Ryan Wigglesworth

“Thirty-year-old Ryan Wigglesworth’s talents sprout in so many directions and his new song cycle Augenlieder glittered with skill… Wigglesworth’s bright ear for glinting textures, his flair for taut motivic interplay, [and] his conjuror’s ability to cast a spell.”    The Times

“Wigglesworth summoned up spry performances of Rossini’s Silken Ladder and Il Signor Bruschino overtures, lacking nothing in characterful wit or dynamic momentum, and in Ligeti’s Romanian Concerto [which] the musicians entered into with thrilling conviction.”    The Guardian

“Wigglesworth effected an easy fluidity between conducting and playing [Mozart’s G major concerto], his movements from one to the other merging serenely and seamlessly. He has a lightness and delicacy of touch which was perfect for the filigree detail of the allegro, while not being afraid of the power of the pause in the andante.”    The Liverpool Echo

Only in his early thirties, Ryan Wigglesworth has rapidly established himself as one of the foremost composer-conductors of his generation. Equally at home and much sought after in a wide ranging repertoire from the baroque to the present day (he has conducted over forty premieres), his own compositions have likewise received consistent critical acclaim.  His orchestral song cycle Augenlieder, first performed under the composer’s direction at the Barbican in 2009 with the BBC Symphony, won the vocal prize at the 2010 British Composer Awards.

In 2011/12 Ryan Wigglesworth is composer in residence with the Netherlands Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras.  The Chamber Orchestra will give the world premiere of a new violin concerto written for Gordan Nikolic, with the composer also featured as pianist/director in a programme joined also by Claire Booth performing Mozart’s “Ch’io mi scordi di te”.

This season Ryan Wigglesworth also makes his conducting debut at English National Opera with Detlev Glannert’s Caligula, (Spring 2012).     With the Britten Sinfonia he conducts the opening of the 2012 Aldeburgh Festival in the Oliver Knussen double bill; Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop.   His Deutsches Symphonie Orchester debut follows at the Berlin Philharmonie.

2010/11 also saw Wigglesworth direct two operas: the premiere of Alexander Goehr’s Promised End with English Touring Opera at the Royal Opera House, and Eugene Onegin at the St Endellion Summer Festival, to which he returns as co-Artistic Director in 2012. His recent debut concerts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic resulted in an immediate reinvitation.  The programme featured performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 with Wigglesworth as pianist/director, as well as the world premiere of his own A First Book of Inventions.

Wigglesworth’s recent compositions include a triptych of works for the BBCSO: Sternenfall (2007); The Genesis of Secrecy, commissioned for the 2009 BBC Proms and premiered by Sir Andrew Davis; and the abovementioned orchestral song cycle Augenlieder.  Future projects include a monodrama for tenor Mark Padmore and ensemble, a Piano Quintet commissioned by BBC Radio 3, and a choral work for the Rundfunkchor Berlin.

A release (for the NMC label) of Harrison Birtwistle works conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth with the Hallé Orchestra, has received high praise.  The Guardian commented: “Ryan Wigglesworth's performances with the Hallé are quite superb, with the intricacies of Birtwistle's instrumental writing always perfectly clear”.

Born in Yorkshire, he studied at Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Between 2007-9 he was a Lecturer at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. His compositions are published by Schott Music.

SEASON 2011/2012