John Andrews - conductor
Equally in demand as a symphonic, operatic and choral conductor, John Andrews was awarded the special ‘Orchestra Prize’ at the First Bela Bartok Opera Conducting Competition in Romania in 2005 confirming his position as one of the most exciting talents of his generation.
Last season he conducted Tolomeo for English Touring Opera, Cosí fan tutte for English Chamber Opera, Orfeo e Euridice at St John's Smith Square, The Barber of Seville at Stanley Hall and Giulio Cesare for Opéra de Baugé. He works regularly at Garsington Opera and in 2009 conducted a well received performance of La Cenerentola. He has worked as Assistant Conductor at Garsington (Don Pasquale, La donna del lago, La Cenerentola,and Le Nozze di Figaro), and has conducted Riccardo Primo, Don Pasquale, Die Entfürung auf dem Serail and La Traviata for Opéra de Baugé. In 2004, he conducted Offenbach's Robinson Crusoe for Opera della Luna at the Iford Festival to enthusiastic reviews in the national press. In 2006 he made his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducting Saint Saens' Carnival of the Animals in the West End Live Festival and in 2007 he was off stage conductor for the Royal Opera House production of Tosca. He was staff conductor and head of music for English Touring Opera in spring 2008, conducting performances of Don Giovanni and Anna Bolena. In 2008 he worked as Assistant Conductor to Andrew Litton in Bergen for The Flying Dutchman.
John Andrews has been active as a conductor since making his professional debut aged 21 performing Don Giovanni for the Cambridge Arts Theatre. He is Musical Director of amongst others the Hounslow Symphony Orchestra and the Harpenden Choral Society and in 2003 he formed the baroque ensemble The Cannons Scholars performing English-language theatre works of the eighteenth century. One of a new generation of scholar-conductors, he is passionately interested in locating music in its social and historical context. He recently completed a doctorate on the political and religious world of eighteenth-century oratorio, and writes programme articles for New York City Opera. He is also an advocate of new music and has given premieres of works by Fay Neary, David Stoll and Jatinder Chopra.
Born in Nairobi, and brought up in Manchester, John Andrews studied tuba with the late Stuart Roebuck, and played with the Stockport Youth Orchestra and British Telecom Brass Band. His orchestral tone poem Christmas Night was premiered at the Free Trade Hall in 1991, and his Missa pro Loreto, two years later. He took up conducting at the age of seventeen, studying with Michael Trowski, Colin Metters, Alan Hazeldine and now with David Parry. He continued his professional development at the Bela Bartok Centre for Musicianship, and has taken part in conducting classes with Tsung Yeh and Kirk Trevor at Symphonic Workshops in the Czech Republic, and at the National Opera Studio.