Mark Wigglesworth (born 19 July 1964) is a British conductor.

Biography

Born in Sussex, Wigglesworth attended

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928. ...

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He won the Kondrashin Conducting Competition in Amsterdam in 1989. John Drummond appointed him associate conductor of the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

in 1991, a post he held until 1993. Wigglesworth was principal conductor of the

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...

from 1996 until 2000. He was principal guest conductor of the

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The ...

from 1998 to 2001. Wigglesworth led his first opera production in 1991, conducting ''Cosi fan Tutte'' for Opera Factory in London. He made his first conducting appearance with the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, Covent Garden in November 2002. He has also conducted at the

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 ...

, the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

, and

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hun ...

. In 2005, he made his

debut conducting Le Nozze di Figaro. In April 2006, Wigglesworth had been named the next music director of the

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

opera, Brussels, succeeding

Kazushi Ono Kazushi (written: 和志, 和司, 和士, 和史, 一志 or 一至) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese rugby sevens player *, Japanese writer *, Japanese footballer *, Jap ...

. After a season of working together with the company's then-music director,

(2007–2008), Wigglesworth had originally been scheduled to assume sole control as music director with the 2008–2009 season. In April 2008, La Monnaie announced that Wigglesworth would not take up the post of music director at La Monnaie. In January 2014,

(ENO) named Wigglesworth its next music director, succeeding Edward Gardner effective September 2015. Shortly into his tenure, Wigglesworth expressed disapproval of proposals by ENO management for economising measures, such as a reduction in the contract of the ENO chorus. On 22 March 2016, he resigned from the music directorship of ENO, effective at the close of the 2015–2016 season. The resignation report indicated that he was to honour existing conducting commitments with the company. In a separate letter to ENO musicians, Wigglesworth said: : "The company is evolving now into something I do not recognise, and as hard as I have tried to argue to maintain what I believe to be the fundamental pillars of our identity, I have failed to persuade others of this necessity.” Wigglesworth has recorded commercially for such labels as BIS. In 2018, Faber & Faber published Wigglesworth's book ''The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters''. In November 2021, the

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

announced the appointment of Wigglesworth as its next principal guest conductor, with immediate effect. Wigglesworth is married to the University College London archaeologist Annemieke Milks. The couple have a daughter and live in Sussex.

References

External links

Official website of Mark Wigglesworth

Intermusica agency biography of Mark Wigglesworth

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigglesworth, Mark Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of the University of Manchester English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) People educated at Bryanston School Living people 1964 births Music directors (opera) Laurence Olivier Award winners 21st-century British conductors (music)