Antony Walker (conductor)

Last updated

Antony Walker
BornSydney, Australia
OriginAustralia
GenresClassical
Occupation(s)Conductor, music director, artistic director

Antony Walker is an Australian conductor who currently resides in Washington, D.C. He has held the positions of musical director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Chorus Master and staff conductor of Welsh National Opera, and is currently artistic director and Conductor of Washington Concert Opera and music director of Pittsburgh Opera. He co-founded Pinchgut Opera, the vocal ensemble Cantillation and the orchestras Sinfonia Australis and Orchestra of the Antipodes. [1] [2] [3] Educated at Sydney Grammar School, and an honours graduate of the University of Sydney, Walker trained as a singer (tenor), pianist, cellist, and composer.

At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Walker has led performances of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, The Barber of Seville, The Magic Flute, and Les Pêcheurs de Perles, as well as the National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert in 2016.

For English National Opera he has conducted Lucia di Lammermoor and The Tales of Hoffmann.

Walker has appeared as guest conductor with Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, The Merola Program of the San Francisco Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Minnesota Opera, Arizona Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, North Carolina Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Opera di Firenze. In 2008 he conducted the US premiere of William Walton's opera Troilus and Cressida at the Opera Theater of St Louis, and in the 2018–19 season for Washington Concert Opera he conducted the US premiere of Gounod's Sapho (starring Kate Lindsay) and the first performance in the US since 1835 of Rossini's Zelmira (with Silva tro SantaFé, Lawrence Brownlee, and Vivica Genaux). In 2022 Walker conducted the world premiere of In a Grove, by Christopher Cerrone, for Pittsburgh Opera.

He has conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmanian, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestre Colonne in Paris, Thessaloniki State Symphony, and made his debut with the Mozarteum Orchester in Salzburg in Jan 2019 with a program of Berlioz and Tchaikovsky. He is noted as a fine interpreter of "bel canto", Rossini, French opera, Verdi, Puccini, the Viennese classical composers, Bach, and Handel, as well as French and English composers of the 20th century.

Selected recordings

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Mackerras</span> Australian conductor

Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edo de Waart</span> Dutch conductor (born 1941)

Edo de Waart is a Dutch conductor. He is Music Director Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. De Waart is the former music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2016-2019), chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2011-2016) and Artistic Partner with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (2010-2014).

<i>King Roger</i> Opera by Karol Szymanowski

King Roger is an opera in three acts by Karol Szymanowski to a Polish libretto by the composer himself and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, the composer's cousin. The score was finished in 1924. The opera received its world premiere on 19 June 1926 at the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, with the cast including the composer's sister, the soprano Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska, as Roxana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Davis (conductor)</span> English conductor (1944–2024)

Sir Andrew Frank Davis was an English conductor. He was the long-time chief conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He was music director at the Glyndebourne Festival from 1988 to 2000, and especially known for conducting the traditional Last Night of The Proms, including Last Night speeches. He was music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 2000 to the 2020/21 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinchgut Opera</span> Musical artist

Pinchgut Opera is a chamber opera company in Sydney, Australia, presenting opera from the 17th and 18th centuries performed on period instruments. Founded in 2002, Pinchgut stages two operas each year in Sydney's City Recital Hall. It also performs concerts in both Sydney and Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gianluigi Gelmetti</span> Italian composer and conductor (1945–2021)

Gianluigi Gelmetti OMRI, was an Italian-Monégasque conductor and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Abbado</span> Italian conductor

Roberto Abbado is an Italian opera and symphonic music conductor. Currently he is an Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

Andrea Molino is an Italian composer and conductor.

Sara Macliver is an Australian soprano singer, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. Macliver is a versatile artist, appearing in operas, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings. She is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Baroque repertoire in Australia, and lectures in Voice at the UWA Conservatorium of Music.

<i>David et Jonathas</i> 1688 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier

David et Jonathas, H. 490, is an opera in five acts and a prologue by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, Paris, on 28 February 1688. The libretto, by Father François Bretonneau, is based on the Old Testament story of the friendship between David and Jonathan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce DiDonato</span> American mezzo-soprano

Joyce DiDonato is an American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano. She is notable for her interpretations of operas and concert works in the 19th-century romantic era in addition to works by Handel and Mozart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Tahu Rhodes</span> New Zealand baritone opera singer

Teddy Tahu Rhodes is a New Zealand operatic baritone.

David Porcelijn is a Dutch composer and conductor.

Gavin Carr is a British conductor and baritone working with major choruses in the UK and appearing in opera and concert in the UK and around the globe.

Paul Terracini is an Australian composer, conductor, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Concert Opera</span>

Washington Concert Opera is a professional opera company located in Washington, D.C. in the United States which presents operas in a concert format with full orchestra and chorus. WCO's distinctive repertoire consists of operas which either have not been presented recently in the Washington area, or are infrequently performed anywhere, or which represent opportunities to showcase artists.

Cantillation is an Australian vocal ensemble founded in 2001 by Antony Walker and Alison Johnston. They were founded alongside orchestras Sinfonia Australis and Orchestra of the Antipodes.

Orchestra of the Antipodes is an Australian early music ensemble founded by Antony Walker and Alison Johnston. They play baroque music on early instruments. They were founded alongside vocal ensemble Cantillation and the Sinfonia Australis orchestra. They received a nomination for the 2012 ARIA Award for Best Classical Album with their album Bach: Brandenburg Concertos.

Sinfonia Australis is an Australian early music ensemble founded by Antony Walker and Alison Johnston. They play on period instruments. They were founded alongside vocal ensemble Cantillation and the Orchestra of the Antipodes. Along with Gerard Willems received a nomination for the 2004 ARIA Award for Best Classical Album with their album Beethoven Complete Piano Concertos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Ellis (composer)</span> Australian composer, conductor (born 1964)

George Ellis is an Australian conductor, composer and orchestrator. He presents concerts for international events with a broad range of styles from classical to pop/rock and jazz as well as presenting orchestral concerts for young audiences. He also lectures in conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is a regular presenter of Sonic Journey for ABC Radio Sydney’s program with Simon Marnie.

References

  1. Clark, Chelsea (22 March 2002), "Walker from Wales to Washington", Daily Telegraph
  2. Druckenbrod, Andrew (12 October 2006), "Overture Pittsburgh Opera welcomes young Aussie as its new Music Director", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  3. Midgette, Anne (10 May 2010), "Antony Walker: Big things lie ahead for opera conductor", Washington Post