Andrew Litton conductor

Andrew Litton is currently in his eighth season as the first American Music Director of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra of Norway with whom he has already led several major international tours including the London Proms, several visits to the Vienna Musikverein and New York's Carnegie Hall.

Litton also serves as the highly acclaimed Artistic Director of the Minnesota Orchestra's Sommerfest where, thanks to his multiple talents as conductor, solo pianist and chamber musician, he has singly raised the artistic profile and public success of the festival to an unprecedented level over the past eight years under his leadership.

Mr. Litton is a highly esteemed conductor on the world stage and has conducted nearly all of the great orchestras of the world including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic and the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo.

Having served twelve seasons as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony, New York-born Andrew Litton is also one of but a handful of Americans to have led a major American orchestra. During his tenure he raised the orchestra's international profile, led the orchestra on three major European tours, appeared four times at Carnegie Hall, and produced over 25 recordings, one of the largest recent outputs of any American orchestra. The Dallas/Litton partnership is one of the longest and most successful in America, with Litton serving as Music Director Emeritus of the orchestra. He continues his post as Conductor Laureate of Britain's Bournemouth Symphony, which he headed as Music Director from 1988 to 1994.

This season Litton dons his operatic talents leading two major Richard Strauss operas with two major opera houses on the world stage: Der Rosenkavelier with Opera Australia in Sydney and Der Liebe der Danae with the Deutsche Oper Berlin (with whom he also conducted another highly acclaimed Strauss production of The Egyptian Helen in 2009). He also stands at the helm of another Strauss Opera Gala with the Tonkuenstler Orchestra Vienna at the Grafenegg Festival in the summer of 2011 and directs the New Year Opera Gala with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. He leads a concert version of Rigoletto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra of London as well.

He makes a long-awaited debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic this season and a long overdue return visit to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in addition to return appearances with his many "frequently" visited orchestras with whom he now has long-standing relationships: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Orchestre National de Lille, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Last season Mr. Litton returned to the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. to conduct the world premiere of a new Piano Concerto by Jennifer Higdon on subscription concerts in addition to leading a Kennedy Center Gala Concert with the NSO and Lang Lang as piano soloist.

Mr. Litton will also stood at the helm of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on an ongoing basis in the 2009-10 season with concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall and culminating in a BBC Proms appearance with this orchestra in August, 2010.

He also returned in 2009-10 to the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, the Tonkuenstler Orchestra of Vienna, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of Utah and Colorado among others. He made debut appearances last season with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Hamburg Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the City of London Sinfonia.

Season (2008-09) marked Maestro Litton's Deutsche Oper Berlin operatic debut leading performances of Richard Strauss' "Egyptian Helen". He also made a triumphant return to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London on tour and at Royal Albert Hall London along with regular and ongoing appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra of London, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Tonkuenstler Orchestra Vienna as well as the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo and the orchestras of Minnesota, Dallas, Indianapolis and Vancouver in North America.

Summer 2009 brought Litton's first leading a highly acclaimed tour of the European Union Youth Orchestra in the great concert halls of Europe.

Further past season concerts have included appearances (in addition to the above orchestras) with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

In September 2007, Litton conducted the world premiere of the John Tavener Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Nicola Benedetti as violin soloist. He also conducted Elgar's Second Symphony on this same concert at which he was awarded the prestigious and highly coveted Elgar Society Award of Honor. As part of this celebration, October 2007 brought another Litton Elgar tribute with the English Chamber Orchestra at London's Cadogan Hall.

The summer of 2007 saw Litton conducting the Chicago Symphony in two concerts at the Ravinia summer festival along with a recording of Ambrose Thomas' opera "Le Coeur de Celimene" with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.

In December, 2005, Mr. Litton made a triumphant and highly acclaimed return to the English National Opera in performances of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd – the same production which also earned him rave reviews some years before at the Welsh National Opera.

He opened the 75th anniversary season of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center in July 2005 and returned there in summer 2006 to lead the orchestra again in two programs. He also headlined the Gala concert of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in July, 2006 as a celebration of George Gershwin where he play-conducted Rhapsody in Blue from the keyboard.

May 2005 included a triumphant return to Carnegie Hall leading the Dallas Symphony and Chorus in Orff's Carmina Burana.

Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic have begun an extensive recording relationship with BIS records including Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, the complete symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn (which have heralded major acclaim from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazines), orchestral works of Rachmaninov and the major Stravinsky ballets among other concerto recordings with major international soloists.

Litton's complete Rachmaninov Concerto series for Hyperion, recorded live in concert with pianist Stephen Hough and the Dallas Symphony, won both the Gramophone Magazine Award and the coveted 2005 Classical Brits/BBC Critics Award, after having received extraordinary critical acclaim worldwide. A complete set of the Four Symphonies of Charles Ives with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra was recently release on Hyperion.

Throughout his career, Litton has also appeared with the most prestigious opera companies of the world, including Royal Opera Covent Garden London, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Los Angeles Opera, the Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and others.

Litton's more than 85 recordings include a Grammy winning Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with Bryn Terfel and the Bournemouth Symphony, and a live performance recording of Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic (Grammy nomination), a Decca Walton Centennial boxed set, and the complete Tchaikovsky Symphonies with the Bournemouth Symphony, the complete Rachmaninov Symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic and many Gershwin recordings, both as conductor and pianist, with the Dallas Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, and Royal Philharmonic.

Andrew Litton, a graduate of the Fieldston School, New York, received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Juilliard in piano and conducting. The youngest-ever winner of the BBC International Conductors Competition, he served as Assistant Conductor at Teatro alla Scala and Exxon/Arts Endowment Assistant Conductor for the National Symphony under Rostropovich. Andrew Litton holds an honorary Doctorate from the University of Bournemouth and is a recipient of Yale University's Sanford Medal for his musical achievements.

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