Christopher Seaman (born 7 March 1942,

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...

) is a British conductor.

Early life

Seaman was born to Albert Edward Seaman and Ethel Margery Seaman. He was educated at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

Choir School and

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...

, and later studied at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

.''International Who's Who in Classical Music 2009''. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group (2009), p. 742 ()

Career

From 1964 to 1968, he was principal timpanist with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

, before his appointment from 1968 to 1970 as assistant conductor with the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

(BBC SSO). He later served as the BBC SSO's principal conductor, from 1971 to 1977. Seaman has also held the post of Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor to the conducting course at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

. He also had a long association with the

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO-GB) is the national youth orchestra of the United Kingdom, consisting of 164 members of ages 13 to 19 years. Their mission is to "give thrilling experiences of orchestral music to teenage musici ...

. In the US, Seaman was 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 ...

from 1987 to 1998. From 1993 to 2004, he was music director of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

. In 1998, he became music director of the

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music. History George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Company ...

, continuing through 2011 and becoming that orchestra's longest-tenured conductor. In October 2009, the orchestra announced the conclusion of Seaman's tenure as director with the 2010-2011 season, and his lifetime appointment as the RPO's Conductor Laureate. Seaman has conducted recordings with the Rochester Philharmonic for the

harmonia mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''ha ...

label. He is also currently the Artistic Advisor to the

San Antonio Symphony Orchestra The San Antonio Symphony was a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season ran from late September to early June. Sebastian Lang-Lessing, its music director from 2010 to 2020, was the last to serve in that cap ...

, through the 2009-2010 season. His book ''Inside Conducting'' was published in 2013.

References

External links

HarrisonParrott agency biography of Christopher Seaman

Languages of signs

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

- The Body Sphere
Rochester Philharmonic biography of Christoper Seaman

San Antonio Symphony conductors page
British male conductors (music) 1942 births Living people People educated at The King's School, Canterbury 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians {{UK-conductor-stub