Mark Wigglesworth

Born in Sussex, Mark studied music at Manchester University and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London. While still a student, he formed the Premiere Ensemble, an orchestra committed to performing a new piece in every programme. A few weeks after leaving the Academy, he won the Kondrashin International Conducting Competition in the Netherlands, and since then has worked with many of the leading orchestras and opera companies of the world.

In 1992 he became Associate Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and further appointments included Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Highlights of his time with BBC NOW included several visits to the BBC Proms, a performance of Mahler’s tenth symphony at the prestigious Amsterdam Mahler Festival in 1995, and a six-part television series for the BBC entitled Everything To Play For.

In addition to working with most of the UK’s orchestras, Mark Wigglesworth has guest conducted many of Europe’s finest ensembles, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, La Scala Filarmonica, Milan, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Rome, Stockholm Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Salzburg Camerata and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Noteable engagements elsewhere: Music Director of Opera Factory, London. Since then he has worked regularly at Glyndebourne (Peter Grimes, La bohème, Le nozze di Figaro), Welsh National Opera (Elektra, The Rake’s Progress, Tristan und Isolde, Così fan tutte) and English National Opera (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Così fan tutte, Falstaff, Katya Kabanova, Parsifal). He has conducted at the Netherlands Opera (Peter Grimes); La Monnaie in Brussels (Mitridate, Wozzeck, Pelléaset Mélisande); the Sydney Opera House (Peter Grimes); the Metropolitan Opera, New York (Lenozzedi Figaro); and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Le nozze di Figaro (Met); Meistersinger, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (ROH); Peter Grimes, La bohème, Le nozze di Figaro (Glyndebourne); Elektra, The Rake’s Progress, Tristan und Isolde, Così fan tutte (WNO); Owen Wingrave (Aldeburgh/Edinburgh); Peter Grimes (Netherlands Opera); Mitridate, Wozzeck, Pelléas et Mélisande (Monnaie); Peter Grimes (Sydney Opera House).

Recordings: An acclaimed cycle of Shostakovich’s symphonies (BIS); Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 6 and 10 (Melbourne Symphony/MSO Live label); Peter Grimes (Glyndebourne), Don Giovanni (Sydney Opera House), English music (Sydney Symphony); Brahms Piano Concertos (Stephen Hough/Salzburg Mozarteum).