Comedian/Conductor
Jack Price Managing Director 1 (310) 254-7149 Skype: pricerubin [email protected]
Rebecca Petersen Executive Administrator 1 (916) 539-0266 Skype: rebeccajoylove [email protected]
Olivia Stanford Marketing Operations Manager [email protected] Contents: Karrah O’Daniel-Cambry Biography Opera and Marketing Manager [email protected] Press Sample Programmes
Mailing Address: YouTube Video Links 1000 South Denver Avenue Photo Gallery Suite 2104 Tulsa, OK 74119
Website: Complete artist information including video, audio and interviews are available at www.pricerubin.com http://www.pricerubin.com
Rainer Hersch – Biography
Rainer Hersch is a conductor, pianist and comedian who has performed in over thirty countries across the globe and worked with orchestras from the St Petersburg Philharmonic to the Tasmanian Symphony. His YouTube Fan Channel gets an average 375,000 views a month and he has tens of thousands of followers around the world on social media.
Rainer’s first musical studies were at the piano, a student of Norma Fisher, continuing for three years as a conductor at Blackheath Conservatory - including master classes with George Hurst and János Fürst at the Royal Academy of Music.
Rainer started his working life in concert agencies, managing some of the great artists of the world. At the same time he developed a hobby - performing stand-up comedy on the London circuit. Short, unpaid slots led to longer, paid appearances which gradually developed into a parallel career. In time, he realised that this was his true vocation and gave up his last straight musical job, Touring Manager of the London Festival Orchestra, to enter the world of professional comedy.
Twenty years later, this unique training has kept him in constant demand – combining laughter with music. In that time he has worked with some of the great names in classical music including Alfred Brendel, Marc-André Hamelin and Dame Evelyn Glennie. He has also built up a considerable reputation as a broadcaster, devising and presenting a large number of programmes for the BBC, for whom he remains a well-known contributor.
Recent highlights in Rainer Hersch’s career include comedy and ‘straight’ concerts in Australia, Korea, the U.S., Canada and Germany. He also continues as conductor/host of the ‘Johann Strass Gala’ – an annual, twenty-date tour with the Johann Strauss Orchestra across all the major concert halls in the UK and Europe.
Rainer Hersch – Biography
Rainer speaks English, German, French and Spanish. He lives in London with his wife, Connie, and his pet dog, a miniature schnauzer called Ted who, frankly, only obeys him selectively and only then when there is a treat in the offing.
Rainer Hersch – Press
“Victor Borge for a new generation.” Sunday Times
“Hersch accomplished the near impossible: making a classical symphony concert the coolest – and funkiest - show in town.” Winnipeg Free Press
“Two words: See him.” Edmonton Journal
“Hersch has done a brilliant job of creating contemporary comedy frm a style of music often perceived as fusty and elitist. A show that could be enjoyed by anyone.” 3 News, New Zealand
“Roll over Beethoven, here’s Hersch” Singapore Straights Times
“The funniest concert you will ever see.” Time Out London
“Gerard Hoffnung meets Victor Borge with stand-up humour thrown in for good measure.” The Times
“After seeing this show you’ll find yourself gleefully clapping in the wrong place, creating symphonies of coughs and providing mobile phone counterpoints to the Great Masterworks – the concert hall won’t be the same again.” Tom Service, The Scotsman
“An Anglo-Teutonic blend of English self-deprecation and Germanic highbrow virtuosity.” The Guardian
Rainer Hersch – Press
“You’ll never see another show quite like this.” Edinburgh Evening News
“Side splittingly funny…more demolished musical icons than you could shake a baton at.” Glasgow Herald
“Most parodies are only funny if the parodist knows what they’re on about, and cares about it too – and this comic maestro qualifies on both counts.” The Guardian
Rainer Hersch – Sample Programmes
Programme for ‘Comedy Meets the Symphony’
1st Half Rossini: William Tell Overture* 5 J Strauss II: Perpetuum Mobile* 3 Leroy Anderson: Typewriter 2 J & J Strauss: Pizzicato Polka* 4 Symphony of audience sounds* 3 Handel: Firework Music* 1 British Airways Music* 1 Windows Waltz* 3 Mozart etc Abbreviated Music* 2 Dvorak: Slavonic Dance No.8 4 Mozart” ‘Elvira Madigan’ Concerto, Adagio 7 35 2nd Half Hornpipe* 3 Opera Statistics (Rainer) 6.5 Verdi: Libiamo from La Traviata* 3 Karaoke Orchestra* 2 Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.5 4 Beethoven: ‘Ode to Joy’ Variations* 6 Conducting Competition* 4 Boccherini: Minuet* 3 J Strauss II: Blue Danube* 6 37.5
ENCORE Delibes: Pizzicati Audience Xylophone Solo 3 J Strauss I: Radetzky March* 2 5
Rainer Hersch – Sample Programmes
*Arranged Hersch. Rainer Hersch supplies all music, which are in his copyright comedy arrangements. Note – there is no soloist in his programmes unless requested. He plays all solo instruments.
OTHER PROGRAMMES INCLUDE: ‘Johann Strauss Gala’ ‘Last Night Of The Proms’ ‘The greatest night of Choral Music...Ever’ (+ choir and soloists)
Rainer Hersch – YouTube Links
Funny! Orchestra plays Microsoft Windows™ - the waltz https://youtu.be/dGKwx-BFO0E 1.6M views
Funniest Classical Orchestra Ever... - Rainer Hersch https://youtu.be/BLXwpGCn2KQ 760,000 views
MUST WATCH! Choir Sings Pachelbel Canon Medley https://youtu.be/HFrsBMXipDk 170,000 views
Brilliant Comic Soprano - watch what happens in Verse 2! https://youtu.be/KebSIAg2P9I 104,000 views
Funny - Classical Music ABBREVIATED - Rainer Hersch https://youtu.be/Wp0snfJRyxg 57,000 views
Symphony Orchestra - where do the drinkers sit? https://youtu.be/VFzVh1TCD1g 50,000 views
Others available at Rainer Hersch Fan Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/karenlesliejones
Massimiliano Donninelli – Photo Gallery