Daniel Hope

The British violinist, Daniel Hope, is aged 29. He was voted ‘Young Artist of the Year’ in 1999 and 2002 by Germany’s leading music magazine, FonoForum , and nominated for the 2001 Classical Brit and Gramophone Awards. Constantly searching to explore a variety of musical ideas, Daniel Hope has developed a number of successful projects, from period performance to spoken word, Indian music and jazz. In July 2000 he replaced Kennedy to play and conduct in front of 20,000 people on Munich’s Königsplatz. Hope was also voted „Classical Performer 2001” by London’s Evening Standard newspaper. BBC Music Magazine says of him, „The future of the contemporary violin is indeed safe in his hands”, whilst the American Record Guide says „with his winning combination of old-world lyricism, beautiful tone, and a sure sense of style, he is a star in the making.”

At the age of ten Daniel Hope appeared on British television playing chamber music with the double bassist, Gary Karr. The following year he was invited by Yehudi Menuhin to perform Bartok Duos for German television. This was the beginning of a long association, culminating in over sixty concerts together, including Lord Menuhin’s final concert, on March 7th 1999 at the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf. A pupil at Highgate School, from 1992-98 he was a student of the Russian pedagogue, Zakhar Bron, also graduating in 1996 from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he holds the DipRAM and ARAM.

Among the conductors with whom Hope has worked are Rostropovich, Menuhin, Plasson, Nagano, Tate, Frühbeck de Burgos, Fedosseyev, Hengelbrock, Lazarev, Hickox, Belohlavek, Graf, Hirokami and Sondeckis. He has performed with major orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Dresden Staatskapelle, Royal Philharmonic, Concerto Köln, RSO-Vienna, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Wales, RSO Moscow, Orchestre de Toulouse, Wiener Kammerorchester, Royal Scottish National, RSO Leipzig, the Hallé, NDR-Hannover, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and RTVE-Madrid. He has toured and performed all over the world, in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Jordan Hall Boston, the Cologne Philharmonie, Grosse Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Zürich Tonhalle, Moscow Conservatory, Madrid Auditorio Nacional, Munich Gasteig, Hamburg Musikhalle, Linz Brucknerhaus, Symphony Hall Birmingham, and in London the Barbican, the Wigmore, the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Albert Halls.

Daniel Hope is the youngest ever member of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio, with whom he will now tour all major venues in Europe and North America twice a year. Hope has appeared at major festivals including the BBC Proms, Lucerne, Colmar, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, Klangbogen Vienna, Gstaad, Schloss Elmau, Spannungen, San Sebastian, Carinthian Summer, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Harrogate and Manchester Proms. His chamber music partners include Menahem Pressler, Yuri Bashmet, Lynn Harrell, Tabea Zimmermann, Sharon Kam, Sergei Nakariakov, Philippe Entremont, Paul Meyer, Lars Vogt, Sebastian Knauer, Christoph Poppen and Alexei Lubimov.

Daniel Hope’s dedication to 20th century and contemporary music is highlighted through close contacts with several eminent composers, such as Alfred Schnittke, with whom he helped plan the Schnittke at 60 Festival at the Royal Academy in London in March 1994. He gave the world première of the revised version of the Berg Violin Concerto in October 1996 in Vienna, with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recently he has collaborated with the composers Cristobal Halffter, HK Gruber, Penderecki and Gubaidulina. In April 1995 Hope worked with Toru Takemitsu, recording his violin concerto „Nostalghia”, which together with the concertos by Kurt Weill and Schnittke, were released on CD (NI 5582) in February 1999 by Nimbus Records, to major international acclaim. His second CD, with works by Shostakovich, Schnittke, Pärt and Penderecki, was released by Nimbus (NI 5631) in March 2000. BBC Music magazine’s Stephen Johnson said of it:
„ .... I’ve never heard a more compelling account of the Shostakovich Sonata – not even from David Oistrakh.. ” Since then Nimbus has released NI 5666 (Walton/Elgar/Finzi) and in September 2003, NI 5702 (Forbidden Music – works from Theresienstadt). EMI Classics released a Prokofiev chamber music disc with violist Tabea Zimmermann. Hope now embarks on a series of recordings for Warner Classics: the first is the world première recording of the revised Berg Violin Concerto.

A close association with the oscar-winning actor Klaus Maria Brandauer has led to a project called „War and Pieces”; other projects combining words and music created by Hope include „Forbidden, not Forgotten”, with music from the Theresienstadt Ghetto; and „Music to die for!”, with jazz-pianist Uri Caine. Recently Hope has performed with the period-instrument ensemble Concerto Köln, and with vocalist Bobby McFerrin. Future commissions include works by composers Kurtag, Huw Watkins, Roxanna Panufnik and Jan Müller-Wieland.

Daniel Hope Official Website