Antony Walker is an Australian conductor who currently resides in Washington, D.C. He has held the positions of musical director of

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney ...

, Chorus Master and staff conductor of

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

, and is currently artistic director and Conductor of

Washington Concert Opera Washington Concert Opera is a professional opera company located in Washington, D.C. in the United States which presents operas in a Concert version, concert format with full orchestra and chorus. WCO's distinctive repertoire consists of operas wh ...

and music director of

Pittsburgh Opera Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Sch ...

. He co-founded

Pinchgut Opera Pinchgut Opera is a chamber opera company in Sydney, Australia, presenting opera from the 17th and 18th centuries performed on period instruments. Founded in 2002, Pinchgut stages two operas each year in Sydney's City Recital Hall. It also perfor ...

, the vocal ensemble

Cantillation Cantillation is the ritual chanting of prayers and responses. It often specifically refers to Jewish Hebrew cantillation. Cantillation sometimes refers to diacritics used in texts that are to be chanted in liturgy. Cantillation includes: * Chant ...

and the orchestras

Sinfonia Australis Sinfonia Australis is an Australian early music ensemble founded by Antony Walker and Alison Johnston. They play on period instruments. They were founded alongside vocal ensemble Cantillation and the Orchestra of the Antipodes. Along with Gerard ...

and

Orchestra of the Antipodes Orchestra of the Antipodes is an Australian early music ensemble founded by Antony Walker and Alison Johnston. They play baroque music on early instruments. They were founded alongside vocal ensemble Cantillation and the Sinfonia Australis orches ...

. Educated at Sydney Grammar School, and an honours graduate of the University of Sydney, Walker trained as a singer (tenor), pianist, cellist, and composer. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Walker has led performances of Gluck's ''Orfeo ed Euridice'', ''The Barber of Seville'', ''The Magic Flute'', and ''Les Pêcheurs de Perles'', as well as the National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert in 2016. For English National Opera he has conducted ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' and ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. Walker has appeared as guest conductor with Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, New York City Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, The Merola Program of the San Francisco Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Minnesota Opera, Arizona Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, North Carolina Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Opera di Firenze. In 2008 he conducted the US premiere of William Walton's opera ''Troilus and Cressida'' at the Opera Theater of St Louis, and in the 2018–19 season for Washington Concert Opera he conducted the US premiere of Gounod's ''Sapho'' (starring Kate Lindsay) and the first performance in the US since 1835 of Rossini's ''Zelmira'' (with Silva tro SantaFé,

Lawrence Brownlee Lawrence Brownlee (born November 24, 1972) is an American operatic tenor particularly associated with the bel canto repertoire. Describing his voice, Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, said: "There are other singers that sing ...

, and Vivica Genaux). In 2022 Walker conducted the world premiere of ''In a Grove'', by Christopher Cerrone, for Pittsburgh Opera. He has conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmanian, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestre Colonne in Paris, Thessaloniki State Symphony, and made his debut with the Mozarteum Orchester in Salzburg in Jan 2019 with a program of Berlioz and Tchaikovsky. He is noted as a fine interpreter of "bel canto", Rossini, French opera, Verdi, Puccini, the Viennese classical composers, Bach, and Handel, as well as French and English composers of the 20th century.

Selected recordings

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

: '' David + Jonathan (David et Jonathas'' H.490),

Anders J. Dahlin Anders J. Dahlin (born March 12, 1975) is a Swedish tenor. He studied at the in Sweden, at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Music career In 1998 he made his operatic debut at the N ...

(David),

Sara Macliver Sara Macliver is an Australian soprano singer, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. Macliver is a versatile artist, appearing in operas, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings. She is regarded as one of the leading ...

(Jonathan), Dean Robinson (Saul), Paul McMahon (La Pythonisse), Richard Anderson (Achis), David Parkin (Ghost of Samuel), Simon Lobelson (Joabel) ;

, Orchestra of the Antipodes & Cantillation conducted by Antony Walker, (2 CD

ABC Classics ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, cat. 4763691) 2009.

References

Australian conductors (music) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Male conductors (music) 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century Australian male musicians 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century Australian musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians Australian expatriates in the United States {{conductor-stub