Management - Kevin Purcell

conductor s musical scomposer sorchestrator
conductor • musical director • composer • orchestrator
Management
Musical Theatre (Worldwide)
Francine Fletcher
Fletcher Associates
Studio One, 25 Parkway
London N20 0XN
T: +44 208 361 8061
E: [email protected]
www.fletcherassociates.net
Opera & Concert Music
Julia Torgovitskaya
Cadenza Artists LLC
1000 Granville Avenue, Suite 301
Los Angeles, CA 90049
T: +1 310 896 8527
E: [email protected]
W: www.cadenzaartists.com
conductor • musical director • composer • orchestrator
Kevin Purcell is one of those rare creative artists whose entire passion and expertise almost entirely
revolves around the ever-increasing and demanding requirements of Music and Sound for the Theatre. An
award-winning conductor/musical director and composer in his own right, Kevin is also much sought after for
his theatre orchestrations and arrangements for some of the most respected names in theatre and music.
Not unsurprisingly with his dual passions for Musical Theatre and Opera, Kevin is equally at home whether
musically directing staged productions or being on-stage with a 70-piece orchestra.
Spanning a career, now of over 20 years, Kevin has also
conducted a vast repertoire of opera. Since being
awarded the Willem van Otterloo scholarship in 1993 to
study with Glyndebourne Opera music director, Myer
Fredman, at the Australian Opera and subsequently
“The elegant and stylish
conductor was Kevin
Purcell.
He got to the
core of the music.”
mentored and encouraged by the late, Sir Charles
Mackerras over the ensuing years, Kevin has conducted
over 30 different musicals and approximately the same
Michael Dawney
Evening Echo
Bournemouth, UK
number of operas.
Since 2008, Kevin has devoted significant effort and time in
bringing leading Broadway composers and lyricists to
Australia for major orchestral concerts of their music, and
conjointly developing opportunities for Australian writers of
Musicals through the auspice of Michael A. Kerker, Director
of Musical Theatre for the American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
The inaugural Festival of Broadway celebrated Tony Award
winning lyricist and Composer team, Lynn Ahrens &
Stephen Flaherty, and featured songs from their shows
including Ragtime, Seussical, Once On This Island, The
Glorious Ones, and the Academy Award-winning animated
feature-film, Anastasia.
In 2010, the Festival hosted two separate concerts honoring the music of Grammy and Academy Awardwinning Composer/Lyricist, Stephen Schwartz.
Performed with the 70-piece Tasmania Discovery Orchestra, highlights included selections from Wicked,
Godspell, Pippin, The Baker’s Wife, The Magic Show, his new opera: Séance on a Wet Afternoon, and
songs from the forthcoming Hans Christian Andersen inspired musical, My Fairytale. Additionally; under
a special licensing arrangement granted by Walt Disney, a complete concert of songs from Enchanted,
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, as well as songs from The Prince of Egypt, My Son
Pinnochio amongst others, were performed for the first-time in Australia in a single concert presentation.
conductor • musical director • composer • orchestrator
In 2012, the Festival will host songwriting legends, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, in concerts that will be a
once-in-a-lifetime event in Australia. Backed by a full symphony orchestra, the concerts will include all
their Grammy and Oscar-nominated songs written in collaboration with Cy Coleman, Michel Legrand,
Johnny Mandel, Lew Spence, Marvin Hamlisch and John Williams.
In April 2011, on the back of his performances in Australia, Kevin was asked to musically supervise and
orchestrate New York City Opera’s annual Gala at the Lincoln Centre with the music of Stephen
Schwartz. The concert, accompanied by the NYCO Orchestra, featured performances by Kristin
Chenoweth, Raúl Esparza, Ann Hampton Callaway and Victor Garber.
Additionally, Kevin assisted in the preparation of the New York
premiere of Schwartz’s much-acclaimed opera, Séance on a Wet
Afternoon at the David H. Koch Theatre.
Immediately following this engagement, he was asked to complete
orchestrations for the Black Creek Summer Festival in Toronto for
the ‘Very, Very Best of Broadway’ concert conducted by Marvin
Hamlisch.
Kevin is currently working on a new guitar concerto (La Luna en
Almeria) the music of which is set to feature in a new film for
release in 2014. Also, he is also commencing a major new project
in April 2012 with ASCAP, mentoring pop/rock songwriters in
developing new, short works for American symphony orchestras.
He is also completing new orchestrations for international clients
for concerts in the USA later this year.
Kevin’s introduction to London’s West End came
courtesy of Cameron Mackintosh and the Really
Useful Group, when invited to take over musical
“Purcell conducts the 24piece orchestra with
crystalline clarity, lilting
rhythm and passion.”
direction of the long-running production of CATS at
the New London Theatre in the mid-90s. In July
2003, Kevin renewed his association with the Really
Useful Company Asia Pacific Ltd. as Musical Director
for the South Korean premiere of this work.
Prior, in March 2000, Kevin undertook the musical
direction for the American premiere of the much
lauded Sabiston/Williams Musical, Napoleon, before
its transfer to London’s Shaftsbury Theatre.
Michael Grossberg, Theatre
Critic
Columbus Dispatch, USA
conductor • musical director • composer • orchestrator
When not actively involved in creative development or
production work, Kevin pursues his ongoing research
interests as a leading authority in the dramaturgy of
“Kevin Purcell knows all about
entertainment...””
Elizabeth Fortescue
The Daily Telegraph Mirror
creative sound design for Musical Theatre. Based on
his sustained contribution to theatre, Kevin was invited
to join the seven-person international jury for the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and
Space. The jurist panel; which comprises leading theatre practitioners from around the world, presides
over the largest theatre design exhibition and contest with entries from more than 70 participating
countries. Notably, for the first time in the Quadrennial’s 44-year history, Sound Design was recognized
in this year’s ‘PQ’ with its own Award category.
Training & Background:
In 1993, having achieved joint first-prize in
the Bellhouse Conducting Competition in
Sydney, and offered the Willem van Otterloo
Conducting Scholarship at Opera Australia,
Kevin had the opportunity to learn from
British conductor, Myer Fredman. Before
moving to Sydney, Kevin accepted an offer to
undertake advanced conducting studies at
the Moscow Conservatory of Music with
Gennady Rozdhestvensky and Leonid Nikolaev. Other musical direction distinctions have included
invitations to participate in workshops and masterclasses at The Conductor's Institute (1996-97) and with
Péter Erdei from the Kodály Institute (Hungary) and the Liszt Academy (Budapest) for choral conducting
studies (1995).
Emigrating to the U.K. in 1994, Kevin came to the attention of Sir Charles Mackerras who invited him to
assist on concerts with the London Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Welsh National
Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the BBC Philharmonic. Kevin was subsequently awarded
the prestigious Sir Charles Mackerras Award; conferred through the Australian Music Foundation in
London, with additional funding for a further two-years of study at the Janáčkova akademie múzických
umění v Brně (JAMU) in the Czech Republic to study conducting with Otakar Trhlík. In 1996, Kevin was
further honoured with The Tait Memorial Trust Conductor’s Award.
Recognized as one of Australia’s more prominent theatre composers, Kevin, along with long-time
collaborator, Victor Kazan, have written Rebecca – The Musical (2004) based on the novel by Daphne du
Maurier. Purcell/Kazan’s forthcoming project is an adaptation of the 2005 novel, ‘The Mapmaker’s Opera’
by Canadian author, Béa Gonzalez, published by HarperCollins.