Bramwell Tovey - New York Philharmonic, Conductor

Photo Credit: Philippe Hurlin

British artist Bramwell Tovey is internationally recognized for his “stylish” conducting (The Financial Times) and his “genuine audience-reaching charm” (Alan Rich, LA Weekly). An acclaimed conductor, an accomplished pianist, and an exceptional communicator, Tovey is equally at home leading symphonic masterworks, performing jazz improvisation on the piano, and composing.

In addition to his successful music directorship with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 2000, Tovey works internationally with a prestigious list of orchestras that includes the New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Tovey is also known as a champion of new music, both as conductor and composer. During his tenure as music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, he founded the orchestra’s respected New Music Festival. Under his leadership, the Festival premiered more than 250 new works by a range of international and Canadian composers, with every performance broadcast on the CBC in Canada.

He has also served as music director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic, which he led on three successful tours in Europe, the Far East, and the eastern United States, and with which he made a critically-acclaimed recording of Jean Cras’ opera, Polypheme, which won the “Orphée d’Or” of the Academie Lyrique Française. He led the orchestra in the world premiere of Penderecki's 8th Symphony with the Europa Academie Choir, and will conduct the Dutch premiere of the work next year.

Recognized as an exceptional choral conductor, Tovey has conducted works from Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 to Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and premiered works including Victor Davies’ oratorio Revelation. As an opera conductor, he has performed works by Puccini, Strauss, Mozart, Menotti, Poulenc, Britten, and Stravinsky. In 2004, he premiered a new opera by John Estacio jointly commissioned by the Banff Centre and the Calgary Opera, which he also performed at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) in 2005.

A sought-after guest conductor, Tovey appears regularly with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics. He has guest-conducted orchestras in Canada including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa); and orchestras in the UK including the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham, Royal Philharmonic, and Royal Scottish National orchestras. In addition, he has led the Trondheim Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, Israel Sinfonietta, Leipzig Radio Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, where he conducted a special concert with Bryn Terfel in September 1999. In the 2006–07 season, Tovey appeared as a guest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony.

Tovey is also known as a successful composer. His most recent work, Requiem for a Charred Skull, was performed and recorded by the Amadeus Choir and the Hannaford Band in Toronto, and won the 2003 Juno Award for Best Canadian Classical Composition. He was recently commissioned by the Calgary Opera to compose a full-length opera titled The Inventor about Sandy Keith, a con artist and member of a prominent Nova Scotia family who became known in Canada as the “dynamite fiend” after he killed nearly 100 people by dynamiting a docked cargo ship in Germany. To be created in collaboration with playwright and librettist John Murrell, the work is scheduled to debut in 2011. In addition, Tovey is an accomplished jazz pianist, and has performed and recorded in that idiom throughout his career.

With a well-deserved reputation as an exceptional communicator, Tovey is known for his ability to engage audiences. After his debut on the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s series in 2002, he was invited to perform on the New York Philharmonic’s subscription series, where he introduced Webern’s Symphony, Op. 21, from the stage. Immediately afterward, Tovey was asked to found a new series—and launched the Summertime Classics series in 2004 to great acclaim, which he continues to program and conduct annually.

Tovey’s work for television includes two documentaries with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a special production of Sleeping Beauty with the London Symphony Orchestra for British television. CBC TV in Canada recently broadcast a special Adrienne Clarkson presentation Revelation on the world premiere of Victor Davies’ Oratorio, premiered by Tovey and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Tovey recorded several DVD’s, of repertoire including Holst’s The Planets Suite and with guests including percussionist Evelyn Glennie.

Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Laws from the University of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, and a Fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1999, Tovey received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a prestigious Canadian prize awarded to premiere artists for outstanding contributions in professional performing arts organizations.