Brian Priestman (10 February 192718 April 2014) was a British conductor and music educator.

Biography

Priestman was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. He studied at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

(BMus Music; MA Music, 1952) and the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He founded and was principal conductor of the Opera da Camera and the Orchestra da Camera in Birmingham, and Music Director of the

Royal Shakespeare Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespe ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

(1960–1963). He was Music Director of the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

(1964–1968), Music Director of the

Handel Society of New York The Handel Society of New York (HSNY) was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas and oratorios by George Frideric Handel from 1966-1974. The group mainly performed out of Carnegie Hal ...

(1966–1970), Resident Conductor of the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

(1968–1970), Music Director of the

Denver Symphony Orchestra The Denver Symphony Orchestra, established in 1934 and dissolved in 1989, was a professional American orchestra in Denver, Colorado. Until 1978, when the Boettcher Concert Hall was built to house the symphony orchestra, it performed in a successio ...

(1970–1978), Principal Conductor of the New Zealand National Orchestra (1973–1976), Music Director of the Florida Philharmonic (1977–1980), Principal Conductor of the Cape Town Symphony (1980–1986), and Principal Guest Conductor of the

Malmö Symphony Orchestra The Malmö Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Malmö Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish orchestra, based in Malmö. Since 2015, it has been resident at the Malmö Live Concert Hall. The orchestra has a complement of 94 musicians. History The orchestra was fo ...

(1988–1990). His final performances as conductor took place in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

in October 2003. As a guest conductor he appeared with all the major British orchestras, including more than 300 concerts for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, with orchestras in Australia, Hong Kong, Southern Africa, and all the major orchestras of Scandinavia, Belgium etc. etc. He founded the New York Handel Opera Society and appeared frequently at the

Mostly Mozart The Mostly Mozart Festival is an American classical music festival based in New York City. Venues The festival presents concerts with its resident ensemble, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, principally at David Geffen Hall of the Lincoln Ce ...

concerts there as well as for seven years at the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

and seven at the Grant Park, Chicago, Festival. He recorded for

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and

Westminster Records Westminster Records was an American classical music record label, issuing original recordings until 1965. It was co–founded in 1949 by Mischa Naida (who later founded Musical Heritage Society), the owner of the Westminster Record Shop in New Y ...

, including the first complete operas of

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

for the latter. As an academic he was Dean of the Faculty of Music and Professor at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

(1980–1986) and Artist-in-residence at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

(1992–2002) and for three years was Music Director of the

National Youth Orchestra of Canada The National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYO Canada, or NYOC, french: Orchestre national des jeunes du Canada) is a Canadian youth orchestra headquartered in Toronto. The orchestra has given concert tours in every major Canadian city as well as tri ...

(1967–1969). Priestman wrote articles in music periodicals and encyclopedias including the ''

New Grove Encyclopedia ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', ''

Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (MGG)'' is one of the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth of research areas, and reference t ...

'', ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', and ''Music and Letters''. He resides in France. He was awarded honorary doctorates from

Regis University Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nu ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. He was awarded the Golden Lyre by the American Institute of High Fidelity for services to music in the United States. On 18 April 2014, he died at his home in Broze, France.Rinaldi, Ray Mark (18 April 2014)
"Brian Priestman, 87, former Denver Symphony conductor", Denver Post
Retrieved 19 April 2014 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Priestman, Brian English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) British music educators People from Birmingham, West Midlands 1927 births 2014 deaths University of Cape Town academics People educated at Sidcot School Alumni of the University of Birmingham