Clifton Harrison
viola | viola d’amore | researcher
viola & viola d’amore player…researcher & collaborator
American viola and viola d’amore player Clifton Harrison has performed as a chamber musician, recitalist, and in orchestras throughout Europe, the United States, Central America, and Asia. For nearly a decade, he was the viola player in the acclaimed Kreutzer Quartet, with whom he made numerous recordings and held artist-in-residence positions at several universities, including Oxford and Goldsmiths. The quartet also enjoyed close associations with the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Northern College of Music.
Clifton is a passionate educator who shares his expertise in viola performance, chamber music, and artistic development through masterclasses, workshops, and lectures given internationally. His commitment to nurturing the next generation of musicians has led him to prestigious institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal Academy of Music. He has also presented classes and lectures at Vanderbilt University (USA), Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Furthering his dedication to young musicians, Clifton serves as a viola tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Nicola Benedetti’s Benedetti Foundation.
Clifton is frequently invited on a number of judging panels, most recently for PRS Foundation, Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and Ivors Classical Awards. He also currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), European String Teachers Association (ESTA UK), and Nonclassical.
An avid freelance viola player, Clifton has worked with most of the UK’s major orchestras and period performance ensembles. Some recent guest principal viola appearances have been with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, BBC Concert Orchestra, the Hanover Band, Manchester Camerata, Irish Baroque Orchestra, and London Handel Orchestra. Clifton records extensively for film, television and video games and can be heard on hundreds of international soundtracks. He has toured worldwide with countless classical ensembles as well as performed with popular artists as wide-ranging as Grace Jones, Eric Clapton, Björk, Laura Mvula, the James Taylor Quartet, Michael Kiwanuka, Jeff Lynne’s ELO, Kano, Gregory Porter, Thom Yorke, Dermot Kennedy, Noel Gallagher, Jonny Greenwood, and Ellie Goulding. Clifton has been heard in festivals throughout the world, from the muddy fields of Glastonbury to the EFG London Jazz Festival, Ghent Festival, Lincoln Center Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, and London’s BBC Proms.
“…beautiful tone and expressive technical facility.”
- The Times
As a researcher, Clifton focuses on three distinct areas: Seventeenth and eighteenth century viola d’amore music from the Germanic region, Black, Asian and ethnically diverse classical and contemporary composers/sound artists, and South American baroque composers of colour.
Clifton is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, America'‘s oldest and most prestigious boarding school for the arts. This was followed by studies at the Juilliard School (violin/viola) and the Royal Academy of Music (modern viola/baroque viola).
In 2019, the Governing Body and the Honours Committee of the Royal Academy of Music elected Clifton Harrison Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM). This honour is awarded to a select number of former students who have made a significant contribution to the music profession.
Recent releases are on the Hyperion, Universal Music, Sony, NAXOS, Warner Music, Navona Records, NMC Records, Métier, and Signum Classics labels.
Find out more about my viola d’amore and its maker here.
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Find out all about Clifton...
Writing & Projects
Concerts
Lectures
Sourcing Hard to Find Scores and Engaging in Imaginative Programming Practices
A lecture that looks at practical tools and strategies for sourcing hard to find scores and research materials. This feeds directly into the idea of imaginative programming and what impact that can have to all of us as musicians and audience members.
Diversifying Artistic Output and Repertoire
How can we as artists become better performers and champions of repertoire by composers that vividly represent the world in which we live? A large part of history is missing. Historically underrepresented composers make up that missing piece of the classical music puzzle. Am I contributing or am I inhibiting progress? How does this fit within my own artistic practice? This lecture looks at artists roles and responsibilities as they relate to race, culture, history, and the archaic idea of the ‘cannon’ in the 21st century.
Viola d’Amore and the Germans: Graupner, Telemann, & Bach
Traditions and style of eighteenth-century viola d’amore repertoire from the Germanic region of northern Europe.
