studied the harpsichord under Robert Woolley and was awarded a Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music.[2] Following on from this she was a harpsichordist for the Live Music Now Scheme, performed regularly at the Handel Hendrix House[3] and played and coached singers for the all-female choir Vivaldi’s Women.[4]

Performing[edit]

Cunningham has performed at international festivals and venues including The Innsbruck Festival, East Cork Early Music Festival,[5] Victoria International Arts Festival in Gozo,[6] St Martin-in-the-Fields,[7] St John’s Smith Square, St George’s Church Hanover Square,[8] Yale University[9] and at Buckingham Palace for the Royal Family including the then Prince Charles.[10]

She has performed for BBC Radio 3 In Tune[11][12][13] BBC Radio 4 Front Row[14] and appeared on BBC Two in Hallelujah! The story of Handel's Messiah,[15] and on BBC Four in Vivaldi’s Women.[16]

In November 2021 Cunningham opened the international Handel Institute conference with a harpsichord recital at the Foundling Museum and released her harpsichord album Handel’s Eight Great Harpsichord Suites.[17][18]

Cunningham is an advocate for directing period orchestras and singers from the harpsichord.[19][20][21]

Research[edit]

Cunningham's research focuses on the music of George Frideric Handel and his contemporaries. She has published research on Handel’s music written and performed in Ireland alongside other Irish baroque composers.[22][23] Cunningham has edited Baroque works including arias by Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Porta and Giovanni Bononcini[24] and Handel’s previously lost opera Caio Fabbricio HWV A9,[25] directing the work's modern world premiere in May 2022.[26] In 2016 she reconstructed an eighteenth-century evening at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens recorded by Signum Records[27][28] and performed at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, Grosvenor Chapel, St George’s Church Hanover Square and St Peter’s Church Vauxhall, which featured on BBC Radio 4 Front Row.[29]

Cunningham is a doctoral candidate in association with Open, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, with a focus on the musicology and performance of operatic music by Handel and Hasse.[30]

London Early Opera[edit]

Cunningham founded London Early Opera in 2008.[31] She has directed LEO performances at Coram’s Fields, The Foundling Museum, St James’s Church Piccadilly, St. Peter’s Church Vauxhall, Grosvenor Chapel Mayfair, Southwark Cathedral and for the London Handel Festival.[32][33]

In 2015 Cunningham launched a series of recording projects with London Early Opera and Signum Records, capturing world premiere recordings exploring Handel’s life, influences and experiences.[34][35] Her 2019 album Handel’s Queens[36][37] with singers Mary Bevan MBE and Lucy Crowe was shortlisted for a 2020 Gramophone Award nomination[38] and was a CD of the month in BBC Music Magazine[39] and Classica Magazine.[40]

In 2017, she directed live performances of Handel’s Water Music and a new world-premiere performance of River written by a previous winner of BBC Young Composer of the Year, Grace Evangeline-Mason. This was commissioned by the BBC and performed live by London Early Opera for BBC Radio 4 on the Eras`mus Boat on the River Thames celebrating the 300th Anniversary of Handel's Water Music.[41][42]

In 2022 LEO launched their recording of Handel’s Caio Fabbricio HWV A9[43][44] with a modern world premiere performance at St George’s Church Hanover Square, directed by Cunningham.[45]

Awards[edit]

  • Worshipful Company of Musicians Award towards Fellowship at the Royal College of Music[46]
  • Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Fund Award[47]
  • Open, Oxford and Cambridge University Doctoral Stipend[48]
  • Finzi Trust Scholarship[49]
  • Handel Institute Research Award[50]

Discography[edit]

Title Album details
Caio Fabbricio HWV A9 by G.F. Handel
  • Released: 2022
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel’s Eight Great Harpsichord Suites
  • Released: 2021
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel’s Queens
  • Released: 2019
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel at Vauxhall: Volume 2
  • Released: 2017
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel in Ireland: Volume 1
  • Released: 2017
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel in Italy: Volume 2
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel at Vauxhall: Volume 1
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: Signum Records
Handel in Italy: Volume 1
  • Released: 2015
  • Label: Signum Records
Thirty-odd feet below Belgium
  • Released: 2011
  • Label: Gloria Magnificat Recording Company
Ireland's Enchantment
  • Released: 2010
  • Label: Rose Street Records
Venice Revealed
  • Released: 2010
  • Label: Peter Ackroyed
  • Formats: DVD Release
Gloria
  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Vivaldi's Women
  • Formats: DVD Release
Thistle and the Rose with Fleuri
  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Rose Street Records
Oxford's Letters
  • Released: 2006
  • Label: Absolute Audio

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Alumni Profile: Bridget Cunningham". Trinity Laban. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  2. ^ "Bridget Cunningham - About". bridgetcunningham.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  3. ^ "Handel in Ireland". Handel and Hendrix. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  4. ^ "Vivaldi's Women". spav.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  5. ^ "East Cork Early Music Festival 2021". The Journal of Music. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  6. ^ "Harpsichordist from the UK kicks off Victoria Arts Festival". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  7. ^ "Concerts Archives - Page 73 of 92". St Martin-in-the-Fields. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  8. ^ Benson-Wilson, Andrew (2018-04-05). "Mr Handel's Vauxhall Pleasures". Andrew Benson-Wilson: Early Music Reviews +. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  9. ^ "Bridget Cunningham Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  10. ^ "Bridget Cunningham (harpsichord) on Hyperion Records". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  11. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - In Tune, Cassie Kinoshi, Bridget Cunningham, Sirius Chau & Victor Lim". BBC. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  12. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - In Tune, Ailish Tynan and James Baillieu, Bridget Cunningham, Ivan Ilic, Gavin Greenaway". BBC. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  13. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - In Tune, Bridget Cunningham, Tomas Hanus, Christopher Purves". BBC. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  14. ^ "BBC Radio 4 Front Row - Handel Water Music at 300 celebration; Grace Evangeline Mason". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  15. ^ "BBC Two - Hallelujah! The Story of Handel's Messiah". BBC. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  16. ^ "BBC Four - Vivaldi's Women". BBC. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  17. ^ "Handel's Eight Great Suites". Signum Records. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  18. ^ Hugill, Robert (2021-12-14). "Celebrating the 300th anniversary of their publication in 1720, Bridget Cunningham records Handel's Eight Great Harpsichord Suites". Planet Hugill. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  19. ^ Marshall, Frances (December 2019). "Handel's Queens with Bridget Cunningham". Final Note Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  20. ^ "IDAGIO Meets … Bridget Cunningham | IDAGIO". www.idagio.com. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  21. ^ Charlton, Ashleigh; Green, Avi (2022-05-25). "AA Opera: Ep. 85- Bridget Cunningham". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  22. ^ Cunningham, Bridget (2011). Donahue, Thomas (ed.). Handel's visit to Dublin, 1741-42, in 'Essays in honor of Christopher Hogwood: the maestro's direction'. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7737-5.
  23. ^ Breen, Edward (2010-07-02). "Ireland's Enchantment : MusicalCriticism.com (CD review)". Musical Criticism. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  24. ^ "Costly Canaries – Mr Handel's Search for Super-Stars". London Handel Festival. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  25. ^ "Bridget Cunningham on Handel's Caio Fabbricio". Gramophone. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  26. ^ Hugill, Robert (2022-04-25). "Introducing Caio Fabriccio, Handel's pasticcio based on Hasse's opera". Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  27. ^ "Handel at Vauxhall, Vol.1". Signum Records. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  28. ^ "Handel at Vauxhall". Presto Music. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  29. ^ Ahmed, Samira. "Front Row - Anomalisa, Seamus Heaney's The Aeneid, Handel at Vauxhall, In the Age of Giorgione - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  30. ^ "Bridget Cunningham". Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  31. ^ "London Early Opera - About". London Early Opera. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  32. ^ "London Handel Festival 2019 Brochure" (PDF). p. 15.
  33. ^ Deller, Toby (2017-10-17). "Meet the Maestro: Bridget Cunningham". Rhinegold. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  34. ^ "London Early Opera Archives". Signum Records. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  35. ^ "London Early Opera on Hyperion Records". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  36. ^ Kemp, Lindsay. "Handel's Queens". Gramophone. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  37. ^ Mellor, David (2019-07-15). "David Mellor's Album Reviews: Nino Rota, Handel's Queens, and Mendelssohn & Franck". Classic FM. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  38. ^ "The Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2020 Shortlist is revealed". Gramophone. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  39. ^ "BBC Music Magazine - October 2019 Choices". Presto Music. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  40. ^ "Classica n° 226 (Octobre 2020) - Voyage au coeur de la Scala de Milan". Classica (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  41. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Handel Water Music at 300 celebration; Grace Evangeline Mason". BBC. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  42. ^ Mason, Grace-Evangeline. "Work: River". Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  43. ^ Maddocks, Fiona (2022-06-04). "Classical home listening: a time capsule from 1953; Caio Fabbricio; Power and Adès on film". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  44. ^ "Handel / Hasse – Caio Fabbricio – London Early Opera & Bridget Cunningham - The Classical Source". www.classicalsource.com. 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  45. ^ "A premiere recording of Handel's pasticcio, Caio Fabbricio, by London Early Opera". Opera Today. 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  46. ^ "Preserve Harmony: The Worshipful Company of Musicians" (PDF). 2022. p. 15.
  47. ^ "Challenge Records International". Challenge Records International. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  48. ^ "Bridget Cunningham". www.oocdtp.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  49. ^ "Award Holders". Finzi Trust. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  50. ^ "Volume 33, Number 2". The Handel Institute. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
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