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Ryan Wigglesworth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ryan Wigglesworth (born 31 August 1979, Yorkshire) is a British composer, conductor and pianist.

Biography

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Wigglesworth read music at Oxford University, where he held the position of Organ Scholar at New College, and continued his music studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. From 2007 to 2009, he was a lecturer at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. From 2013 to 2015, he was a composing fellow with The Cleveland Orchestra.

Wigglesworth was principal guest conductor of The Hallé from 2015 to 2018. He and his wife, the soprano Sophie Bevan, founded The Davey Consort in 2017. Wigglesworth founded the Knussen Chamber Orchestra in 2019.[1]

Wigglesworth served as composer-in-residence with English National Opera (ENO). For ENO, he composed his opera The Winter's Tale, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. The opera received its premiere on 27 February 2017.[2] In 2018, he was composer in residence of the Grafenegg Festival in Lower Austria. He has appeared as the soloist of his own Piano Concerto (2019).[3] In 2019, he became the Sir Richard Rodney Bennett Professor at the Royal Academy of Music.[4] Several commercial recordings of Wigglesworth's music are available on such labels as NMC.[5] Wigglesworth has made other commercial recordings for other labels.[6][7]

In February 2022, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Wigglesworth as its next chief conductor, effective September 2022.[8][9] This appointment marks Wigglesworth's first chief conductorship.

Wigglesworth and Bevan have two children.[10]

Selected compositions

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  • Sternenfall (2007)
  • The Genesis of Secrecy (2009)
  • Augenlieder (2009)
  • A First Book of Inventions (2010)
  • Violin Concerto (2012)[11]
  • Locke's Theatre (2013)
  • A Wreath (text by George Herbert; 2014)
  • Études-Tableaux (2015)
  • The Winter's Tale (opera, 2015-2016)
  • Clocks from a Winter's Tale (2017)
  • Till Dawning (texts by George Herbert; 2018)
  • Piano Concerto (2019)

Personal life

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He is married to soprano singer Sophie Bevan. They have two children.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Nick Boston (11 September 2019). "A fitting tribute to Knussen in the Knussen Chamber Orchestra's Proms debut". Bachtrack. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. ^ Clara Chanteau (28 February 2017). "The Winter's Tale , ENO, London, review: A radiant Sophie Bevan as Hermione". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ Liljeroos, Mats (29 November 2020). "Tonsättaren som dirigent och pianist". Hufvudstadsbladet (in Swedish). Helsingfors. p. 30.
  4. ^ "Hans Abrahamsen and Ryan Wigglesworth Announced as New Professors" (Press release). Royal Academy of Music. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. ^ Fiona Maddocks (8 November 2015). "Ryan Wigglesworth: Echo and Narcissus CD review – you need to hear this". The Observer. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  6. ^ Andrew Clements (31 October 2013). "Anderson: Fantasias; The Crazed Moon; The Discovery of Heaven – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ^ Andrew Clements (9 March 2015). "Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 4 and 8 CD review – precision playing". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Ryan Wigglesworth appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra" (Press release). BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  9. ^ Ken Walton (8 February 2022). "'This feels right' - Ryan Wigglesworth named as BBC SSO's next chief conductor". The Scotsman. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  10. ^ Richard Morrison (4 June 2022). "Sophie Bevan on Ryan Wigglesworth: His chat-up line was that he wanted to write an opera for me". The Times. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  11. ^ Alfred Hickling (18 February 2014). "Hallé/Wigglesworth – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Spotlight on Sophie Bevan". Opera Holland Park. 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
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Cultural offices
Preceded by Chief Conductor, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
2022–present
Succeeded by
incumbent