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'''Alexander Prior''' (born 5 October 1992) is a British composer and conductor who studied at the [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory]]. He was Chief Conductor of the [[Edmonton Symphony Orchestra]] from 2017 to 2022, appointed at the age of 23.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/edmonton-symphony-orchestra-names-24-year-old-alexander-prior-as-conductor-1.3135579 | work=CTV News| location=Edmonton | title=Edmonton Symphony Orchestra names 24-year-old Alexander Prior as conductor | date=28 October 2016 | access-date=28 August 2017 }}</ref>
'''Alexander Prior''' (born 5 October 1992) is a British composer and conductor who studied at the [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory]]. He was Chief Conductor of the [[Edmonton Symphony Orchestra]] from 2017 to 2022, appointed at the age of 23.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/edmonton-symphony-orchestra-names-24-year-old-alexander-prior-as-conductor-1.3135579 | work=CTV News| location=Edmonton | title=Edmonton Symphony Orchestra names 24-year-old Alexander Prior as conductor | date=28 October 2016 | access-date=28 August 2017 }}</ref>


He is also known to be an avid fan of Country Music,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Falexpriormusic%2F |access-date=27 January 2024 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref> and especially the music of [[Corb Lund]], [[Blake Shelton]], and [[Paul Brandt]]. In September 2022 the Edmonton Symphony and Prior released a video of [[Ian Tyson]]'s [[Four Strong Winds]] – Alberta's unofficial anthem. Alex has also been a champion of music by younger living composers – especially the music of [[Nicole Lizée]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Mark |date=1 May 2022 |title=Review: Prior conducts Glass premiere and other new compositions |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/local-arts/review-prior-conducts-glass-premiere-and-other-new-compositions |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Gabriella Smith]], Vivian Fung, and Alissa Cheung.<ref name=":1" />
He is also known to be an avid fan of Country Music,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Falexpriormusic%2F |access-date=27 January 2024 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref> and especially the music of [[Corb Lund]], [[Blake Shelton]], and [[Paul Brandt]]. In September 2022 the Edmonton Symphony and Prior released a video of [[Ian Tyson]]'s [[Four Strong Winds]]. Alex has also been a champion of music by younger living composers – especially the music of [[Nicole Lizée]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Mark |date=1 May 2022 |title=Review: Prior conducts Glass premiere and other new compositions |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/local-arts/review-prior-conducts-glass-premiere-and-other-new-compositions |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Gabriella Smith]], Vivian Fung, and Alissa Cheung.<ref name=":1" />


His YouTube channel has over 300,000 followers and over 3 million views.<ref>{{Citation |title=Tchaikovsky Symphony no.6 "Pathétique" 1st movement, climax |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQQHfFY--c |access-date=27 January 2024 }}</ref>
His YouTube channel has over 300,000 followers and over 3 million views.<ref>{{Citation |title=Tchaikovsky Symphony no.6 "Pathétique" 1st movement, climax |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQQHfFY--c |access-date=27 January 2024 }}</ref>

Revision as of 17:59, 27 January 2024

File:Alex conducting the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra.jpg
Alex conducting the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra
File:QSO Power and Glory Large-159.jpg
Alex Prior after a performance of Shostakovich's Symphony no.5 with the Queensland Symphony in Brisbane, Australia

Alexander Prior (born 5 October 1992) is a British composer and conductor who studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2022, appointed at the age of 23.[1]

He is also known to be an avid fan of Country Music,[2] and especially the music of Corb Lund, Blake Shelton, and Paul Brandt. In September 2022 the Edmonton Symphony and Prior released a video of Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds. Alex has also been a champion of music by younger living composers – especially the music of Nicole Lizée,[3] Gabriella Smith, Vivian Fung, and Alissa Cheung.[4]

His YouTube channel has over 300,000 followers and over 3 million views.[5]

Life and career

File:Alexander Prior Portrait in Winspear.jpg
Alexander Prior in Edmonton's Winspear Centre

Prior was born in London to a British father and a Russian-Ukrainian mother, who is a direct descendant of Konstantin Stanislavski.[6] Prior began composing at the age of eight and by his early teens had written 40 works, including symphonies, concertos, two ballets, two operas, and a Requiem for the children of Beslan. At an early age, he began piano lessons. He later enrolled in the junior department of the Royal College of Music. At 13, he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory where he studied composition with Boris Tishchenko and opera and symphonic conducting with Alexander Alexeev (a pupil of Hans Swarowsky). In 2009, at age 17, he graduated with distinction, with two masters degrees in symphonic and operatic conducting, and in composition from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, a feet previously accomplished only by Sergei Prokofiev.[7]

Prior has conducted many of the world orchestras and ensembles, including the San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas, Toledo, Seattle, Queensland, Düsseldorf, and Houston Symphony Orchestras. Further collaborations include performances with the Brevard Festival Orchestra,[8] the New World Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid/Orchestra of Teatro Reál, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Spanish Radio Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Badische Staatskapelle Karslsruhe, the Deustche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the German Radio Orchestra in Saarbrücken, Camerata Salzburg, the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Copenhagen and Calgary Philharmonic orchestras, and the Kristiansand, Helsingborg, and Aarhus Symphony Orchestras.

File:ESO-Alex Prior-Charles Richard-Hamelin-20161029- ESK9630 2.jpg
Alex Prior with the Edmonton Symphony, after conducting John Adams' Harmonielehre [9]

He was appointed as Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at just 23 years of age (with a designate season prior to commencing his full tenure in 2017). Prior invested greatly in the artistic output and community outreach of the orchestra – championing new music,[4] with a focus on programming which reflects the rich diversity and cultural history of the region. By his third season every masters' series concert featured music by female composers.

Other operatic engagements include Martinu's Mirandolina at the Bayerische Staatsoper, La Traviata with Leipzig Opera,[10] Rusalka at the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl,[11] Hänsel und Gretel at Vancouver Opera,[12] and two productions of Richard Strauss's Elektra – one with Edmonton Opera[13] and the other with Theater Erfurt,[14] where he also led a critically acclaimed production of Weingartner's epic opera "Orestes" – the first performance of this opera in well over 100 years,[15] as well as a completely sold out production of Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.[16] At Frankfurt Opera, where he has a long-lasting ongoing relationship with the orchestra and the company, he has conducted Verdi's Rigoletto, Martinu's Julietta,[17] and in their symphonic series Holst's The Planets[18]. A planned production of Holländer in 2021 was sadly cancelled due to the COVID19 pandemic. Following his debut with Mozart's The Magic Flute[19] at Staatstheater Braunschweig he was invited back to conduct a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, after which the orchestra awarded him their prestigious and rare "Louis-Spohr-Medal".[20]

File:Alex Conducting Mowgli.jpg
Prior conducting his ballet score, "Mowgli" at the age of 14

Prior's Piano Concerto No. 1 was premiered at the V International Piano Festival in St. Petersburg in September 2006. Prior was runner-up in the 2008 International Prokofiev Composers Competition – his Piano Concerto No. 2 Northern Dances was performed by the State Academic Symphony of St. Petersburg in the Great Philharmonic Hall. In 2006, Prior's ballet Mowgli (based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book) was commissioned by choreographers Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vassilev of the Moscow State Classical Ballet. The official premiere took place at the Kremlin Theatre in Moscow in February 2008.

In November 2008 he conducted a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride in St. Petersburg, followed by a performance of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in January 2009.

On 8 January 2010, the Seattle Symphony appointed Prior as an Assistant Conductor.[21][22]

In Summer 2010. he was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.

In August 2011, he conducted the world premiere of his Triple Concerto, entitled "That which must forever remain unspoken", with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.[7][23]

In 2011, Prior was the principal conductor for the Northwest Mahler Festival in Seattle.[24]

In December 2011, Prior made his debut with the Royal Danish Orchestra and Royal Danish Ballet performing The Nutcracker at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen.[7] He has subsequently reinvited to conduct Carmen at the Royal Danish Theatre.[25][26]

File:Prior conducting Shostakovich.jpg
Prior conducting Shostakovich's 5th symphony with the Queensland Symphony

Awards

  • 2nd prize at the Leeds conducting competition at the age of 16[7][24]
  • International Prokofiev Composition Competition[27]
  • In Russia he was awarded the order of The Blue Cross, for his contribution to the national and international arts scene, and for his charitable work within music.[27]

Selected compositions

"Horizons: An American Crescendo for Four Soloists and Orchestra", dedicated to John Adams.

Concertos

  • 3 Piano concertos St. Petersburg Dances of the North and No.3
  • Concerto for 4 soloists and orchestra Velesslavitsa
  • Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello "That which must forever remain unspoken"

Symphonies

  • No.1 Karelian
  • No.2
  • No.3 "Northern"
  • No.4 "Gogol"

Operas

Ballets

Choral

  • All Night Vigil
  • Sounds of the Homeland
  • At the North for SATB Choir on Ivan Bunin's poetry

Piano Solo

  • 10 preludes
  • Evenings on the Farm near Dikanka

References

  1. ^ "Edmonton Symphony Orchestra names 24-year-old Alexander Prior as conductor". CTV News. Edmonton. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  3. ^ Morris, Mark (1 May 2022). "Review: Prior conducts Glass premiere and other new compositions".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b Mark, Morris (23 April 2022). "ESO channels the elements with new works including one from up-and-coming composer Alissa Cheung".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Tchaikovsky Symphony no.6 "Pathétique" 1st movement, climax, retrieved 27 January 2024
  6. ^ Franks, Alan (3 April 2010). "Meet conducting whizkid Alex Prior". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d Cf. Alex Prior website.
  8. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  9. ^ bfc-admin (22 September 2017). "Review: Alexander Prior's unusual debut as Edmonton Symphony's chief conductor". Symphony. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Opernnetz - Zeitschrift fuer Musiktheater und Oper". o-ton.online. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  11. ^ Peter, Wolf Dieter (27 December 2019). "Dvoraks 'Rusalka' im Festspielhaus Erl". www.abendzeitung-muenchen.de (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  12. ^ "A HANSEL AND GRETEL FULL OF DELIGHT – AND SOME THINGS TO GET USED TO". Vancouver Classical Music. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  13. ^ Morris, Mark (12 March 2017). "Edmonton Opera's Elektra is alternately violent and tender, triumphant and despairing".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ mdr.de. "Trauer muss Elektra tragen? Das Theater Erfurt kann sich mit dieser Neuproduktion schmücken | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  15. ^ "ERFURT/ Theater: ORESTES von Felix Weingartner. Premiere. 112 Jahre, 11 Monate und 26 Tage bis zur Grosstat der Wiederbelebung". Online Merker (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Theater Erfurt". Theater Erfurt (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  17. ^ https://oper-frankfurt.de/media/pdf/Julietta.pdf
  18. ^ "Sergio Tiempo und Alexander Prior". Museumskonzerte Frankfurt (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Alexander Prior, Conductor | Performances". Operabase. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  20. ^ "InTune — The Houston Symphony Magazine — June 2017 by Houston Symphony - Issuu". issuu.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Seattle Symphony Names 17-year-old Conductor Alexander Prior Assistant to the Guest Conductors". Seattle Symphony Orchestra Website. 8 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  22. ^ Bingham, John, "British teenage 'prodigy' Alexander Prior joins Seattle Symphony Orchestra: Alexander Prior, a British teenager hailed as a musical prodigy, has taken up a conducting appointment with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra", The Telegraph (UK), 11 January 2010
  23. ^ "Prodigies From Around the World", City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, July 2011
  24. ^ a b "The 2011 Northwest Mahler Festival Principal Conductor: Alex Prior" Archived 16 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Northwest Mahler Festiaval
  25. ^ Entr'acte from Bizet's Carmen, retrieved 27 January 2024
  26. ^ "Alexander Prior, Conductor". Operabase. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Biography: Alex Prior" – Seattle Symphony Orchestra biography
  28. ^ "Moscow Classical Ballet/"Mowgli"". classicalballet.ru. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
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