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| Jennifer Bate |
| GEN (in collaboration with Künsteragentur Dr. Raab und Dr. Böhm) |
| Full Biography | |
Jennifer Bate is in the top rank of international organists and has long been a favourite at all the world’s great festivals. Her vast repertoire ranges from the 18th century to the most modern virtuoso scores. Many composers have written for her, inspired by her phenomenal technique and ability to bring out the colours of the organ. In 1990, Jennifer’s artistry and outstanding contribution to music received international recognition with the Personnalité de l’Année award by the French-based jury. She was only the third British artist to achieve this distinction, after Sir Georg Solti and Sir Yehudi (later Lord) Menuhin. Jennifer was elected an Academician of the Accademia Olubrense, Genoa, in 1994 and, in 1996, was granted Honorary Citizenship of the Italian province of Alessandria, for her services to music in Northern Italy over 20 years. In 2002, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, in 2007 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Bristol University and in 2008 she was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours’ List. Jennifer’s official London début was at Westminster Abbey in 1969. In 1974, she opened a BBC Promenade Concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Liszt’s Fantasia and Fugue on ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’ – the first organist to start such a concert with a 30-minute solo performance. Other notable UK performances include the London première of Fricker’s 5th Symphony for organ and orchestra at the 1976 Proms, and, in 1985, the London première of Panufnik’s Metasinfonia with the LSO at the Royal Festival Hall, given at 48 hours’ notice and recorded a week later at the Royal Albert Hall. In 1986, she was filmed in concert at the Royal Festival Hall, playing Peter Dickinson’s Blue Rose Variations (an amalgam of Blues, Ragtime and Classical styles simultaneously superimposed) and recorded his Organ Concerto, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, now re-released by Albany Records. Her programme this year includes recitals in Austria, France, Germany, Monaco, Italy, Spain and Holland. Educational projects include Masterclasses at Cambridge University and the annual Jennifer Bate Organ Academy for girls. She is recognised as the world authority on the organ works of Olivier Messiaen, with whom she worked extensively. In 1980-82, she recorded his then complete works at Beauvais Cathedral. Each volume was heard by Messiaen prior to release and endorsed by him with great enthusiasm. All won international acclaim and she became his organist of choice, to whom he re-allocated all his organ recitals over the last decade of his life. All her scores are marked with his personal nuances of interpretation and she continues to play his last masterpiece for organ, Livre du Saint Sacrement, from his own manuscript. The British première of the latter, at Westminster Cathedral (1986) with the composer present, received a 20-minute standing ovation from a capacity audience. The concert was filmed and shown on Channel 4 later that year. Messiaen then invited her to make the world première recording on his own instrument in Paris. This had exceptional international success, winning a Grand Prix du Disque. In 1995, Jennifer opened the Messiaen Festival at l’Eglise de la Sainte Trinité, Paris, where his complete organ works were performed and recorded. Among numerous awards for her CD were the Diapason d’Or and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Her 2008 engagements include a solo BBC Promenade concert on 17 August. Her 1978 recordings of the three great organ works of Liszt are still available, together with other special offers, via her web page. One of her most popular CDs has been the Unicorn-Kanchana Records’ Vivaldi Double and Triple Concertos, for which Jennifer researched original manuscripts to make the performing editions. Regis Records have reissued her popular Virtuoso French Organ Music, with extra works added. Her recordings of the complete works of Franck and Messiaen, and her historic anthology From Stanley to Wesley are now available in budget boxed sets (Regis), all carrying the Penguin CD Guide’s “Top Recommendation”. Her CD of recently-discovered works by Samuel Wesley [SOMM CD036] together with its sequel, The Wesleys and their Contemporaries [SOMM CD039], received great critical acclaim. Both were recorded, from first editions, on an historic (1829) Bishop organ. Her latest recordings of The Complete Organ Works of Felix Mendelssohn (68 pieces), including some only recently discovered and never before recorded – are on 5 CDs [SOMM CDs050-4]. Please visit Jennifer’s web page: www.classical-artists.com/jbate for further information. Dr Bate is also a composer. Her CD, entitled Reflections, forms a musical autobiography spanning 25 years. TV appearances include the South Bank Show on Messiaen, La Nativité du Seigneur from Norwich Cathedral (Channel 4) and profile programmes in Italy and South America. She has a deep knowledge of the history of music, lectures on a wide range of musical subjects at university level and particularly enjoys working with young people. Her pioneering education programme, A Guide to the King of Instruments (which she delivers in any of five languages) is in great demand for all age groups. 2007/2008 If you wish to revise this biography, please contact Mark Stephan Buhl Artists Management. 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