Richard James Bradshaw (26 April 1944 – 15 August 2007) was a British opera conductor and the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in Toronto.

Early life and education

Bradshaw was born in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

, England. He grew up in Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire, where he began taking piano lessons when he was eight years old, and played the organ at his church when he was twelve. Bradshaw received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with honours in English from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1965. He studied conducting with

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

.Derek Shore. "Richard Bradshaw, 63".
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'. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 13 October 2007.

ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs ...

&nbs
0006-2510
p. 92.

Career

In 1971, Bradshaw conducted several concerts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1975 to 1977, Bradshaw was the Chorus Director at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. From 1977 to 1989, he was Chorus Director and Resident Conductor at San Francisco Opera. In 1988, he was a guest conductor of the Canadian Opera Company. In 1989, he was appointed Chief Conductor and Head of Music. In 1993 he conducted the company's production of Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" and Schoenberg's "Erwartung", which toured to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and to the Edinburgh International Festival. In 1994, he was appointed Artistic Director and General Director in 1998. At the COC, he conducted more than 60 operas as well as leading the orchestra in concerts. In 2004, he was made a member of the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

for having "brought the COC international acclaim, including a first-ever invitation to the Edinburgh Festival, garnering two prestigious awards". In 2006, Bradshaw received the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the

Governor General's Performing Arts Awards A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. It was also that year that saw the opening of the

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is a 2,071-seat theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the southeast corner of University Avenue and Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario ...

. In September of that year, Bradshaw and the COC opened the season with three complete performances of Wagner's

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

, becoming the first conductor since

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

himself to inaugurate an opera house with a complete Ring. He continued to conduct the COC orchestra until his death the following year.

Death and legacy

On 15 August 2007, at age 63, Bradshaw died after collapsing from an apparent heart attack while at Toronto Pearson International Airport. He left a wife Diana, daughter Jenny, and son James. The Richard Bradshaw Fellowship in Opera at the University of Toronto was founded in his name, and Toronto's Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre was named for him. A prize in his name was presented at the Canadian International Organ Competition in Montreal in 2008."Montreal plays a fine host for organists"
''Toronto Star'', Oct. 25, 2008

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Richard 1944 births 2007 deaths Alumni of the University of London English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Members of the Order of Ontario People from Rugby, Warwickshire Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners 20th-century musicologists 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians