Andrew Keener

A proud pupil of Barry Boys’ comprehensive school (when state school music education was more prized and available than it is today), Andrew grew up in South Wales before going on to read music at the University of Edinburgh where he had the composer Kenneth Leighton as his Dean of Studies. 

From a very early age, while his contemporaries were kicking a football outside, he was fascinated by records – the sound they made, the differences in performance styles, even the way an LP smelled. After graduating, a brief and disastrous spell of teaching music in an Edinburgh comprehensive school (damage to himself, or damage to his charges…it was a close thing) was followed by a dash south to work in London’s EMG record shop (alas long gone), sharing a house of crazy people with his university friend (now distinguished conductor) Donald Runnicles who was pursuing a post-graduate course at the London Opera Centre. Visitors to the shop included the great and good of the classical music press – who had enough faith in Andrew to offer work as a concert reviewer for The Guardian, a record critic for Hi-Fi News & Record Review and an interviewer of musicians for Gramophone magazine – and the equally great and good of the recording profession.

 One of these frequent customers was Ted Perry, who was about to found Hyperion Records. Having seen artists in the studio while waiting to interview them, Andrew observed the role of recording producer. Easy, surely. Not so. After a disastrous producing debut for the new Hyperion label, the admirable Ted gave him a second chance. Since then, he has been fortunate enough to have produced some 1600 recordings for many labels, including a large number of the music of Elgar, which has always touched him at a very deep level. Conductors in this repertoire have included Daniel Barenboim, Martyn Brabbins, Andrew Constantine, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Vernon Handley, Andrew Litton Sir Charles Mackerras and Leonard Slatkin, and instrumentalists Natalie Clein, Steven Isserlis, Nigel Kennedy, Timothy Ridout, Heinrich Schiff and Alisa Weilerstein. 

As a one-time fiftieth-rate pianist and cellist, Andrew relishes the musical – and personal (a vital part of the job) – contact with fine players. His partner of over forty years helps alleviate his neuroses.