Andrew Keener
Andrew Keener began his career as an independent recording producer in 1980. Born in Barry, South Wales, he was educated at Barry Boys’ Comprehensive School and the University of Edinburgh (B.Mus, 1975). After a brief and undistinguished period of class music teaching in a Scottish secondary school, he worked in one of London’s most dignified record shops – alas long defunct – EMG Handmade Gramophones, combining this with freelance musical journalism and a spell as producer of gramophone programmes for BBC Radio 3.
Visitors to EMG included artists and the great and good of the recording industry, including Ted Perry, who gave Keener his first break as a producer for the then-fledgling Hyperion label. Since then he has produced over a thousand recordings for various labels with artists including Dmitri Alexeev, Joshua Bell, Martyn Brabbins, Chloë Hanslip, Piers Lane, Julian Lloyd Webber, John McCabe, Ian Partridge, the Takacs Quartet, Roderick Williams and John Wilson. An Honorary Life Member of the Elgar Society, he has produced recordings of most of the major works of Elgar with artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Natalie Clein, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Vernon Handley, Richard Hickox, Steven Isserlis, Nigel Kennedy, Andrew Litton, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Leonard Slatkin, Janos Starker, Alisa Weilerstein and Thomas Zehetmair.
He is as much fascinated by musicians (both as people and as artists) as he has ever been and, like Andrew Neill, cannot imagine life without Elgar. Away from music, walking, theatregoing, reading, The Archers and an indulgent partner offer balance.
As well as enjoying wearing his ‘hat’ as Programme Secretary for Putney Music along with his partner Peter Avis, Andrew is privileged to be a member of the Board of the Yehudi Menuhin School Enterprises.
