Alun Francis - Conductor
Alun Francis is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the
‘Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM' (OFUNAM) in Mexico City. In
the past forty years he has had titles with over fifteen orchestras or opera
companies and as a guest conducted over two hundred different opera companies
and orchestras in more than thirty countries, appearing regularly in many
of the major musical capitals of the world such as Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam,
London and Milan. In an illustrious career starting as its Assistant, then
its Associate Conductor before further elevation to Principal Conductor
and Artistic Director of the Ulster Orchestra and also as Principal Conductor
of the Belfast Philharmonic Society he has since held positions as Chief
or Principal Conductor and/or Artistic Director of the Orchestra Sinfonico
di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Berliner Symphoniker, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano/Trento,
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Opera Forum in The Netherlands, Northwest
Chamber Orchestra in Seattle, Thüringen Philharmonic Orchestra and
Northern Ireland Opera Trust. He is one of the busiest conductors working
today with recent engagements that have included the Köln Radio Symphony
Orchestra, Radio-Philharmonie Hannover des NDR, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
and Duisburg Symphony Orchestra.
Alun Francis has recorded more than eighty CDs which in recent years have
included concerts and recordings with the Italian Radio Orchestra (RAI)
Turin, Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie Orchester, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester
Berlin, Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester of Berlin, the Frankfurter-Radio-Sinfonie
Orchester, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) Hannover, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester
Saarbrücken, Radio Sinfonie Orchester Basel, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic
Orchestra, Swedish National Radio Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Florida
Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
in London.
Alun Francis won First Prize in the category of CD Premiers at Cannes´
Classical Awards presented during MIDEM in January 2000 for his recordings
of the complete symphonies of Darius Milhaud. Highly regarded as a conductor
of Bel Canto opera, Alun Francis was invited to direct the world premiere
of Donizetti´s "Gabriella di Vergy" in London in 1978. At
the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Alun Francis directed "Rigoletto"
in Roman Polanski’s production. His Opera repertoire includes over
70 operas. Outside the core classical repertoire, Alun Francis is also a
noted specialist in 20th century music in repertoire which ranges from Berio
to Stockhausen and he has a sizeable number of world premiers to his name.
As a composer, Alun Francis has written works for the concert hall, theatre
and films, which are published in London and New York. He is also Professor
at the University of Zagreb.
October 2009