School of Music
Dr. George Kennaway
Research Assistant
+44 (0)113 3438218
Ph.D., M.Mus., B.A., A.R.C.M.
George Kennaway studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Pembroke College Oxford, the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. After a period of freelance work as a cellist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, Scottish Opera and the Ulster Orchestra, he joined the Orchestra of Opera North as co-principal cello in 1979. He has performed as soloist in recitals and concertos throughout the north of England, and in 1985 gave the UK première of the cello sonata by Kurt Weill; recent recital programmes have included contemporary Russian repertoire as well as 19th-century works played in period style. He is currently an active member of the Ferdinand David Ensemble. As a conductor he has worked in Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Italy and Lithuania, as well as the UK. He joined the staff of the School of Music in 2008, working on the CHASE project researching 19th-century annotated editions of string music.
- Historical performance practice, especially concerning 19th-century music; applications of gender studies and theories of discourse to the study of historical performance practices
- Opera, especially analysis
- Music of the Baltic states, in particular the music and art of the Lithuanian M. K. Čiurlionis.
- Nationalism, especially the application of recent theories of nationalism to opera
Other teaching
- Leeds University: contributed to various undergraduate and taught postgraduate modules, on performance research, music and politics, historical performance practice, music and national identity, analysis, and dissertation supervision.
- Rose Bruford College: distance tutoring of students taking modules in baroque opera, nationalism, post-Wagnerian opera, modernism, Mozart, operatic production and supervision of final-year dissertations.
- Pre-performance talks for Opera North, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Leeds Lieder Festival, Glyndebourne Opera
- Research assistant, CHASE project
- Adminstrator, HEFCE-funded LUCHIP concerts
Forthcoming
- Playing the Cello 1780-1930 (Ashgate: publication due August 2012)
- 'Haydn's(?) Cello Concertos 1860-1930: editions, performance, reception' (Nineteenth-Century Music Review, late 2011)
- 'Bookcases, Fish Pie and My Piñata: Musical Scores Considered as Sets of Instructions' (International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, late 2011)
- Chapter on M. K. Čiurlionis and Lithuanian nationalism for forthcoming Music and the Idea of the North (Ashgate, autumn 2012)
- Conference paper on M. K. Čiurlionis for 'Čiurlionis: his time and our time', Vilnius, Lithuania, September 2011 (with British Academy funding)
- Conference paper on M. K. Čiurlionis for 'Baltic Music and Musicologies' , May 2011, Canterbury Christ Church University
- Currently editing John Gunn's Forty favorite Scotch Airs adapted for a Violoncello (c. 1790) for modern use as teaching material
- Future research includes: a translation of the memoirs of the 19th-century Hungarian cellist Rosa Szük; an article on 19th-century editions of the Bach Cello Suites; an article on applications of Foucault to HIP research (completed, awaiting submission)
2010
- Kaunas Technological University, Lithuania: conference paper, 'Contemporary Problems with Historical Performance: Ambiguous Texts, Imaginative interpretation'
- Lithuanian Academy of Music and Drama (Vilnius), lecture on 19th-century string performance practice followed by cello master-class conference paper, 'Mendelssohn's Cello Sonatas in Performing Editions by the Grützmachers, Cossmann and Popper', Cardiff University conference Music and the Materials of Musicological Research
- research seminar (with Dr. David Milsom), Institute of Musical Study, London University: '19th-Century Performing Editions as Sources for Performance Practice'
- research seminar (with Peter Collyer), Royal Northern College of Music: 'Contrasting Editorial Practices for Stringed Instruments in the 19th Century'
2009
- Research seminar, Hull University: 'Haydn Cello Concerto Editions 1860-1930'
- Research seminar paper for Centre for Russian Music, Goldsmiths' University of London, 'The World as a Great Symphony: the art and music of M. K. Čiurlionis'
- Conference paper, 'New Directions in Performance Practice Research' (Portugal, University of Aveiro, PERFORMA)
- Concert, Temple Newsam House, Leeds, LUCHIP ensemble (piano trios by Beethoven, Haydn)
- Conference paper, 'A Scottish Enlightenment Cellist as Teacher: John Gunn, Fingering, and the French' (Glasgow, Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama, Musica Scotica)
- Lecture-recital, ' "Noble and easy attitudes" or a violent embrace?: towards carnality in 19th-century cello performance' (London, Royal College of Music, The Musical Body: Gesture, Representation and Ergonomics in Performance)
- Consultant and presenter for BBC Radio 4 programme "The Broken Melody", on Auguste van Biene, broadcast April 16, 2009
2008
- M. K. Čiurlionis (1875-1911): catalogues, folk music and the nationalist canon', RMA study day, The Composer-Performer at the Keyboard, Leeds University
- 'Studies, Cadenzas and the Canon - the Character of the Cello in the Nineteenth Century', Fifteenth Biennial International Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, University College, Dublin (with the assistance of the Frank Howes Award, Royal Musical Association)
- 'Aisance, or Playing like a Man of the World: Aspects of Cellists' Posture in the Nineteenth Century', Royal Musical Association Conference, Aberdeen University
- Lecture-recital, 'Bach's Suites for Solo Cello as Performed by Friedrich Grützmacher', Performing Romantic Music conference, Durham University
- English-language editor, working with Dr. Darius Kucinskas (Kaunas Technological University) on English translation of the Chronological Catalogue of the Music of M. K. Čiurlionis
2007
- 'The Phenomenon of the Cellist Auguste van Biene: from the Charing Cross Road to Brighton via Broadway', in M. Hewitt and R. Cowgill (eds.), Victorian Soundscapes, Leeds Working Papers in Victorian Studies 9 (Leeds: LCVS and LUCEM, 2007).
- 'Emerging nation, emerging composer: Čiurlionis Reception and Theories of Nationalism', International Musicological Society Conference, Zurich
- '"A Foreign Musician, but an English Actor": Auguste van Biene, the Anglo-Dutch-Jewish Actor-Musician', Music in Nineteenth Century Britain conference, Birmingham University
2006
- Lecture-recital, 'Nineteenth-Century Editions of the Bach Solo Cello Suites', Royal Musical Association Research Students' Conference, Leeds University
- 'Watching Eyes: Čiurlionis, Wyspianski and Poe', in Rimantas Astrauskas (ed.), Čiurlionis and the World (Almanac of Druskininkai Čiurlionis Study Week 2004), Vilnius: Kaunas University of Technology, 2006, pp. 34-44.
- Lecture-recital, 'Nineteenth Century Editions of Bach's Suites for Solo Violoncello', Twelfth Biennial Conference on Baroque Music, Warsaw University
2005
- 'Lithuanian Art & Music Abroad: English Reception of the Work of M. K. Čiurlionis, 1912-39', Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 83 (2005) pp. 234-253. Reprinted in Lithuanian (trans. and ed. Rokas Zubovas and Sonata Zubovienė) as 'Lietuvos dailė ir muzika užsienyje: M. K. Čiurlionio kūrinų recepcija Anglijoje 1912-1939 metais', Kulturos barai vol. 482 (2005) pp. 79-88.
- 'Between (how many?) worlds, or, outside looking in: M. K. Čiurlionis the cautious avant-gardist', Borders and Boundaries Colloquium, Glasgow University.
- 'Emerging nation, emerging composer: patterns of Čiurlionis reception and Lithuanian nationhood', Čiurlionis 130 conference, Kaunas
2004
- 'Octatonicism in the Piano Music of M. K. Čiurlionis1, in Rimantas Astrauskas (ed.), Čiurlionis and the World (Almanac of Druskininkai Čiurlionis Study Week 2004), Vilnius: Kaunas University of Technology, 2005, pp. 56-66.
2003
- 'M. K. Čiurlionis in England', Čiurlionis conference, St. Petersburg Conservatoire
Forthcoming
- December 2011: re-creation of a Leipzig Gewandhaus concert given in 1870 by Ferdinand David, including his own unpublished edition of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 (Leeds, Clothworkers' Centenary Concert Hall)
- Aug/Sept 2011: coaching string quartet course in Noddfa, Wales
- July 2011: conducting Leeds Haydn Orchestra (symphonies 3, 4, 103 and violin concerto in G)
- May/June 2011: coaching string orchestral course in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
2011
- Ferdinand David Quartet (formerly LUCHIP Ensemble) concerts in Newcastle, Huddersfield, Hull and Leeds
- recital, University of Hull: Beethoven piano trio (arrangement of the Septet, with John Irving (pf) and Jane Booth (cl)
- recital, Ripon Cathedral, (including première, Edward Caine, Theme and Variations for solo cello)
- conducted Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra (Beethoven, Stravinsky, Rossini)
2010
- conducted première, Laurence Rose, a theory of nothing, for Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (Yorkshire Late Starters Strings commission)
- recital, Leeds University (Mendelssohn, Servais, Popper)
- LUCHIP chamber concerts in universities of Bangor, Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds
2009
- Mendelssohn Octet, Leeds University, with Eroica Quartet
- conducted première, Paul Burnell, Three Pieces for Strings (Yorkshire Late Starters Strings commission)
- recital, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library (18th-century repertoire including John Gunn's cello arrangements of Scottish airs) LUCHIP quartet concert, Leeds University
- Conducted Kaunas Chamber Orchestra and Lithuanian National Philharmonic Choir (Kutavicius, Bajoras, Čiurlionis)
2007
- recital, Sowerby Music Society (Popper, Bach, Kummer)
- baroque cellist for Opera North’s Monteverdi Orfeo, Purcell Dido and Aeneas
2006
- continuo cellist for Opera North (Mozart Così fan tutte); Vivaldi concerto with Leeds University Baroque Orchestra (dir. Peter Holman)
- conducted Kaunas Philharmonic (Kaunas) and Lithuanian National Youth Orchestra (Vilnius); Čiurlionis, Bajoras, Kutavičius, Prokofiev
- 1998-2006: conducted Northern Baroque Orchestra, Rochdale (conductor and soloist - mostly 18th-century repertoire)
2005
- recital, Leeds University (Roslavets, Gubaidulina, Prokofiev, Denisov)
- Haydn concerto in C, Northern Baroque Orchestra (soloist and director)
2004 and earlier
- broadcasts on BBC Radio York, RTE Radio (Dublin), Radio Aire;
- Dvorak cello concerto, Edinburgh University;
- Elgar cello concerto, West Yorkshire Sinfonia;
- UK première, Kurt Weill Cello Sonata (for Friends of Opera North);
- Edinburgh University and Birmingham University recitals (Weill, Poulenc)
Pre-1999 conducting
- Orchestra Sinfonica da Pescara, Italy
- Stravinsky The Soldier's Tale for Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, with own arrangements of songs by Ives, Warlock, Gurney
- Academic Symphony Orchestra of Nizhniy-Novgorod, Russia (Delius, Elgar, Britten, Purcell)
- Conducted on-screen in scenes for film Hilary and Jackie (1997)
- National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan and Orchestra of the National Conservatoire, Tashkent (supported by the British Council; Central Asian premières of Schoenberg, Kodaly, Maw, Walton)
- State Symphony Orchestra of Kazakhstan (Almaty),concerts for UNESCO-sponsored 'Abai' Festival (Rakhmadeev, Sibelius, Tschaikovsky, Beethoven), G. S. Mayr, La Passione (1794), St. Ann's Cathedral, Leeds (1994)
- William Baines Symphony in C minor (1917) world première, Airedale Symphony Orchestra, 1991 Grassington Festival (cited in 2005 British Library exhibition of Baines MSS, and in revised edition of Roger Carpenter's biography of Baines, Goodnight to Flamboro)
- 1986-1996: Conductor, Airedale Symphony Orchestra – awarded PRS Enterprise Award 1991 for quality of orchestral programming
- British Academy grant for conference attendance overseas (2011)
- Frank Howes Award, Royal Musical Association, for conference attendance
- Brotherton Library travel awards for research in Brussels and Budapest
- Music & Letters Trust award for conference attendance
- Performing Right Society Award for enterprising programming