Kenneth Montgomery

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Kenneth Montgomery (born 1943, Belfast) is a British conductor, the only child of Lily and Tom Montgomery.[1] His upbringing was in Wandsworth Parade and he attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. His musical studies were at the Royal College of Music. He studied with Sir Adrian Boult, and later continued to study conducting with Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Sergiu Celibidache, and Sir John Pritchard. His early conducting engagements included work at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, as an assistant conductor, assistant choral conductor and rehearsal pianist. He later served on the conducting staff at Sadler’s Wells Opera.

In 1973, Montgomery became music director of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. In 1975, he became music director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and has continued with the ensemble as a guest conductor.[2] [3]. In 1985, he became both artistic and musical director of Opera Northern Ireland. Montgomery currently serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. In September 2006, the orchestra announced him as their next Principal Conductor in September 2007, the first Belfast-born musician appointed to this post.

Outside of the UK, in 1975, Montgomery was named principal conductor of the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra. Later, he was appointed as the director of the Dutch Radio Choir (Groot Omroepkoor). In 1991, he became director of opera studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He continues to make his home in the Netherlands.

Since 1982, Montgomery has been a regular guest conductor at Santa Fe Opera (SFO). In May 2007, Santa Fe Opera named Montgomery its interim Music Director, succeeding Alan Gilbert.[4] Montgomery's tenure as interim music director concluded after the 2007 season, with the naming of Edo de Waart as SFO's chief conductor effective 1 October 2007.[5] The same announcement also stated that Montgomery is scheduled to continue as a guest conductor at SFO for three operas over the years 2008 to 2011.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The music detective", Belfast Telegraph, 12 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-22. 
  2. ^ Erica Jeal, "A treasure on tour." The Guardian, 14 October 1999.
  3. ^ Tim Ashley, "Idomeneo" The Guardian, 9 October 2003
  4. ^ Anne Constable, "Santa Fe Opera music director steps down". The New Mexican, 9 May 2007.
  5. ^ Craig Smith. "Dutch maestro takes over as chief conductor", The New Mexican, 24 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-25. 
  6. ^ Matthew Westphal. "Santa Fe Opera Names Edo de Waart Chief Conductor", Playbill Arts, 24 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-25. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Alan Gilbert		 Interim Music Director, Santa Fe Opera
2007		 Succeeded by
Edo de Waart (chief conductor)
Preceded by
Thierry Fischer		 Principal Conductor, Ulster Orchestra
2007–		 Succeeded by
incumbent
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