Robert Edward Series "Bertie" Baigent (born 26 March 1995) is a British conductor, composer, and organist.

Biography

Baigent's aunt is the mathematician

Caroline Series Caroline Mary Series (born 24 March 1951) is an English mathematician known for her work in hyperbolic geometry, Kleinian groups and dynamical systems. Early life and education Series was born on March 24, 1951, in Oxford to Annette and Georg ...

. His grandfather was the physicist

George Series George William Series (22 February 1920 – 2 January 1995) was a British physicist, notable for his work on the optical spectroscopy of hydrogen atoms. Early life and education Series was born in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, the son of Will ...

. Baigent read music at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, where he was an organ scholar (2013) and where his teachers included Benjamin Walton. He subsequently completed an MA at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in 2018, where his instructors included

Sian Edwards Sian Edwards (born 27 August 1959) is an English conductor, best known as music director of English National Opera in the 1990s. Early life Sian Edwards was born in West Chiltington, West Sussex. She studied at Oxford High School, England (and i ...

Conducting career

Baigent was conductor of the Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra, and subsequently of the London Young Sinfonia from 2016 to 2018. Baigent has been music director of Waterperry Opera Festival since 2017. From 2018 until 2020, he was the assistant conductor of the

Colorado Symphony The Colorado Symphony is an American symphony orchestra located in Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital ...

and principal guest conductor of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra. In February 2022, the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its adminis ...

appointed Baigent as one of its new roster of six assistant conductors. In June 2022, Baigent was awarded the Grand Prix for the best overall performance at the inaugural International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, as well as winning the Classical Award and the Symphony Award. Subsequently, also in June 2022, the

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO; ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orchestras of international standing, s ...

appointed Baigent as its new assistant conductor. As a guest conductor, Baigent has appeared with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) () is a Scottish orchestra, based in Glasgow. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has played an important part in Scotland’s ...

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...

, the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio di Torino and the

New Japan Philharmonic The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. From 2003 to 2013 its music director ...

. In June 2023, he made his debut at the

Glyndebourne Festival Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

Compositional career

Baigent has won prizes in numerous composition competitions, including the Stainer and Bell Award for Choral Composition, the BBC Inspire Competition 2013, and the NCEM Young Composers Award. His work ''Joie de Vivre'' was commissioned for and played at the unveiling of a plaque to mark the first performance of

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus number, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many criti ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

. Baigent's compositions have been performed by the Orchestra of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

under

Antonio Pappano Sir Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Early life Pappano was born in Epping, Esse ...

, the

Aurora Orchestra Aurora Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra, co-founded in 2004 by conductors Nicholas Collon and Robin Ticciati. The orchestra is based in London, where it is Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre and Resident Ensemble at Kings Place. The ...

under

Nicholas Collon Nicholas Collon (born 7 February 1983 in London) is a British conductor. Biography A viola player, organist and pianist by training, Collon played viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYOGB). He studied at Eton and was an org ...

, the Bath Philharmonia and

Fretwork Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly u ...

. In 2015, a recording of his organ work ''Bright spark, shot from a brighter place'' was released by the German CD label JUBAL. His opera ''Paradise Lost'', based on Milton’s eponymous

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

, premiered in London in August 2022.

References

External links

Official website of Bertie Baigent

Askonas Holt agency page on Bertie Baigent

Royal Academy of Music, alumnus profile of Bertie Baigent

International Conducting Competition Rotterdam page on Bertie Baigent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baigent, Bertie 1995 births Living people Musicians from Oxford Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) English classical organists Fellows of the Royal College of Organists English classical composers 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British organists 21st-century British male musicians British male classical organists