Dominic Harlan is a pianist, composer, actor and educator. Through his performances, workshops, school music projects, compositions and concerts he has introduced countless people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to the worlds of theatre and music
He studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music with Alexander Kelly, Lois Phillips and Malcolm Martineau, during which time he made his Wigmore Hall debut partnering legendary soprano, Dame Gwyneth Jones. Awarded the Langrish Performance Prize for the highest mark of his graduating year, Dominic went on to perform throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, India, The Gulf and North America with singers and instrumentalists that have included Alexander Baillie, Narimichi Kawabata, Dave Le Page, Orlando Jopling, Richard Harwood, Richard Dubugnon, Sophie Daneman, Errolyn Wallen, Daniel Norman, Matthew Sharp, Stephan Loges and Sarah Gabriel.
Radio, Film, Musical Theatre
He has given live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and recorded discs for Warner Sunset, Naxos and Avie. Dominic can also be heard performing piano pieces by Liszt and Ligeti on the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. As musical director, productions include Modern Major General (Proteus Theatre), Ain’t Misbehavin – The Fat’s Waller Musical Show (Oxford Theatre Company), his own arrangement of The Magic Flute (Brighton Festival/ Glyndebourne Education) and Manchester Lines (Manchester Library Theatre).
A formative experience in Dominic’s career was musically directing for Streetwise Opera, which specialises in producing professional productions while giving centre stage to a cast who have experienced homelessness. His productions with Streetwise include Britten’s Canticles, Winter Words and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder.
Opera
Dominic was Artistic Director of Glyndebourne’s Opera Experience workshop programme and has devised and led music education projects for Wigmore Hall, Opera North, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Garsington Opera, The Grange Festival, Opera Holland Park, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Cheltenham Festival, The Sixteen, Roman River, Oxford Lieder, RESEO at La Scala, Netherlands Opera and Muziekcentrum van de Omroep (MCO), Amsterdam.
Composition
As a composer, Dominic has devised original music theatre in collaboration with vocal groups that include both amateur and professional singers. Shows include Limelight (Opera North) Apollo Rides Again (Wigmore Hall) Orpheus (English Touring Opera), We are Stardust (Wigmore Hall) Photo-Me (The Stables, Milton Keynes/ Tête á Tête- The Opera Festival, Riverside Studios) Cutlery Tales (The Stables, Milton Keynes) and Time Capsule (The Grange Festival).
Works for Children
In his ground-breaking show, When Yesterday we Met, Dominic appears as pianist, actor and presenter. The show and its sequel, Songs About Us, have been performed at festivals and venues including Wigmore Hall, Leeds International Festival, Leeds Lieder, Tête á Tête -The Opera Festival, Oxford Lieder, Machynlleth Festival, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Cheltenham Festival, Howth Chamber Music Festival, Mayfield Festival and Bridgewater Hall.
Dominic plays multiple roles in Adrian Hornsby’s new play for children, I Piano, including Piano Spirit, an eccentric conductor, a Zen monk, and an octopus that loves the blues. The show premiered at The Pianodrome as part of 2019 Edinburgh Festival and has gone on to be performed at Royal Albert Hall, Elgar Room, UK regional theatres and on tour in the Far East. Dominic and Adrian continue their collaboration with a new musical show for toddlers, Monkeybaby! (DKS, Shanghai) premiering in Shanghai, Summer 2020.