Colin Currie - Biography

Colin Currie received support from BBT between 2005 and 2008, when this page was last updated. For an up to date biography, visit www.intermusica.co.uk

Percussionist Colin Currie has established a unique reputation for his charismatic and virtuosic performances of works by today’s leading composers, and has appeared with many of the world’s most important orchestras – the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra among them. Regularly commissioning and recording new works, he has made an inspirational and innovative contribution to percussion repertoire. Currie is deeply committed to the development of new repertoire for percussion – orchestral, solo and chamber music – and has recently premiered works written for him by Jennifer Higdon, Simon Holt, Alexander Goehr, Steven Mackey and Dave Maric. Following recent successes with the Minnesota Orchestra and at the BBC Proms, this season Currie debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and performs with the St Louis Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Royal Scottish National Orchestra among others. Future commission plans include an Einojuhani Rautavaara concerto for the Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony, and a Kurt Schwertsik marimba concerto for the Scottish Ensemble. Currie performs extensively as recitalist, collaborating in particular with trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, pianist Nicolas Hodges, the Pavel Haas Quartet and as leader of a percussion ensemble event centred on Steve Reich’s Drumming. Recital highlights this season include the Wigmore Hall, Settembre Musica Festival, Bridgewater Hall and Hamburg Musikhalle. Currie’s latest CD release features Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto conducted by Marin Alsop with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also recently released a recital disc Borrowed Time (Onyx), featuring music by British composer Dave Maric.

Last updated: September 2008

It is thrilling for me to have been awarded a Borletti-Buitoni prize, for which I am so very grateful. The bursary will be used to pursue a major new commission for a percussion concerto, to be premiered in the near future. Such awards are so very valuable and rare at this “post-launch” stage of ones career, and this is where the BB-Trust is so special and incisive. I am delighted to be the recipient of such an esteemed award.

Photographs by Marco Borggreve, Ben Larpent, Jessica Griffin