Catherine Larsen-Maguire

 Catherine Larsen-Maguire – conductor

CLM -2

  • Music Director, National Youth Orchestras of Scotland

A consummate artist who combines an innate musicality with a superlative technique, and an astute musical ear with an infectious dynamism on the podium, Catherine Larsen-Maguire has become a sought-after conductor throughout Europe and in Central and South America. Her performances have been praised by critics as ‘charged with recreative energy, flexible tempi, scrupulous balance and interpretative reach’ (The Arts Desk) and ‘difficult to think of a more committed, deeply involved and precise direction than that of Larsen-Maguire’ (Scherzo). Particularly in demand for the clarity she brings to the romantic British repertoire, she remains supremely versatile, equally at home with Haydn, Brahms, Elgar or Mahler as with works by the composers of today.

The closeness of the relationships she forms with orchestras and their audiences is reflected in the frequency of Catherine Larsen-Maguire’s re-invitations; in the 2022-23 season she returned to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico City, and made a number of spectacular debuts, most notably with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle, Orquesta de Extremadura and Filarmónica de Jalisco. 2023-24 sees returns to the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa and Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM and the same season includes debuts with the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

click for more

Catherine Larsen-Maguire has in recent years also conducted orchestras including the London Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Mecklenburgische Statskapelle, Göttinger Symphonieorchester, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Colombia, Orquesta de Córdoba, Belgrade Philharmonic, and Orchestre de Chambre Fribourgeois. A musician’s musician, she has successfully collaborated with a diverse array of soloists in recent seasons, including Carolin Widmann, Edgar Moreau, Adam Walker, Sean Shibe, Jean Rondeau, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Guy Johnston and Sarah Wegener.

Embracing the challenges of contemporary music and fearless about the complexity of a new score, Catherine Larsen-Maguire also works closely with living composers, and has given several world and national premieres; in 2021 she conducted the world premiere of Alexander Goehr’s ‘The Master Said’ with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The same year, at the Musikfest Berlin, she gave the premiere of Cathy Milliken’s ‘Night Shift’ with Ensemble Modern, and a year later conducted the Scottish Ensemble, Ensemble Resonanz and the Trondheim Soloists in the premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s ‘Deep Dark Shine’. She also conducted the world premiere of Gordon Kampe’s ‘Gefährliche Operette’, the American premiere of James MacMillan’s Oboe Concerto, the Spanish premiere of Joey Roukens’ ‘In Unison’ and the German premiere of Bent Sørensen’s ‘Evening Land’. She has also worked with composers including Brett Dean, Helen Grime, Charlotte Bray, Mica Levi and Michael Zev Gordon, and contemporary ensembles including Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Resonanz, Ensemble Ascolta and the 10/10 Ensemble of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

With a passion for mentoring the next generation of musicians, Catherine Larsen-Maguire places great emphasis on working with young people, both as conductor and educator. In July 2023, following a highly successful series of concerts which was lauded across the Scottish press, she was appointed the first ever Music Director of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland for the period 2024-2026. Other Youth orchestras with which she has recently collaborated include the Young Israel Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Luebeck Hochschule and the Underground Youth Orchestra in Athens; she has given masterclasses in Germany (University of the Arts), Brazil (University of São Paulo, Femusc Festival), Israel (Jerusalem International Conducting Masterclass), Spain (Real Conservatorio Superior de Granada) and Mexico (Queretaro Festival). She was a jury member for the Besançon Competition (2017- 2021), and from 2014-16 held a guest professorship in conducting at the University of the Arts, Berlin

Born in Manchester and now based in Berlin, Catherine Larsen-Maguire read music at Cambridge University, followed by studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Karajan Academy in Berlin. She turned her focus exclusively to conducting in 2012 following a successful career as a bassoonist, which included 10 years as principal at the Komische Oper Berlin.

Contact:
Nicolas Papageorgiou (Director)
Aude-Marie Auphan (Director)

Videos

Concert with Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM, Mexico City
Debussy, Tailleferre, Ravel (Feb 2023)
Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition
Young Israel Philharmonic, July 2022
Brahms: Symphony No.2
Young Israel Philharmonic, July 2022
Anna Clyne: Sound and Fury
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, September 2020
Schubert: Symphony No. 2, 1st mvt
Sunflower Festival Chamber Orchestra, Jun 2017
Barber: Adagio for Strings
Sunflower Festival Chamber Orchestra, Jun 2017


Repertoire

Catherine Larsen-Maguire – List of conducted works
  • Adams
    Harmonielehre
    Chamber Symphony
  • Ali-Sade
    Dilogie II
  • Arnold
    Scottish Dances
  • Arutjunian
    Trumpet Concerto
  • Bach
    Double concerto for two violins
    Double concerto for oboe and violin
    Keyboard concerto in D minor
    Brandenburg concerto No. 2
    Orchestral Suite No. 1
    Orchestral Suite No. 3
    Fugue from “Das Musikalische Opfer” (arr. Webern)
  • Bailey.
    Piano concerto Empty Theater (first performance)
  • Barber
    Violin Concerto
    Adagio for strings
  • Bartók
    Concerto for orchestra
    Viola concerto
    Romanian Dances
  • Bauckholt
    Treibstoff
  • Bax
    Tintagel
  • Beethoven.
    Symphony No. 1
    Symphony No. 2
    Symphony No. 3
    Symphony No. 5
    Symphony No. 6
    Symphony No. 8
    Piano concerto No. 1
    Piano concerto No. 3
    Piano concerto No. 5
    Egmont overture
    Coriolan overture
    King Stephen overture
  • Benjamin
    At First Light
  • Berio
    Folk Songs
  • Berlioz
    Les Nuits d’Été
  • Bernstein
    Divertimento for Orchestra
    Candide overture
  • Billone
    Ebe und anders
  • Bizet
    Carmen
  • Blacher
    Paganini Variations
    Concertante Musik
  • Brahms
    Symphony No. 1
    Symphony No. 3
    Serenade No. 1
    Haydn Variations
    Piano concerto No. 2
    Double concerto
    Tragic Overture
  • Britten
    Violin Concerto
    Temporal Variations
  • Bruch
    Violin concerto
    Concerto for clarinet and viola
    Scottish Fantasy
  • Bruckner
    Overture in G minor
  • Chabrier
    Suite pastorale
  • Cimarosa
    Concerto for two flutes
  • Copland
    Appalachian Spring
    Clarinet Concerto
  • Dallapiccola
    Due Liriche di Anacreonte
  • Dean.
    Testament
  • Debussy
    La Mer
    Three Preludes (arr. Matthews)
  • Dvorák
    Symphony No. 6
    Symphony No. 7
    Symphony No. 9
    Cello concerto
    The Water Sprite
    Czech Suite
    Klid
    Slavonic Dances 4 & 8
    Serenade for strings
    Serenade for winds
  • Elgar
    Enigma Variations
    Pomp and Circumstance 1 & 4
    Serenade for strings
  • Farrenc.
    Symphony No. 3
  • Fauré
    Requiem
    Élégie for Cello
  • Franck
    Symphony in D minor
  • Françaix
    Bassoon concerto
  • Gade
    Nachklänge an Ossian
  • Galindo
    Oberture Mexicana No. 2
  • Glanert
    Vier Ernste Gesänge
  • Glazunov
    Serenade for strings
  • Glinka
    Ruslan and Ludmilla overture
    Summer Night in Madrid
  • Globokar
    Kaleidoskop im Nebel
  • Grieg
    Norwegian Dances
    Peer Gynt Suite No. 1
    Holberg Suite
  • Grime
    Virga
    A Cold Spring
  • Guarnieri
    Flor de Tremembé
  • Handel
    Coronation anthems
    Harp concerto
  • Haydn
    Symphony No. 88
    Symphony No. 94
    Symphony No. 103
    Symphony No. 104
    Oboe concerto
    L’isola disabitata overture
  • Higdon
    River sings a song to trees
  • Hindemith
    Wie es wär’, wenn’s anders wär’
  • Holst
    “The Perfect Fool” ballet music
    St. Paul’s Suite
  • Ibert
    Divertissement
  • Ives
    Symphony No. 2
  • Jolivet
    Bassoon concerto
  • Kampe
    Gefährliche Operette (first performance)
  • Kapp
    Die Letzte Beichte
  • Knussen
    Ophelia Dances
  • Ligeti
    Aventures
    Nouvelles aventures
    Concert romanesc
  • Liszt
    Mazeppa
    Piano Concerto No. 1
  • Macmillan
    Oboe Concerto
  • Mahler
    Symphony No. 1
    Symphony No. 4
    Symphony No. 5
    Das Lied von der Erde (arr. Schönberg/Riehn)
    4 Lieder from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”
  • Mamlok
    Grasshoppers
  • Marcello
    Oboe Concerto
  • Martinu
    Oboe Concerto
  • Matthews
    Hidden Variables
  • Maxwell Davies
    An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise
    Five Klee Pictures
    Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot
  • Mendelssohn, Fanny
    Overture in C
  • Mendelssohn, Felix
    Symphony No. 3
    Symphony No. 4
    String Symphony No. 1
    String Symphony No. 10
    Violin Concerto
    A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    The Hebrides overture
  • Milhaud
    Suite Provencale
    La Création du Monde
  • Mozart
    Don Giovanni
    Symphony No. 31
    Symphony No. 35
    Symphony No. 36
    Symphony No. 39
    Symphony No. 40
    Symphony No. 41
    Horn concerto No. 4
    Violin concerto No. 1
    Violin concerto No. 5
    Flute Concerto
    Flute and harp Concerto
    Oboe Concerto
    Bassoon Concerto
    Sinfonia concertante for winds
    Marriage of Figaro overture
    Magic Flute overture
    Adagio and Fugue for strings
    Gran Partita
  • Mundry
    Das Rohe und das Geformte III
  • Mussorgsky
    Pictures at an Exhibition
  • Naske
    Die Rote Zora (Children’s opera)
  • Nicolaou
    Réflexions
    Blueshift
  • Nono
    Canti per 13
  • Orff
    Carmina Burana
  • Piazzola
    Estaciones porteñas
  • Poulenc
    Concert champêtre
  • Prokofiev
    Symphony No. 1 (Classical)
    Piano concerto No. 3
    Excerpts from “Romeo and Juliet”
  • Pousseur
    Quintette à la Mémoire d’Anton Webern
  • Puccini
    La Bohème
  • Purcell
    Chaconne (arr. Britten)
  • Rachmaninov
    Symphony No. 2
    Symphonic Dances
    Piano concerto No. 1
    Piano concerto No. 2
    Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
  • Raff
    Sinfonietta
  • Rameau
    Movements from “Les Indes Galantes”
  • Rautavaara
    Cantus arcticus
  • Ravel
    Daphis and Chloe 2nd suite
    Le Tombeau de Couperin
    Piano concerto
    La Valse
    Alborada del Gracioso
  • Rimsky-Korsakov
    Scheherazade
  • Rodrigo
    Concierto de Aranjuez
  • Saint-Saens
    Cello Concerto
  • Santoro
    Symphony No. 12 (first performance)
  • Schleiermacher
    Heim.Weh.Nach.Liszt
  • Schönberg
    Chamber Symphony No. 1
    Pierrot Lunaire
    Erwartung (version for chamber orchestra)
  • Shostakovich
    Symphony No. 5
    Symphony No. 10
  • Schubert
    Symphony No. 1
    Symphony No. 2
    Symphony No. 3
    Symphony No. 4
    Symphony No. 5
    Symphony No. 6
    Symphony No. 7 (Unfinished)
    Symphony No. 9
  • Schumann, C.
    Piano Concerto
  • Schumann, R.
    Symphony No. 1
    Symphony No. 2
    Symphony No. 4
  • Scriabin
    Piano Concerto
  • Sibelius
    Symphony No. 2
    Finlandia
    Valse triste
  • Simpson
    Nur Musik
  • Stephenson, A.
    Piccolo Concerto
  • Strauss, J.
    Kaiserwalzer
  • Strauss, R.
    Oboe concerto
    Horn concerto No. 1
    Four Last Songs
    Suite Op. 4
    Serenade Op. 7
    Sonatine No. 1
  • Stravinsky
    The Firebird Suite (1919)
    Petruschka (1911)
    The Soldier’s Tale
  • Tarkmann
    Der Mistkäfer
  • Trujillo
    Travesiá (first performance)
  • Tschaikowsky
    Symphony No. 2
    Symphony No. 4
    Symphony No. 5
    Piano concerto No. 1
    Romeo and Juliet overture
    Capriccio Italien
    Rococo Variations
    Marche Slave
  • Vaughan Williams
    Oboe concerto
    Tuba concerto
    The Lark Ascending
    Flos Campi
    English Folk Song Suite
  • Verdi
    The Force of Destiny overture
  • Vieuxtemps
    Violin concerto No. 5
  • Villa-Lobos
    Choros 7
    Choros 10
    Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4
  • Vivaldi
    Gloria
    Bassoon concerto in E minor
  • Wagner
    Mastersingers overture
    Siegfried Idyll
  • Walton
    Viola Concerto
    Facade
  • Warlock
    Capriol Suite
  • Weber
    Oberon overture
    Bassoon concerto
    Concertino
  • Webern
    Konzert Op. 24
  • Weidner
    But a beautiful ballroom soul (first performance)
  • Weill
    Little Threepenny Music
    Violin Concerto
  • Weiss
    Chamber symphony
  • Yun
    Loyang
    Pièce concertante
    Chamber concerto No. 2


Gallery

Links

Useful Links