Martin André went
to the Yehudi Menuhin School where he studied the piano.
At Cambridge University he combined playing the piano
with conducting. Now as a conductor he divides his time
equally between the opera house and the concert
platform.
Concert appearances in the
UK have included the Philharmonia, Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia,
English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National
Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, New London Sinfonia, London
Soloists Chamber Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra,
City of London Chamber Orchestra, New Queen’s Hall
Orchestra, as well as concerts at the Bournemouth and
Edinburgh International Festivals and several broadcasts
on BBC Radio.
Abroad he has worked
regularly with the Limburgs Symphonie Orkest in Holland,
Orquestra Nacional do Porto and Remix Contemporary
Ensemble in Portugal, and in Norway with Collegium
Musicum, Tromsø Symfoniorkester and Bergen Filharmoniske
Orkester. Visits to Australia took him to the
Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, and also the
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, with whom he released his
first recording. He has also worked with the Jerusalem
Symphony Orchestra, including the finals of the
Bernstein International Singing Competition, and the
Peking Symphony Orchestra in Macau. On several
occasions he has visited Tirana, Albania, on an
initiative with the British Council.
He made his opera debut
conducting for Welsh National Opera, with whom he spent
many seasons as a resident conductor. During this time
he worked on a wide variety of operas, particularly 19th
century Italian repertoire. He continues to work across
a broad range of composers, although is particularly
recognised for his interpretations of Verdi, Mozart and
Janáček.
He has the rare distinction
of being the only conductor to have performed for all
the major British opera companies. Since leaving Welsh
National Opera, he has made guest appearances at the
Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Scottish
Opera, English National Opera, Opera North, Opera 80 and
Opera Northern Ireland. From 1993 to 1996 he was Music
Director of English Touring Opera. He was also Music
Director for the Opera North/RSC production of
Showboat at the London Palladium. In 2000 he
conducted a live televised version of The Marriage of
Figaro for BBC TV, shot on Location in Oxfordshire.
Internationally he has made
numerous appearances in the opera houses of Canada, the
Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy,
New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and the USA.
In the last few years he
has made his Italian debut in Italy at the Ravenna
Festival with Martinů's opera Julietta, conducted
Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf with Sullivan's
operetta The Gondoliers, and Offenbach's Opera Blaubart
at the Bregenz and St Pölten Festivals (Austria).
He created the Independent Youth Orchestra of
Portugal: this proved to be such a success that the
Orchestra was renamed Momentum Perpetuum by the players
themselves, and has gone on to perform a huge variety of
repertoire under Martin’s direction, in many cities
throughout Portugal, and also on tour in Italy.
This year (2009) he celebrated the 50th
Anniversary of Martinů’s death with a production of
Mirandolina, and continued his cycle of all the Janáček
operas with a production of The Excursions of Mr.
Brouček for Opera North and Scottish Opera. He co-wrote
the new English translation for this production.
He will celebrate his 10th visit to
Collegium Musicum Bergen in November, with a special
performance of the Mass in B minor by Bach.
In 2010 he will continue his fruitful collaboration
with the Royal College of Music in London, with 2 visits
(March and April), and return to Central City Opera
(Colorado USA) to conduct Offenbach’s Orpheus in the
Underworld. In Portugal, Momentum Perpetuum will again
present a concert in Casa da Música (Porto) on New
Year’s Day, and later in the year Martin will return to
lead the Orquestra Nacional do Porto in 2 adventurous
programmes.
Last update: 14 / 10 / 2009
