Richard Lewis
Conductor
Biography
Richard Lewis |
Born in Sydney and educated in Edinburgh, Richard went on to read music at Magdalen College, Oxford, and later completed a master’s degree at Edinburgh University, where he first started conducting. A year at the National Opera Studio in London (where he studied conducting under David Parry) was followed by a full-time position at the National Theatre in Mannheim, Germany, where he worked as a conductor and repetiteur (2001-2003).
Since August 2000 Richard has worked as assistant to Adam Fischer at the Haydn festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, (L’incontro Improvviso, La Vera Costanza) and has assisted him on recordings of the Mozart Opera Seria with the Danish Radio Sinfonietta (Idomeneo, Re Pastore, Mitridate, Lucio Silla, Clemenza di Tito). In December 2004 Richard was assistant conductor on the Dutch National Opera production of Mozart’s Lucio Silla, and has assisted Adam on the annual Budapest Ring Cycle’s in 2007, 2008, 2009. He returns again this year for Lohengrin, Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde.
He has also worked with Scottish Opera as freelance conductor and repetiteur, most recently on the touring production of Macbeth, and Eugene Onegin. In 2005 he marked his debut at the Salzburg Festival, in a production of Cosi fan Tutte. He returned to Salzburg in June 2009 for a new production of Cosi with renowned German director Claus Guth. In 2010 he was assistant conductor at ENO on the award wining production of A Dog’s Heart.
Richard was appointed chorus master and conductor at Opera Queensland in June 2007 and made his conducting debut with the company in a new production of Mozart’s Magic Flute in 2008. He has just finished conducting La clemenza di Tito with English Touring opera about which the Guardian’s George Hall wrote:
The evening's chief delight lies in the orchestral playing, which, under conductor Richard Lewis, offers energy and attack, revealing the outstanding quality of a still relatively little-known score. (March 14, 2011)
He made his conducting debut at La Monnaie, Brussels in December 2008 with Rusalka (where he returns for three performances in 2012)and In October 2009 he gave the first Australian performance of Haydn’s L’isola disabitata.
On the symphonic front Richard has conducted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (with ESSO) the Danish Radio Sinfonietta, the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Philharmonia the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and The Queensland Orchestra.
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