Peter Donohoe & Harriet Mackenzie

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Acclaimed as one the the foremost pianists of our time, Peter Donohoe is joined by internationally renowned violinist Harriet Mackenzie, in a programme of music from the Romantic period, performing sonatas by Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy and César Franck.

Both have had hugely successful individual careers, playing with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. They bring together their combined talents here at the festival for an unforgettable performance of sublime music making!

Running Time 110mins inc interval

Programme Details
Brahms
G major Sonata no1, Opus 78
I Vivace, ma non troppo, II Adagio - piu Andante - Adagio come I, III Allegro, molto moderato - piu moderato
Debussy
Sonata I Allegro vivo, II Intermède (fantasque et léger), III Finale (Très animé)
INTERVAL
César Franck
Sonata in A major
I Allegro ben moderato, II Allegro, III Recitativo, Fantasia, IV Allegro poco mosso

Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester in 1953. He studied at Chetham’s School of Music for seven years, graduated in music at Leeds University, and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod.

In recent seasons, Donohoe has appeared with Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and Concert Orchestras, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonia, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Belarusian State Symphony Orchestra, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He is also in high demand as a jury member for International competitions. He has recently served on the juries at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow and the Busoni International Competition in Bolzano, Italy.

Donohoe has performed with all the major London orchestras, as well as many international orchestras: the Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Vienna Symphony and Czech Philhar-monic Orchestras. He also performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, con-ducted by Sir Simon Rattle. He has appeared several times at the BBC Proms and at many other festivals including six consecutive visits to the Edinburgh Festival.

Peter is an honorary doctor of music at seven UK universities, and was awarded a CBE for services to classical music in the 2010 New Year’s Honours List.

Harriet Mackenzie is an internationally renowned concerto soloist and has performed across five continents. Her recordings include concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Nova and the English Symphony Orchestra and these have received international acclaim, including Five Stars in The Times (Richard Morrison); and nominated for Recording of The Year in Music Web International for her disk of 21^st Century Violin Concertos. Her recording of the solo Sonata by Nicholas Maw in 2020 was highly acclaimed, receiving Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine. She has recorded on the NMC, Signum, Naxos, Nimbus and Dutton labels.

Live broadcasts include BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and Hungarian National Radio. Harriet has performed concertos and recitals in prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Budapest Marble Hall, Purcell Room, Beijing NCPA, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Seoul Concert Hall, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, and Kyiv Hall of Marble Columns.

As well as performing all the standard repertoire, Harriet is a champion for contemporary music and has created a legacy with new works. She is the dedicatee of over one hundred new works has performed many world premieres with music specifically written for her, including Robert Fokkens’ violin concerto (premiered Southbank Centre, London); Graham Coatman’s violin concerto, (premiered Swaledale Festival); Deborah Prichard's Wall of Water violin concerto, inspired by the paintings of Maggi Hambling (premiered LSO St Luke's) and Deborah Pritchard's Edge violin and harp concerto, also inspired by the paintings of Maggi Hambling (premiered Aldeburgh Festival); and Errollyn Wallen's Triple concerto, written for her group Kosmos (premiered Jersey Liberation Festival).

Harriet graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with First Class honours, M Mus and DipRAM. In 2015, she was awarded the Richard Carne Fellowship at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music. Also in 2015 she was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her out-standing contribution to music. In 2022 she was honoured to be Associate Artist of Salisbury International Festival.