Gregory Harrington’s new album “Live from the Irish Repertory Theatre” begins with a few hesitant notes on the violin and then grows into a rousing jig. Throughout the album he is often heard playing unaccompanied, letting the instrument and emotion shine without other adornments. It is this confidence and skill that has led Gregory to be one of the most recognized violinists in Ireland.
Classical Crossover Magazine (CCM): When did you first begin playing violin?
Gregory Harrington: I was 4 years old, I was attending the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS with my mother and there was a bandstand with a string quartet that really caught my attention. On hearing the violin, I grabbed mum’s coat sleeve, pointed to it, and said ‘I want to play that!’ Mum went the very next morning and brought me to McCullough Piggot on Parnell Street to buy a tiny violin and I started lessons a month later at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
CCM: Were you motivated to practice or did your parents have to encourage you?
Gregory Harrington: Depends on what age I was! In the beginning, I definitely needed some gentle encouragement but when I was about 10 and started playing Bach and Beethoven, I was very much hooked!
CCM: Do you remember that moment when you knew being a musician would be your life?
Gregory Harrington: Admittedly, I can’t remember one specific moment. I think it just evolved into that feeling of something that I always wanted to do.
CCM: How do you decide which repertoire you will perform as an instrumentalist?
Gregory Harrington: I love performing music that resonates in one way or another and I feel a connection to a composer or a story. For a concerto with orchestra, that can be as simple as loving the sound when I was growing up as a kid (Wieniawski Concerto No.2 for example), and for my crossover programs, in my arrangements of Django Reinhardt or Led Zeppelin, it is about that connection to the sound canvas that those artists were trying to create that fascinates me.
CCM: Tell us about some of your special moments performing for the UN, presidents, etc.
Gregory Harrington: I think the one that particularly comes to mind was when I performed for President Biden (when he was Vice President). His great-grandfather was born in County Louth in Ireland so I played a piece that was written by a composer in that area. When we spoke afterward, he was just so very gracious and warm. And he was telling me about the difficulties of being on stage, overcoming his stutter as a child, and we spoke about loss – he was really genuine. When it was time to leave, he stopped and said with a smile, “Greg, if I had your talent, I would be President.” Apparently.. he does!
CCM: Tell us about creating your own record label, Estile Records
Gregory Harrington: I remember when I wanted to record my first album, the business model for recording, distribution, marketing, and advertising a new album seemed very straightforward. I think it helped that I had a business degree from UCD in Dublin so I had a different lens to see the music industry. And some of the offers from music labels at that time didn’t make long-term financial sense as there were far too many restrictions that would inhibit artistic growth down the road. So I went ahead and created the label as the creative side of producing and having artistic control really appealed to me as that way I could map out the longer-term vision and develop the brand.
CCM: How did you begin giving masterclasses and what do you enjoy about that?
Gregory Harrington: I think the first time that I gave a Masterclass was when I was on tour in Mexico. I had been invited to perform with the Philharmonic and a masterclass was arranged with the students of the National Conservatory of Music. They were great! I had already been teaching quite a bit in New York and conducting so the idea of master classes came very easily. It is always about trying to assess the student quickly and take away the one or two main barriers to their performance that will help them move forward and get to the next level.
CCM: You have performed at one of the largest parades, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NY. What do you remember from that day?
Gregory Harrington: What an absolute thrill! It was such an honor to be invited to perform live on NBC and open the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. March in New York City can be bitterly cold! I was on an empty Fifth Avenue lined with thousands of people and it was freezing cold – around 22°F. I remember just before I started to play that I was having difficulty feeling the fingertips in my left hand and my hair froze. Just before I started, I had no feeling in the fingertips of my right or left hand they were so cold! That said, it was an exhilarating experience!
CCM: Can you tell us about your latest live album?
Gregory Harrington: Yes! Very excited about it as it is my first live album. It was recorded during the pandemic at the Irish Repertory Theater here in New York and it’s really my first in-depth exploration into traditional and contemporary Irish music – with an Irish-American influence. I am joined onstage by two incredible cellists, Eleanor Norton and Philip Sheegog. I wanted to explore the beauty and different sounds that traditional Irish musicians make through the lens of a more classical instrument and instruments. So the goal was to achieve sound that was not necessarily synonymous with traditional fiddle playing but more infused with the things that I grew to love about Irish traditional playing. And the album has a great range from Glen Hansard’s “Falling Slowly” and U2’s “All I want is You” to traditional Irish pieces such as Swallowtail Jig and the Belfast Hornpipe
CCM: You will be celebrating a very special anniversary in the new year. Can you tell us about your Carnegie Hall show and what it means to you?
Gregory Harrington: It is exactly 20 years to the day that I made my full solo Carnegie debut, becoming the first Irish violinist to give a full recital there so it’s a celebration of that and the music that has taken me through the last 20 years. I have played in the main hall (Stern Auditorium) a number of times and in Weill as well so there is always an aurora of the venue when you step on any of the stages. The first half takes us from the violin and piano works by Brahms and Bazzini to a second half that encompasses my arrangements for strings and percussion from Led Zeppelin and the Cranberries to Dave Brubeck, Astor Piazzolla, Django Reinhardt, and Ravel’s “Bolero”, amongst others. Excited as well as I will be joined onstage by some of my favorite collaborators including renowned concert pianist Simon Mulligan, cellists Eleanor Norton, Alon Bisk, and drummer Dustin Kaufman.
Stream “Live from the Irish Repertory Theatre” on Spotify now!
Purchase a physical copy of Vol 31 now!
