Clients
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Hazlewood is one of the most successful musicians of his generation and was described by the Daily Telegraph as “the face of BBC Classical music”.
He combines his role as a globe-trotting conductor with a high TV and radio presence, underlining his core passion as a musician to engage the maximum number of people with music. He has his own Sony Award-winning shows on Radio 3 and Radio 2, and has authored and conducted the music in landmark documentaries on Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky for the BBC. Charles also conducted an unprecedented history of British music for BBC2; The Birth of British Music aired in May 2009.
Charles is Founder/Music Director of Excellent Device! and its sister orchestra, the period instrument ensemble Army of Generals. He guest conducts most of the leading orchestras in the UK and further afield; in 2003 he made his Carnegie Hall debut, in 2006 he made his debut at the BBC Proms. Charles brought the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain to the 2007 Glastonbury Festival, making history in performing the first ever symphony concert on the world-famous Pyramid Stage. This Season Charles made his debut with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam ("The world's finest orchestra" Gramophone Magazine), and the Gothenburg Symphony
Charles co-founded the Cape Town-based lyric theatre company Dimpho Di Kopane (Sotho for ‘Combined Talents’). As Musical Director of the company he conducted Carmen and West Side Story, and he composed the music for The Mysteries, The Beggar’s Opera and The Snow Queen, the latter which premiered in New York in 2004. The company’s first feature film U Carmen E Khayelitsha premiered in South Africa in 2005, going on to win the prestigious Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
In the summer of 2009 Charles founded new breed of orchestral festival on his farm in Somerset called Play the Field. The festival was attended by 4,000 people and broadcast on Radio 2. Play the Field will return in the summer of 2011.
In the past six years Charles has completed a remarkable variety of projects. He has conducted over fifty orchestral world premieres, worked with the rawest new South African vocal talent, and explored artists at the cutting edge of the pop music scene in the UK, in projects such as Urban Classic: fusing five Grime MC’s with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Hackney Empire. Charles launched the Charles Hazlewood All Stars at Glastonbury Festival 2008, featuring Will Gregory (Goldfrapp), Adrian Utley (Portishead), saxophonist Andy Sheppard and cellist Matthew Barley.
2010 will see Charles back in South Africa to form a brand new opera company in Johannesburg, organising a major Mozart festival in Ottawa, remaking The Beggar's Opera for the 21st century, and attempting to break the world record for the world's largest orchestra in Birmingham in October.
Charles is also a charismatic and engaging speaker who hosts motivational and interactive presentations that draw metaphors between a working orchestra and a typical business environment. His tailored presentation, which lasts 45 minutes to an hour and is effectively split into two parts, works as well for intimate audiences of fifty, up to those in their thousands. During the first half Charles delivers an energetic and articulate speech, which draws analogies between the workings of an office with that of an orchestra. Both music and business depend on individuals working as part of a whole, in pursuit of a common goal. As he talks, Charles addresses specific leadership challenges, including the fundamental necessity for clear communication and creating and communicating a single vision through strong teamwork.
The second half is highly interactive, and involves Charles dividing his audience into a number of different sections, each of which is taught individual sounds. Instead of providing each member with an instrument (problematic with large audiences!), the audience itself becomes the instruments: one group may become tongue clickers, performing to a rhythm suggested by Charles; another may become thigh slappers, tapping their legs to a specific beat. A third group will be given a short hand clapping routine, whilst a fourth will have to hum their way through a short melody. After each group has mastered their own challenge, they ultimately join together to perform as one. The result is a distinctive and unique composition, which provides a dramatic illustration of exactly what can be achieved by working together in a positive, productive and committed way.
To watch Charles’s presentation in action click here: External Link
For further information about Charles please see his personal website [External Link]
Watch Charles offering his insight into Tchaikovsky's 'Romeo and Juliet' and the 'Sixth Symphony' having conducted these pieces for the BBC's Tchaikovsky season [External Link]
PRESS
“Charles Hazlewood is a major proselytizing force in classical music and his energy and enthusiasm are infectious.”
THE GUARDIAN
“Popstar lookalike... he could get anyone interested in music!”
THE INDEPENDANT
TESTIMONIALS
“Thank you very much for Charlie's session....It was inspiring and extremely relevant to the challenges BT are tackling ….. I have had a lot of very positive feedback from the leadership team……I will certainly have no hesitation in recommending Charles to other clients.”
BT SECURITY & CONTINUITY LEADERSHIP GROUP CONFERENCE
For all enquiries please use our contact page or contact Venita di Domenico on 020 7434 6791