David Angus - Conductor
David Angus is Honorary Conductor of the Flanders Symphony Orchestra. He
has conducted this orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra several
times each season in recent years and he returns to both orchestras again
during ‘06/7. Recent debuts with Glimmerglass Opera ("David Angus’s
conducting .... produced the most elegant and lively music-making of the
weekend." Bernard Holland / New York Times, 25 July, 2006) and Danish
National Opera (“the Sjaelland Symphony Orchestra was in top form and
sparklingly Italian under the leadership of the British conductor David
Angus, and the leading roles performed above normal standards… Lolland-Falsters
Folketidende, 27th February 2006”) brought multiple re-invitations
alongside his orchestral activity which included conducting the London Philharmonic
Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Orchestra. A natural empathy with young people sees him becoming Associate
Conductor at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in September
’06 where he will be conducting Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”
in 2007 and he will also work with the orchestras at the Trinity College
of Music in London.
David Angus was brought up in Belfast. He was a boy chorister at King's
College, Cambridge, under Sir David Willcocks, and he read music at Surrey
University where he specialised as a pianist. He was awarded a Fellowship
in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where
he won three Ricordi prizes for his opera conducting. His professional opera
house career began as a Répétiteur for Opera North before
becoming Chorus Master as well as staff conductor for Glyndebourne Festival
Opera. At Glyndebourne he conducted performances of "Die Zauberflöte",
"Eugene Onegin" and Sir Michael Tippett's "New Year"
and, for Glyndebourne Touring Opera, "Così fan tutte" as
well as "Kát'a Kabanová". An affinity with the music
of Benjamin Britten began when he sang for him as a boy chorister at Aldeburgh.
He has had a continuing association with Aldeburgh since then - for example,
conducting “Albert Herring” for the Aldeburgh Festival at the
Jubilee Hall - and for many years he was a Vocal Consultant to the Britten-Pears
School.
In the opera house David Angus made his Italian debut conducting Britten's
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Turin, returning to conduct several
concerts and productions of "Hänsel und Gretel", "Boris
Godunov" and "The Turn of the Screw" which he has also conducted
in Bologna and Modena. He has also appeared in Turin several times in partnership
with the Ballet Béjart of Lausanne. In Britain, apart from his work
at Glyndebourne and Aldeburgh, he has worked with Scottish Opera and Opera
North. For the Brighton Festival he has conducted Britten’s “Turn
of the Screw” and the British premieres of Tchaikovsky's "The
Enchantress", Von Einem's "Danton’s Tod" and Shostakovich’
orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" whilst other productions
in the UK have included “Rape of Lucretia”, "Albert Herring",
"Hänsel und Gretel", "Rigoletto", "Faust",
Henze/Paisiello "Don Chisciotte", "La Bohème",
"Il Barbière di Siviglia", "The Merry Widow",
"Madama Butterfly" plus the Maderna/Monteverdi "Orfeo"
and he has recorded Britten's "Curlew River" for Koch Schwann.
Elsewhere he has worked for the Opéra National de Paris, Malmö
Opera and Icelandic Opera. He conducted Britten’s “Albert Herring”
for the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto during the ‘04/5 Season and
worked on Henze’s “Elegy for Young Lovers” at Dartington’s
International Summer School.
On the UK concert platform David Angus regularly conducts the London Philharmonic
Orchestra and has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé
Orchestra, the BBC’s Philharmonic and Scottish Symphony Orchestras,
the Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra
and the Northern Sinfonia, also appearing several times with the London
Mozart Players for concerts and in the recording studio. He has worked on
a number of occasions with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and made his debut
at the Edinburgh Festival with them. He appears regularly with orchestras
in many parts of Europe and Canada and this season he will be making return
visits to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Flanders Symphony Orchestra
and Lahti Symphony Orchestra amongst others.
September 2006