Tecwyn Evans (born 15 September 1971) is a New Zealand conductor. He holds a faculty position teaching conducting at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

School of Music and in 2018 he was named as Director of Music of

Den Jyske Opera Den Jyske Opera, also known as the Danish National Opera, is based in Aarhus, Denmark. Established in 1947, it's Denmark's largest touring opera company, and the second only to the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Description Founded in Aarhus ...

(Danish National Opera). Evans has shared the concert platform with soloists including

Steven Isserlis Steven Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. He has led a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. Acclaimed for his profound musicianship, he is also noted for his diverse reper ...

, Rebecca Evans,

Jonathan Lemalu Jonathan Fa'afetai Lemalu (born 1976) is a New Zealand bass baritone opera singer. Born to Samoan parents who had emigrated to New Zealand, he was educated in Dunedin. His first singing teacher was Honor McKellar, who began teaching him while ...

Martin Roscoe Martin Roscoe (born 3 August 1952) is an English classical pianist. He performs as a concerto soloist, as a recitalist and as a chamber musician. Early life Martin Roscoe was born in Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire. He first became serious about mus ...

Anthony Marwood Anthony Marwood is a British solo violinist. Early life He was born 6 July 1965 to Michael Travers Marwood and Anne née Chevallier. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Music and t ...

, So Ock Kim,

Nicola Benedetti Nicola Joy Nadia Benedetti (born 20 July 1987) is an Italian-British classical solo violinist and festival director. Her ability was recognised when she was a child, including the award of BBC Young Musician of the Year when she was 16. She w ...

Jennifer Pike Jennifer Elizabeth Pike (born 9 November 1989) is a British violinist. Early years and education Pike began playing the violin at the age of five, and after auditioning at the age of eight she gained a place at Chetham's School of Music in M ...

Marlis Petersen Marlis Petersen (born 3 February 1968)Heinrich (2018) is a German operatic coloratura soprano. Career Born in Sindelfingen, Baden-Württemberg, Marlis Petersen won six important piano competitions before eventually going to the Stuttgart Conser ...

Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', ''Leporello'' and ''D ...

, James Rutherford, Dame Malvina Major, Susanna Andersson,

Nicolas Altstaedt Nicolas Altstaedt (born 1982) is a German classical cellist. Biography and career Altstaedt was born in Heidelberg, Germany. As a soloist, conductor, and artistic director, he performs repertoire spanning from early music to the contemporar ...

Peter Auty Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, and

Elin Manahan Thomas Elin Manahan Thomas (born 1977) is a Welsh soprano. A specialist in Baroque music, she sang at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. Biography Thomas was born in Gorseinon near Swansea, Wales, the daughter of M. Wynn Thomas ...

. Across ten countries Evans has conducted the

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Med ...

, 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 ...

, 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 ...

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United K ...

, the

Orchestra of Opera North The Orchestra of Opera North (or English Northern Philharmonia as recording name) is the orchestra that plays for the Opera North. It was founded as the English Northern Philharmonia, and changed its name during the period when Steven Sloane was O ...

, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Nordic Chamber Orchestra,

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra ( no, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Stavanger, Norway. The SSO principal venue is the Stavanger Concert Hall (Stavanger konserthus), performing in the Fartein Valen concert hall. ...

, Grazer Philharmonic Orchestra,

Manchester Camerata The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances. The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridg ...

, Salomon Orchestra, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra,

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall. The APO is the accompanying ensemble for performances by New Zealand Opera, NZ Opera and th ...

, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands, Queensland and Adelaide symphony orchestras.

Career

Early life in New Zealand

Tecwyn Evans was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, son of Donald and Elizabeth Evans (née Hope). Evans grew up in Auckland until 1977 when his father moved to Hamilton as part of his work with

South Pacific Television South Pacific Television (SPTV) was a television channel in New Zealand, which operated between 1976 and 1980. History The channel, then known as TV2, first went to air on 30 June 1975. It was the second national government television channel ...

. The family moved again in 1981, this time to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. Evans sang in the

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

Choir, attended Arthur Street Primary School, Balmacewen Intermediate, and

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

before graduating with a BMus in Composition and Conducting, and Masters in Composition from the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

studying under Associate Professor Jack W.M. Speirs. During this time he was instrumental in the development of the Southern Youth Choir, and in 1995 became Composer in Residence with the Southern Sinfonia (now Dunedin Symphony Orchestra). From 1989 to 1995 Evans was a member of the

New Zealand Youth Choir The New Zealand Youth Choir is a mixed choir consisting of around 50 singers, auditioned nationally every 3 years from around New Zealand. The choir accepts members aged between 18 and 25 at the time of audition, and places will generally be offe ...

and from 1990 to 1996 a member of the University of Otago Capping Sextet.

Early conducting and positions

After his studies in New Zealand, Evans left on a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study conducting 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 ...

with Brian Priestman and

Simon Carrington Simon Carrington (born 1942) is an English conductor, singer and double bass player. He was a founding member and member for 25 years of the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble the King's Singers; he subsequently worked for 15 years in the United ...

. His career began when

Sir Andrew Davis Sir Andrew Frank Davis (born 2 February 1944) is an English conductor. He is conductor laureate of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Early life and education Born in Ashridge, t ...

appointed him Chorus Master for

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

in 1999, the following year making his

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 hundr ...

debut conducting performances of ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

'' on the Glyndebourne Tour. From 2009 to 2011 Evans held the post of Erste Kapellmeister und Stellvertreter des Chef Dirigenten at

Grazer Oper The Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (''Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester''). History Opera h ...

Graz, Austria Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

. Evans has conducted ''Don Giovanni'' (

English Touring Opera English Touring Opera (ETO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom founded in 1979 under the name Opera 80 by the then-existing Arts Council of Great Britain. In 1992 the company changed to its present name. Today it is sponsored in part by Ar ...

), ''Die Fledermaus'' (ETO), ''Fidelio'', ''La Bohème'', ''Pelleas et Melisande'' (

Opera Theatre Company The Irish National Opera was created from a merger of the Opera Theatre Company (OTC) and Wide Open Opera in 2017 and launched in January 2018. The new entity continues the tradition of the former Opera Ireland (), Ireland's first permanent natio ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

), ''The Rake's Progress'', ''Eugene Onegin'' (

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

), ''Hansel and Gretel'' (

New Zealand Opera New Zealand Opera is New Zealand's only full-time professional opera company, formed in 2000 from the merger of companies in Auckland and Wellington (and later Christchurch). New Zealand Opera is headquartered in Parnell, Auckland, stages severa ...

), ''Rotter'' (

Oper Köln The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court th ...

), ''Carmen'' (

Gothenburg Opera The Gothenburg opera house ( sv, Göteborgsoperan) is an opera house at Lilla Bommen Lilla Bommen is a part of Gothenburg harbor used for visiting boats and also the name given to the land surrounding the harbor. The eponymous building along w ...

), ''Madama Butterfly'' (Grazer Oper/ Danish National Opera, University of Otago), ''Aida'' (Lyric Opera Productions), ''La Rondine'', ''L'elisir d'amore'', ''Falstaff'' (

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and ...

), ''Die Meistersinger'', ''Le Nozze di Figaro'', ''Die Csardasfürstin'', ''La Traviata'', ''Don Giovanni'', ''Faust'', ''The Queen of Spades'' (Grazer Oper), ''Maria Stuarda'', ''Simon Boccanegra'' (

Chelsea Opera Group Chelsea Opera Group is an organisation based in London which arranges concert productions of operas and other works. It was founded in 1950 when David Cairns and Stephen Gray invited Colin Davis, who was at the time a 22-year-old clarinetist, ...

). His appearance in the final of the 2005

Leeds Conductors Competition The Leeds Conductors Competition, is a music competition for young British conductors in the city of Leeds. History The competition was founded by Michael Johnson of the Leeds City Council and David Lloyd-Jones, Founder Director of Opera North wi ...

led to his debut with the

and at the

BBC Promenade Concerts The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

with the same orchestra. His German operatic debut came in 2008 stepping in at two weeks' notice to conduct

Torsten Rasch Torsten Rasch (born 1965 in Dresden) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. He lives in Berlin, but has found moderate success in the UK. Biography Torsten Rasch was born in Dresden in 1965 and began piano lessons at the age of s ...

's opera ''Rotter'' at Oper Köln. Other highlights of his career so far have been a CD of music by NZ composer

Anthony Ritchie Anthony Damian Ritchie (born 18 September 1960) is a New Zealand composer and academic. He has been a freelance composer accepting commissions for works and in 2018 he became professor of composition at The University of Otago after 18 years of ...

with the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

, conducting the world premiere of Ross Harris's Violin Concerto no. 1 with British violinist

and the same orchestra, and recording a CD with

and the orchestra 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 ...

for

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. He has also appeared in concert with Bryn and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and with the

. In July 2013, Evans conducted three world premieres of

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), '' The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and ''Song ...

with the BBC Philharmonic at the

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...

. 2014 saw premieres of Anthony Ritchie's Violin Concerto with Southern Sinfonia and Bella Hristova and the opera ''This Other Eden'' by Anthony Ritchie and

Michelanne Forster Michelanne Forster (born 26 April 1953) is a New Zealand playwright and scriptwriter who was born in California, USA. Her writing career began in the 1980s at Television New Zealand where she worked on the popular pre-school program '' Play Scho ...

at Arts Festival Dunedin.

Later positions

In 2015, Evans returned to the BBC Philharmonic, recording a concert of NZ and Australian music for the 2015

Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

commemorations and worked with

Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg The Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg (Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra) is a French orchestra based in Strasbourg. It is one of the two permanent orchestras of the Opéra national du Rhin (the other being the Orchestre symphonique de Mulh ...

recording the orchestral tracks as part of

John Psathas John Psathas, (born Ioannis Psathas, el, Ιωάννης Ψάθας; 1966) is a New Zealand composer. He has works in the repertoire of such high-profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman and the New ...

' 'No Man's Land' project. Other recent highlights include BBC New generation artist recordings with BBC NOW and soloists

Pavel Kolesnikov Pavel Kolesnikov () (born 25 February 1989) is a Russian pianist and chamber musician. Life Born in Novosibirsk, Kolesnikov, the son of scientists, began learning the piano and violin at the age of six. In 2004, at the age of 15, he went to t ...

and

Narek Hakhnazaryan Narek Hakhnazaryan ( arm, Նարեկ Հախնազարյան) (born October 23, 1988) is an Armenian cellist who won the gold medal for cello at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Biography Hakhnazaryan was born and raised by his mu ...

, ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' with

Huddersfield Choral Society Huddersfield Choral Society is a choir based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1836, and is recognised as one of Britain's leading choirs. Over the years the choir has performed most of the major works in the choral rep ...

and the

Royal Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. Since 2004, the ...

, ''Messiah'' in Edinburgh, his Norwegian debut with the

and performances of Gershwin's '' Crazy for You'' with

. Early in 2016, Evans made his debut with the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British c ...

and returns to the ensemble in 2017. In January 2017 he was appointed to a two-year fixed term position at the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the

as Lecturer in Ensemble Conducting.

Personal life

He lives in

Kvidinge Kvidinge is a locality situated in Åstorp Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 1,854 inhabitants in 2010. It is famous as the death site of Charles August, Crown Prince of Sweden in 1810. Crown Prince was inspecting the Scanian Hussar Re ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with his wife, Swedish soprano Susanna Andersson.

Recordings

*''A bugle will do'', Anthony Ritchie/NZSO Atoll Records *Christmas Songs, Bryn Terfel/Orchestra of Welsh National Opera/Deutsche Grammophon *''La Traviata'', Grazer Oper/Arthaus Musik, Dir. Peter Konwitschny Petersen, Rutherford, Varano. * ''That Blessed Wood'', Rory Boyle,

National Youth Orchestra of Scotland The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) caters for students aged between 8 and 25, through orchestras, jazz bands, training ensembles and outreach programmes. In addition to organising residential training courses, rehearsals and nati ...

/David Hubbard EP * ''This is Me'', Susanna Andersson/Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra/Orlando Records

Awards

*1994 Philip Neill Memorial Prize

*1995 Research Master's Scholarship

*1997/1998

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Scholar

References

External links

Official websiteSOUNZ profileCalling Home: Tecwyn Evans in Kvidinge, Sweden. Interview on RNZ, 1 August 2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Tecwyn 1971 births Living people New Zealand conductors (music) Male conductors (music) University of Otago alumni 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians

Career

Early life in New Zealand

Early conducting and positions

Later positions

Personal life

Recordings

Awards

See also

References

External links