Michael karcher-Young
“Renewed my love of
classical music.”
David Nathan, SoulMusic.com
“Electric Conductor.”
The Yorkshire Post
“Michael is always interested in getting
the emotional and spiritual essence of the
work to transpire in performance.”
Vladimir Jurowski, Principal Conductor
London Philharmonic Orchestra
“The first symphony of Brahms was given
with an intensity and insight which was
second to none…
This was magnificent.”
Bob Briggs, Musical Opinion
Michael
KARCHER-Young
Conductor
“Renewed my love of classical music”
David Nathan, Soul-music.com
LATEST PROJECTS
“What I Wished I’d known about Sight-reading as a kid”
The biggest frustration
Growing up, while I loved music, I was endlessly frustrated by the struggle of learning it from the page. My reading ability was way under my playing ability and rather than enjoying learning new music, it felt like a constant battle against my own reading skill. Plus, as I later realised, this was all caught up in a vicious cycle of wanting to avoid anything I was bad at. Not a great combination! The result – I wasn’t able to work at sight-reading without feeling angry and ashamed, and when it was tested – i.e. for grade exams, I was terrified of the prospect.
What I didn’t know then was that I was stuck with old ideas of what sight-reading is and how it can be learnt:
Sight-reading – the old paradigm
- You’re either a natural at sight-reading or you aren’t
- Improving means slogging away anyhow. “Just practice more!”
- Getting better means being faster at reading notes
- You’re either a good sight-reader or a good memoriser. You can’t be both.
Finally, when I embarked on the path of becoming a conductor, this was something I had no choice but to overcome. I finally began a quest to conquer this, and in the process, I discovered that not only was sight-reading something that could be learnt, step-by-step, but that it was something I would enjoy.
The new way – what makes it possible
- Fully knowing that sight-reading can be learnt and developed just like any other skill and become fun.
- Mistakes – far from being a barrier to learning – are the key to learning – if you know how to use them.
- Good sight-reading is like good reading – we take in the musical equivalent of words and sentences, rather than a stream of meaningless letters.
In other words, none of the ‘old way’ is true.
It can all be developed
Knowing the steps is key – as is knowing that there are steps. They include comfortably knowing the notes on the grand-staff, being able to play without looking down, understanding rhythm, pulse, harmony and so on. It sounds like a lot, but here’s the thing – it can all be developed, step by step and in the process of doing so, you’re building up many other vital musical skills. Click here to download my PDF outline of all this and more.
For those of you who feel stuck in your development, are looking to progress even as the world has shut down, or could use professional guidance about practical steps forward in your music making and piano playing journey, click the link below to get on a free 15 minute discovery call. I don’t have many spots available at the moment, but am always happy to meet and consider working with musicians, professional and amateur, who want to go deeper into the musical experience. I look forward to speaking with you and seeing if we’re a good fit to work together.
BIO
“Michael has an absolutely fascinating property:
he can, by his conducting, convince other people to love the music he is dealing with as much as he does.”
Winner of the Audience Prize at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition for his “electric conducting”, Michael Karcher-Young combines an innate musicianship with a visceral presence on the podium, and is a passionate advocate for classical music in today’s world.
Michael is Artistic Director and co-founder of the Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity, which was formed in 2016 to realise a new vision of the classical concert in modern society. The inaugural crowdfunded performance was a sellout and universally acclaimed. He was appointed Assistant Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra following crucial work on the preparation of their world premiere performance and recording of John Joubert’s magnum opus opera Jane Eyre in Birmingham in 2017. At the ESO, Michael enjoys a close relationship with key British contemporary composers whose work the orchestra extensively performs and records to great acclaim.
Karcher-Young previously served as Music Director of both London Youth Opera and Little Operations; founding Conductor of the Vanbrugh Ensemble and the Charities Philharmonia; and Principal Conductor of the Dorking Chamber Orchestra. He has also worked with the London Philharmonic, English National Opera and Grange Park Opera.
Michael began conducting whilst an undergraduate at the University of Leeds where he was awarded the Lord Snowden Prize for raising the profile of classical music at the university. Here he formed the Leeds University Union Symphony Chorus and established a series of charity concerts in aid of Cancer Research UK at Leeds Town Hall that continue to this day. Whilst studying postgraduate conducting, piano and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music, Kurt Masur awarded Michael the London Philharmonic Orchestra Conducting Fellowship and following this he became the Sir Charles Mackerras Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London. Michael is a proud alumnus of Agnes Kory at the Bela Bartok Centre for Musicianship.
“Michael is always interested in getting the emotional and spiritual essence of the work to transpire in performance.”
“”
“The performance was crowned by a performance of The Rite of Spring that was absolutely outstanding… The rare qualities which made this performance stand out were that this was a real interpretation with the inherently wild rustic element of uncultured folk-based material given with a genuine sense of style throughout. This made the work cohere at every level, the result of a single-minded direction by Michael Karcher-Young that was very impressive.“
Robert Matthew-Walker
Musical Opinion
“”
“Phenomenal performance! One of the best evenings I’ve had in ages. I LOVED being a ‘part’ of the show…
It was very moving, very inspiring.
Renewed my love of classical music.“
David Nathan
SoulMusic.com
“”
“A final word about Michael Karcher-Young, the inspirer of this concert and future project; he gives every sign of being a thoroughly complete human being, having a deft way with his audience and a deeply serious approach to great music.“
Edward Clarke
Musical Opinion
Media
Gallery
Repertoire
Michael's ORCHESTRAL Repertoire List
Orchestral
Adams
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Albinoni / Giazotto
Adagio
Andriessen
De Staat
Aratunian
Trumpet Concerto
Malcolm Arnold
Clarinet Concerto No. 2
J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor
Oboe & Violin Concerto in D Minor
Overture/Suite BWV 1067 in B Minor
Double Violin Concerto BWV 1042 in D Minor
Barber
Adagio for Strings
Bartók
Concerto for Orchestra
Divertimento for Strings
Miraculous Mandarin Ballet
Piano Concerto No. 3
Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin & Orchestra
Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin & Orchestra
Violin Concerto No. 2
Beethoven
Grosse Fugue
Overture: Fidelio
Overture: Coriolanus
Overture: Egmont
Overture: Leonora
Piano Concerto No.1
Piano Concerto No.4
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 9
Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique
Bernstein
Candide Overture
Make our Garden Grow from Candide
Bizet
Carmen
L’arlesienne Suites
Bloch
From Jewish Life: Jewish Song, Prayer, Supplication
Borodin
Polovtsian Dances
Symphony No. 2
Brahms
German Requiem
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Tragic Overture
Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn
Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 1
Concerto for Violin and Cello
Britten
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Night Mail
Simple Symphony
Sinfonietta Op. 1
Les Illuminations
Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra
War Requiem
Briccialdi
Carnival in Venice Flute & Orchestra
Bruch
Violin Concerto No. 1
Bruckner
Symphony No. 4
Chabrier
Marche Joyeuse
Chopin
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor
Copland
Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 Instruments
Fanfare for the Common Man
De Falla
El Amor Brujo
Siete Canciones Populares Españolas
Debussy
Prelude á l’apres midi d’un faun
La Mer
Nocturnes
Delius
Deux Aquarelles
Donizetti
L’elisir d’amore
Dukas
L’Apprenti Sorcier
Dvořák
Carnival Overture
Romance for Violin & Orchestra
Song to the Moon
Slavonic Dances Op. 72
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 9
Wind Serenade
Economou
Folie á deux
Elgar
Cello Concerto
Enigma Variations
Salut d’amour
Symphony No. 2
Faure
Requiem
Fokkens, Rob
An eventful morning in East London
Gal, Hans
Concertino for Cello and Strings
Gorecki
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs / II
Grieg
Holberg Suite
Piano Concerto in A minor
Peer Gynt Suites
Handel
Concerto Grosso, Op.6, No. 6
Concerto Grosso, Op.3, No. 1
Haydn
Symphony No. 45
Symphony No. 88
Symphony No. 90
Symphony No. 100
Symphony No. 101
Symphony No. 103
Symphony No. 104
Holst
The Planets
Humperdinck
Overture: Hansel & Gretel
Ibert
Capriccio
Concertino di Camera
Divertissement
Ives
Washington‘s Birthday
Jacobs, Gordon
Concertino for Clarinet & Strings from Tartini
Janacek
Idyla
Sinfonietta
Kabalevsky
Colas Breugnon: Overture
Kurtag
Messages for Orchestra
New Messages for Orchestra
Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1
Totentanz
Lyadov
Eight Russian Folk Songs
Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 10 (Cook IV version)
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana
Mason, Christian
Aspects of Radiance
Matthews, David
Romanza for Violin and Strings
Mendelssohn
Overture: Hebrides
Overture: Midsummer Night’s Dream
Overture: Die Schöne Melusine
String Symphony No. 10
Symphony No. 4 ‚Italian‘
Mosca, Luca
Lieder Ohne Worter
Mozart
Arias: Ruhe Sanft, Ah lo Previdi
Der Schauspieldirektor: Overture
Don Giovanni: Overture
Overture: Le Nozzi di Figaro
Mass in C
Oboe Concerto No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 20
Piano Concerto No. 21
Piano Concerto No. 24
Piano Concerto No. 25
Violin Concerto No. 2
Symphony No. 29
Symphony No. 32
Symphony No. 35 ‘Haffner’
Symphony No. 36 ‘Linz’
Symphony No. 38 ‘Prague’
Symphony No. 39
Symphony No. 40
Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’
Musgrave, Thea
Green
Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain [arr. Rimsky-Korsakov]
Pictures at an Exhibition
Patterson, Paul
Allusions
Poulenc
Gloria
Pritchard, Debra
Wall of Water
Prokofiev
Peter and the Wolf
Romeo and Juliet excerpts of suites 1,2 & 3
Violin Concerto No. 1
Symphony No. 5
Purcell
Dance Suite from Fairy Queen
Dido and Aeneas
Fairy Queen
Rachmaninov
Isle of the Dead
Piano Concerto No. 2
Piano Concerto No. 3
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Ravel
Bolero
Capriccio Espagnol
Respighi
The Pines of Rome
Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade
Rodrigo
Concierto de Aranjuez
Rossini
Overture: Italian Girl in Algiers
Overture: La Gazza Ladra
Overture: The Barber of Seville
Overture: William Tell
Saint Saens
Carnival of the Animals
Cello Concerto
Sawyers, Phillip
Songs of Loss and Regret
Symphony No. 3
Violin Concerto
Trumpet Concerto
Valley of Vision
Schoenberg
Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene
Verklärte Nacht
Schubert
Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 8
Schumann, R.
Overture, Scherzo and Finale
Cello Concerto in A Minor
Piano Concerto in A Minor
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich
Cello Concerto No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 1
Violin Concerto No. 1
Chamber Symphony arr. Barshai
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarotti
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 10
Sibelius
Finlandia
Violin Concerto
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 7
The Swan of Tuonela
Valse Triste
Smetena
Vltava
Strauss, J.
Overture: Ziguenerbaron
Strauss, R.
Suite: Le Bourgeois Gentillhomme
Don Juan
Oboe Concerto
Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
Saaraiaho, Kaija
Terra Memoria
Stravinsky
Dumbarton Oaks
Firebird Suite [1919]
Symphony in C / III
The Soldiers Tale
The Rite of Spring
Szymanowski
Violin Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto
1812 Overture
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Serenade for Strings Op. 48
Suite: Swan Lake
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 6
Tippett
Concerto for Orchestra
Double Concerto for Orchestra
Turina
Oraceon del Torero
Raspodia Sinfonica
Vaughan-Williams
Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Fantasia on Greensleeves
Serenade to Music
Symphony No. 9
Verdi
Overture: La Forza del Destino
Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, Aria
Vivaldi
Concerto in E Major for Violin „La Primavera“
Guitar Concerto in D Major
Wagner
Overture: Rienzi
Siegfried Idyll
Parsifal, Orchestral Suite
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Walton
Crown Imperial
Façade
Façade Suite No. 1
Symphony No. 1
Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V
Weber
Overture: Der Freischütz
Overture: Euryanthe
Wiren
Serenade
Michael's OPERA Repertoire List
Barber
Hand of Bridge
Bizet
Carmen
Bartok
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle
Britten
Peter Grimes
Dvorak
The Stubborn Lovers
John Joubert
Jane Eyre
Krása
Brundibár
Leoncavallo
Pagliacci
Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana
Massanet
Don Quichotte
Mozart
Der Schauspieldirektor (in German and English)
Don Giovanni
Puccini
Suor Angelica
Purcell
Dido and Aeneas
Fairy Queen
Rossini
Il Barbiere di Seviglia
Smetena
The Bartered Bride
Tchaikovsky
Eugene Onegin
Queen of Spades
Verdi
La Traviata
Musicals
Leonard Bernstein
West Side Story
Stephen Sondheim
Sweeney Todd
Andrew Lloyd-Webber
Jesus Christ Superstar
CONTACT
To contact Michael
email: info@mkarcheryoung.local
Are you looking to overcome your musical challenges?
I am always happy to meet and consider working with musicians - not just conductors and pianists - who want to deepen their musical experience. If this sounds like you, you can click below to arrange a free, no-obligation 15 minute call to see if we might be a good fit.