Ryan Wigglesworth (b. 1979) is a composer, conductor and pianist born in Yorkshire, England.
In recent seasons he has appeared with orchestras and ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Avanti!, Ensemble Modern and English Touring Opera. His repertoire stretches from the Baroque to the present day, with over forty premieres to date, including works by Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr and Carter. During the past year he made his second appearance at the BBC Proms, his debut at the Royal Opera House, appeared as pianist/director in performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17, and conducted Eugene Onegin at the Endellion Festival. Forthcoming concerts include a re-invitation to the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall, returns to the BBCSO and the Britten Sinfonia, and his debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchestra at the Philharmonie, Berlin.
As a composer, his recent triptych of works for the BBCSO have met with widespread critical acclaim.[1][2][3] Sternenfall (2007); The Genesis of Secrecy (2009), commissioned by the BBC Proms and premiered by Sir Andrew Davis; and Augenlieder (2009), an orchestral song cycle written for soprano Claire Booth and premiered under the direction of the composer at the Barbican in November 2009. Augenlieder won the vocal prize at the 2010 British Composer Awards.[4] His most recent work – A First Book of Inventions (2010) – was premiered by the composer with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in November 2010.[5] Upcoming projects include a work for tenor Mark Padmore and the Berlin Philharmonic’s Scharoun Ensemble, and a Violin Concerto for Gordan Nikolić and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, as part of his residency with the NCO and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam.
Wigglesworth was educated at Oxford University (where he held the position of Organ Scholar at New College) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and between 2007-9 was a Lecturer at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College.
[1] Wigglesworth's Homepage at Schott Music
[2] Agent's website