Who is Andy Harris?
Andy Harris (born 6th October 1955 in Worcester UK) is a composer and educator. He studied at Huddersfield School of Music, London College of Music and the University of London Institute of Education.
After graduating, Andy developed both careers, teaching music in schools and to private pupils. His post as Head of Music in a large secondary school in Staffordshire (UK) was the starting point of his professional career as a composer as it was here that he seriously began writing music for children. This period culminated in a series of pieces titled Jazzin’ Around (1992) for recorder ensemble, piano and percussion and his first musical for children, Pinocchio (1991/1992). Jazzin’ Around was premiered in Litchfield Cathedral and published by Dolce Edition, and Pinocchio was first performed in the Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford in 1992. At this time, Andy also wrote the theme music for two TV cartoons, King Tut (1990)and The Pooch Patrol (1990).
In August 1992, Andy moved to Krakow Poland and continued to compose music for children. His two musicals, The Nightingale (1993) and Red (1995), have been performed in Poland as well as the UK. His most recent children’s composition is a short musical for children called The Frightened Dragon (2011) which was performed at the opening of the new Hilton Garden Inn in Krakow during January 2011.
Andy’s first commercial commission in Poland came in 1995 when he was asked to compose the themes and incidental music for 5 Plays for Children (WSiP 1995)
Andy’s first commercial commission in Poland came in 1995 when he was asked to compose the themes and incidental music for 5 Plays for Children (WSiP 1995). This was followed by a number of other commissions for children’s songs and incidental music for projects such as Surprise (JUKA 2000/2002),Hurray (WSiP 2005/2007) and Domino (Nowa Era 2007/2008). Recently, Andy has been writing songs for the Tiger 1 project (Macmillan 2013).
Andy has also composed a number of chamber compositions and large-scale works for piano, four hands. These are generally very powerful works and include, Preludes (Set 1): Mirrors and Images (1994/2001), Preludes (Set 2): Lines(1995/2000), Cloudscape (1997/1998), Wasteland (1998), The Colours of Spring for French horn and piano (1999) and General Conversations for flute, oboe and piano (2001/2006). In July 2012, a CD titled Wasteland (DUX), containinga selection of his music for piano, four hands was released.
In 1996, the Polish singer-songwriter Jacek Kaczmarski, asked Andy to compose the music to a libretto he had written about the Roman emperor Heliogabal. To date, this project remains unfinished. In 2005, Andy wrote the music for the stage play Cuba which was performed in the Scena Teatru Zaleznego Politechniki in Krakow. Andy also composes commercial compositions and is currently writing pieces for music libraries.
In 1996, the Polish singer-songwriter Jacek Kaczmarski, asked Andy to compose the music to a libretto he had written about the Roman emperor Heliogabal.
Andy still lives in Krakow and is currently working on another large-scale work for piano four hands titled Łódź Regeneration which will form the basis of a second CD which is planned for released in 2015.
As well as his work as a composer, Andy co-founded the British International School of Cracow (1995), the British International School Wroclaw (2006) and the British International School Łódź (2011). He remains actively involved in the running of these schools and continues to take a keen interest in international education generally.
Andy is listed in the eighteenth edition of International Who’s Who in Classical Music and was Awarded the ECIS (European Council of International Schools) award for the Promotion of International Education in 2005.
Performed Skwer Filia Centrum Artystycznego Fabryka Trzciny Warsaw, March 2013
