I Fagiolini

Robert Hollingworth

I Fagiolini’s concerts are presented by director Robert Hollingworth, who also writes and presents programmes for BBC Radio 3 and is Reader in Music at the University of York.  Robert’s style is informative but relaxed and has become a feature of I Fagiolini’s work.

Robert has spent much of his life looking for ways to share his love of Renaissance and 20^th/21^st century music, often by creating ground-breaking projects which present music to audiences in innovative ways.  He founded I Fagiolini in 1986; with them he has presented their signature projects including Simunye, The Full Monteverdi, Tallis in Wonderland, How Like An Angel (with Australian contemporary circus group C!RCA), and Betrayal: a polyphonic crime drama (for singers and dancers based on the music of Gesualdo), which premiered at the Barbican in May 2015.

Robert has directed the English Concert (Purcell), the Academy of Ancient Music (Bach), Accentus (France), Norddeutscher Rundfunk Chor, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Narodowe Forum Muzyki, Wrocław (Acis & Galatea), Symphonieorchester Wuppertal (Judas Maccabeus) and Monteverdi L’Orfeo in Venice. In 2016 he conducted the Danish National Vocal Ensemble in a new conceptual project, Angels and Demons and makes his debut with RIAS Kammerkoor in 2018.

In 2011, his world premiere recording of Striggio Mass in 40 Parts was released on Decca and won the 2011 Gramophone Early Music Award and a Diapason d’or de l’année. 1612 Italian Vespers was released on Decca in June 2012, chosen as Gramophone CD of the Month and performed during the 2012 BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Robert arranged the music for the album Shakespeare: The Sonnets and appeared extensively on BBC TV and radio discussing the disc. Amuse-Bouche (French Choral Delicacies) was released on Decca Classics in April 2016, was CD of the Month for Gramophone Magazine, and shortlisted for a 2016 Gramophone Classical Music Award. It includes the world premiere and film (www.ifagiolini.com/amusebouche/the-film) of Jean Françaix’s 12-voice Ode à la gastronomie: “entirely fresh and unexpected, a recording that’s a bit sexy, a bit silly and absolutely, unmissably superb.” (Gramophone) 2017 album releases include Peerson Grave Chamber Music with Fretwork and Monteverdi: The Other Vespers, in collaboration with Monteverdi’s 450^th anniversary and the 2017 tour, ‘Living Monteverdi’.

Robert has worked on a number of films and writes and presents for BBC Radio 3 (CD Review, The Early Music Show, The Choir and Discovering Music). In 2012 he ran a conducting masterclass and lecture for the American Choral Directors’ Association conference and was the Special Guest Director & speaker at the Association of British Choral Director’s 30^th annual convention (2015). His MA in solo-voice-ensemble singing at the University of York (where he is a Reader in Music) is now in its fifth year.

Concert promoters: see the version of this text designed for programmes.