Gary Cooper, Harpsichord
Gary Cooper studied at Chetham's School of Music and at New College, Oxford. He is now established as one of the foremost ambassadors of the harpsichord and fortepiano - in particular, as an interpreter of Bach’s & Mozart’s keyboard music – and as a director of period performances in concert and opera.
Since making his solo Wigmore Hall debut, he now performs across Europe, North America & Asia, and has made countless recordings, including an award-winning CD of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.
His has a duo partnership with baroque violinist Rachel Podger which has taken them worldwide. They have recorded the Complete Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin by Mozart receiving countless awards and accolades, including multiple Diapason d’Or and Gramophone Editor’s Choices.
Recent operas includes Handel’s Alcina and Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Seraglio; a new production Handel's Orlando at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, and opera in Belgium and Germany. He directs the Irish Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik, Arion in Montreal, and is ‘Artist in Residence’ of the new Belgian period instrument ensemble, B’Rock. Gary appears at major festivals across Europe such as the Flanders, Bruges, Utrecht, Potsdam and Innsbruck and throughout the UK. Solo recording projects range from Bach’s Keyboard Concerti and the Goldberg Variations to late Beethoven Sonatas and the Diabelli Variations. Gary is also a founding member a new period instrument ensemble, ensembleF2, launched at London’s Wigmore Hall in Spring 2009.
Gary currently teaches harpsichord & fortepiano at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Birmingham Conservatoire and at York University, and is visiting professor at the Royal College of Music.
“ … music-making rarely comes as impressive as this … ”
(The Times)
“Pianos can be dull dogs, but not in Gary Cooper’s case – he is nimble and expressive.”
(The Times)
