The British Evening, hosted by the “Ohrid Summer” festival with support from the British Embassy in Macedonia, will feature a concert by pianist Barry Douglas tonight. The concert will take place in the “Saint Sophia” church starting at 9 PM.
As a musician with recitals and chamber music performances, Barry Douglas performs worldwide in prestigious venues such as Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, and Wigmore Hall in London, at the Verbier Festival, in the Forbidden City and the concert hall in Beijing, at the Grand Theatre in Shanghai, and in other cities in China. In the past, he has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore and Berlin Symphony Orchestras, Staatskapelle Halle, the orchestras in Cincinnati, Seattle, Melbourne, Sydney, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and others.
Barry Douglas records for the Chandos label and recently released a six-disc set of the complete solo piano works of Johannes Brahms. He is now focusing on the piano works of Schubert and Tchaikovsky. With this label, Douglas pays special attention to Irish folk music through his arrangements, working with old melodies and contemporary composers writing in that idiom.
In 1999, Barry Douglas founded the chamber orchestra Camerata Ireland, aiming to unite the most talented young musicians living in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Besides striving for highly professional performances, the orchestra also aims to promote dialogue and collaboration through music education. They regularly tour worldwide, with one of their most significant performances being at the BBC Proms festival, as well as the world premiere of a new cantata together with the London Symphony Orchestra to promote Derry – Londonderry’s selection as City of Culture in 2013.
In 2021, he was honored with the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to music and society. This award follows his first major recognition in 2002 when he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his work in music.