James Crabb’s acclaimed London debut in the Park Lane Group series at the Purcell Room in 1992 catapulted him to the international concert platform. Since then, he has performed worldwide, pioneering the classical accordion. He has appeared at festivals including Edinburgh, the London Proms, Belfast, Lucerne, Sydney Millennium, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Kuhmo, Brisbane Biennale, ISCM World Music Days and the Gulbenkian Foundation’s Nordic Days.

Critics internationally have praised his virtuosity and versatile musicianship. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents and ambassadors of his chosen instrument.

James has performed with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Elgar Howarth, Martyn Brabbins, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Gunter Schüller, Markus Stenz, Michael Schønwandt, Susanna Mälkki and Peter Eötvös. He has been soloist with many orchestras including the BBC Scottish, the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Sydney, and Melbourne symphony orchestras; and ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Paragon Ensemble, Almeida Ensemble, Nash Ensemble, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Kuhmo Virtuosi. He has had several successful chamber-music collaborations with the violinist Dimitry Sitkovetsky.

James’ great passion and acclaimed authority for the music of Astor Piazzolla have been highlighted by several concert performances with the original members of Piazzolla’s Quintet, Horacio Malvicino, Hector Console and Fernando Suarez-Paz. He is also featured on the film portrait of Astor Piazzolla. (BBC/Opus Arte OA0905)

In 2003, his highly acclaimed recording as soloist and arranger of the works of Astor Piazzolla with the Australian Chamber Orchestra was released. (Song of the Angel, Chandos CH10163)
James also appeared as soloist with the ACO in Japan and Europe. With the orchestra’s leader Richard Tognetti, he performed at the opening ceremony of the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Sydney, to a stadium audience of 83.000 and an estimated 2 billion TV viewers worldwide.

His second recording of Piazzolla’s music in its original quintet instrumentation with Tognetti, Vassilev, Bibeau and Martin, was released in 2005 (Tango Jam Vol.1, Mulberry Hill Recordings MHR-C001).

His best-selling accordion duo debut recording in 1996 with his colleague Geir Draugsvoll of transcriptions of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (EMI Classics 569072) was re-released in 2002. The duo performs regularly worldwide and collaborates frequently with the Tero Saarinen Dance Company from Finland. Recent performances of Petrouchka with Saarinen include the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, broadcast live on Finnish national television and in St Petersburg as part of a cultural gift to the city from the Finnish Government.

James Crabb has recorded for several labels including NMC, Classico, DaCapo, Simax and ABC Classics, and makes regular radio and TV broadcasts. He gave the first ever solo recital recording for the Sky TV Digital Arts Channel.

World premiere performances and recordings include works by Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Adès, Luciano Berio, John Casken, Sofia Gubaidulina, Django Bates, Sally Beamish, Elena Kats-Chernin, Gordon McPherson and Lyell Cresswell.

Recent projects have included concerts and recordings with pop stars Martin Hall, Neil Finn and Patti Smith.

He has an ongoing collaboration with multi-media sound designers Ian Dearsden and David Sheppard alias ‘Sound Intermedia’, highlighted by their recent critically acclaimed work ‘Helix’ and has recorded the music for Arc Dance Company’s production of Hamlet composed by Ian Dearsden.

Highlights of 2004-2005 included performances with the Scottish Ensemble, Paragon Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Via Salzburg and the English Sinfonia.

In 2005 he directed from the accordion two very successful new opera productions in Denmark; firstly the world premiere of Andy Pape’s Simsalabad, and secondly Astor Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires, which was the Royal Danish Opera’s production marking the opening of the chamber scene of the new opera house in Copenhagen.

James was involved in comic music-theatre for several years with the Danish percussionist and entertainer Thomas Sandberg. Described as a fusion of Monty Python, Spike Jones and Jacques Tati, Standard (2000) and Dask (2003) productions have both been awarded the prestigious Danish Theatre Prize.

James Crabb has been professor of classical accordion at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen since 1995 and held a guest professorship at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria from 1995-2002. He has also given master-classes at music institutions including the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Rotterdam Conservatorium and Toronto University.

James Crabb plays on a Pigini Mythos No.4 model (1992) instrument, tuned and prepared by Leonid Setrakov.

In 1986 he started studies at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music with recorder as his major subject. He received diploma degree in 1992 and graduated from the soloist class in 1994. Throughout most of the years at the academy, PH mainly devoted his time to contemporary music, and several Danish composers have dedicated works to him.

In 1992 he was asked to do a medieval concert at the first Copenhagen Early Music Festival together with the singer, Agnethe Christensen, and the harp player, Helen Davies. This became the starting point for Medieval Ensemble ALBA, and for his thorough investigation of the medieval tradition of simultaneous playing on pipe and drum. Using his many faceted musical background, studying medieval sources and in a close co-operation with the instrument makers, Norbert Eckermann (Austria) and Mark Binns (Australia), he has, since then, succeeded in creating a playing style, a sound and a refined music making which is considered a unique and pioneering work in this field. As a result of this work he is now performing world wide on festivals and in radio with his arrangements of medieval music for pipe and tabor.

PH also works with storytelling as a supplement to his solo- or ensemble performances. His command of English and German has made it possible for him to successfully perform this art - outside the Nordic speech area, of course - for audiences in England, Australia USA and Germany.

PH has received several Danish music grants and prizes. Amongst them the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestras prize of honour, Emil Holms Legat, which he received for his work as ambassador to medieval music.

He has recorded 4 CDís with Medieval Ensemble ALBA and a solo-CD for the Danish record company Classico. In addition to this he has taken part in recordings for ABC Classics, Move Records, BIS, Exlibris, Sony Music, Chandos and Naxos.

Together with the singer, Agnethe Christensen, and the singer and harp player, Miriam Andersén, he now forms Medieval Ensemble ALBA, which has a world wide reputation for serious and original performances of medieval music. 
In co-operation with  Miriam Andersén PH forms the duo ESK. Adding traditional Nordic instruments as for example lyre, bagpipe, wooden lur and cow horn, they specialize in recreating an early Nordic sound and music in combining both medieval sources and records of traditional music from Nordic countries.  
Beside this he works regularly with the Australian recorder virtuoso, Genevieve Lacey. Together they have created the programmePiperye, a medieval fantasy for pipes and percussion. He also works with the Swedish actor and storyteller, Anders Granström, in a performance that mixes music and tales from medieval Europe. Playing with the German fiddle player, Susanne Ansorg, he gives life to the numerous depictions of a medieval standard combination of instruments. 

May 2002 Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen won the prestigious Jacob Gade violin competition and in June 2008 he reached, as the only Dane, the semifinals and received a special prize in The 8th International Carl Nielsen Violin competition in Odense.

Rune has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen philharmonic and DKDM Symphony Orchestra.

As active part of the folk music scene Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen has been part of the Danish group Zar. Today he forms the trio Dreamers Circus together with the two splendid folk music musicians Nikolaj Busk and Ale Carr.

Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen is violinist in “Den Danske Strygekvartet”. They won 1^stprize in several competitions – most recently in London International String Quartet Competition, 2009. Den Danske Strygekvartet gives concerts over most of Europe, USA and Canada, and the quartet was Artists in residence of The Danish National Radio in 2006.

Furthermore member of the trio Gáman with Bolette Roed and Andreas Borregaard and co-founder of Brahms Festival Copenhagen, taking place since 2007.

From February 2008 concert master of Copenhagen Philharmonic and teacher at The Royal Danish Music Academy, Copenhagen.

www.danishquartet.com