Ivor Bolton Ivor Bolton (born 17 May 1958) is an English conductor and

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

Early life and education

Bolton was born in

Blackrod Blackrod is a town and civil parish situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Nestled in the historic County of Lancashire, Blackrod is positioned 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northeast of Wigan and 6.6 mi ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. He studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

(1976–80), and was conducting scholar at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

(1980–81).Adam, Nicky (ed). Ivor Bolton. In: ''Who's Who in British Opera.'' Scolar Press, Aldershot, 1993. He later trained as a

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

at the National Opera Studio and was appointed conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford.

Career

Bolton was Assistant Chorus Master and staff conductor from 1982–84 for

Glyndebourne Festival Opera 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 ...

. He made his operatic conducting debut in 1986 with

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...

'' for Opera 80. He later became music director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera (now Glyndebourne on Tour) from 1992–97. He was principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 1994–96. He has also held leadership positions whilst he was musical director of

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, England. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. The churc ...

in London from 1982 to 1990 with the St James's Baroque Players and The St James Singers (with whom he recorded J. S. Bach's harpsichord concertos BWV 1052–1058 in 1987, Charpentier's ''

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

'' H.146 and Missa ''Assumpta est Maria'' H.11 in 1996) and the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music. Other work with period ensembles has included collaboration with the ''Dresdner Festspielorchester'' (Dresden Festival Orchestra), which began in 2012. From 2004 to 2016, Bolton was Chief Conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, with which he appeared at

The Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

in 2006. He took the title of ''Ehrendirigent'' (Honorary Conductor) with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg as of the 2016–17 season. In February 2014, the

Teatro Real The Teatro Real () is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as "''El Real''" (The Royal One). it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts ...

in Madrid named Bolton its next music director, effective from the 2015–16 season, with an initial contract of five years. Bolton is scheduled to conclude his tenure as music director of the Teatro Real at the close of the 2024–25 season. In June 2015, the Sinfonieorchester Basel announced the appointment of Bolton as its next chief conductor, as of the 2016–17 season, with an initial contract of 4 years. In March 2018, the orchestra announced the extension of Bolton's contract through the 2024–2025 season. Bolton is scheduled to conclude his tenure as chief conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel at the close of the 2024–2025 season. With the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Bolton has made commercial recordings of music by W. A. Mozart,

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, and

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

. In addition, he has conducted commercial recordings of Handel's '' Theodora'' from the Salzburg Festival, Mayr's '' Medea in Corinto'' from Munich, Janáček's ''

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the Play (theatre), play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was ...

'' from the Teatro Real Madrid, Cavalli's '' Ercole amante'' from the Netherlands Opera, and Mozart's ''

Zaide ''Zaide'' (originally, ''Das Serail'') is an unfinished German-language opera, K. 344, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. Emperor Joseph II, in 1778, was in the process of setting up an opera company for the purpose of performing ...

'' and ''

La finta giardiniera ' ("The Pretend Garden-Girl"), Köchel catalogue, K. 196, is an Italian-language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on 13 January at the in M ...

'' from Salzburg. Bolton was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to music.

Personal life

Bolton is married to the musicologist, critic, and broadcaster Tess Knighton, whom he met at Cambridge. The couple have a son, and reside in Barcelona.

References

External links

Official website of Ivor Bolton

Ingpen & Williams' agency page on Ivor Bolton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Ivor 1958 births Living people English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge English harpsichordists 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians Oehms Classics artists People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Principal conductors of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra