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Craig Ogden - Full Biographical Details
Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He studied guitar from the age of seven and percussion from the age of thirteen. His music degree (with honours) from the University of Western Australia was followed by the Royal Northern College of Music Professional Performance Diploma with Distinction; the college's highest award for performance. In December 2004, Craig Ogden was honoured by the RNCM with a Fellowship in recognition of his achievements. He is the youngest instrumentalist to have received this award from the RNCM.
One of the new generation’s most prominent players, Craig Ogdens’ performances have taken him throughout the UK, into Europe, the USA, South East Asia, South Africa and Australia in recital, on radio and on television. His recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Collins Classics and Sony have received wide acclaim. BBC Music Magazine dubbed Ogden "a worthy successor to Julian Bream" and his debut solo CD for Nimbus Records of 20th Century Classics by British composers was nominated for a Grammy Award. Ogden’s Virgin/EMI release, ‘A Quiet Thing’ with counter-tenor David Daniels has received universal acclaim as did the duo’s USA recital tour of the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Mostly Mozart Festivals (after which Ogden was immediately invited back to perform as soloist in the Lincoln Centre’s 2005 Great Performers Series).
Craig Ogden has released seven recordings on the Chandos label. His recording of all three solo Rodrigo guitar concertos with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra was greeted with wide acclaim. Classic CD concluded this recording to be “one of the most winning performances I have encountered” whilst Rodrigo’s daughter wrote: “This recording has confirmed your position among the greatest guitarists”. Ogden’s CD, Music from the Novels of Louis de Bernières featured as high as no.10 in the classical charts and was the London Daily Telegraph CD of the week, stating “this disc is pure joy”. Selling over 10,000 discs in three months it is Chandos Records fastest ever selling CD and Ogden now performs regularly with Louis de Bernières in ‘words and music’ recitals. Of Ogden’s recording of concertos by Walton, Arnold and Berkeley with Richard Hickox and the Northern Sinfonia, Gramophone Magazine wrote “All the works in this delightful collection were inspired by Julian Bream, with Craig Ogden proving a formidable successor, matching in sensitivity and flair Bream’s own vintage recordings” while The Guardian hailed Ogden as “Brilliant and persuasive”. Ogden’s most recent recording is The Complete Solo Guitar Music of Sir Lennox and Michael Berkeley which includes three world premiere recordings. Ogden's next release is a CD of premiere recordings of the solo guitar music of British composer Paul Coles on the Nimbus label.
Craig Ogden made his Royal Albert Hall debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez in a Classic FM Live concert. He has also performed concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia (with Vladimir Ashkenazy), Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Northern Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia, Riga Kammermusika, St’ Petersburg Festival Orchestra, English Chamber, English Symphony, English Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, National Orchestra of South Africa, Tasmania Symphony, West Australian Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at the major London venues including the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Barbican. He has also performed at most of the main UK festivals and is the most sought after guitarist for chamber music in the UK performing with the Brodsky Quartet, Nash Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, tenors Mark Padmore, Ian Bostridge and John Mark Ainsley, Claire Bradshaw (mezzo-soprano), Paul Tanner (percussion), Gerard McChrystal (saxophone), Alison Stephens (mandolin) and Judith Hall (flute). Craig also frequently records for film and was featured on the British hit, Notting Hill. Ogden’s world premiere performances include a concerto written for him by Gerard Brophy (Australia) (with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra), Sun Trap (for solo guitar) by Jonathan Cole commissioned by the Britten Festival, The Hinchinbrook Riffs (for solo guitar and digital delay) by Nigel Westlake and an Alec Roth song cycle for the Chester Festival. He has also given UK premieres of guitar concertos by John Corigliano (USA) and Aaron Jay Kernis (USA). Commissions currently in planning include concertos from John McCabe, John Metcalf and Ciaran Farrell.
Future performances include concertos with the Northern Chamber Orchestra and the Oxford Philomusica, tours of Australia and South Africa, further recordings, live broadcasts for the BBC and a busy schedule of recitals throughout the UK and abroad. In his first foray into presenting, Ogden will travel to Spain in November 2007 with author Louis de Bernières to make a programme on Segovia for BBC Radio 3. Craig Ogden is also director of the Dean & Chadlington Summer Music Festival. www.chadlingtonfestival.co.uk
Craig Ogden is married to British opera singer Claire Bradshaw with whom he frequently appears in concert. The duo have toured Australia and South Africa and perform regularly in festivals, for music societies and on radio in the UK. Craig Ogden is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.