Sian Edwards (born 27 August 1959) is an English conductor, best known as music director of

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 ...

in the 1990s.

Early life

Sian Edwards was born in West Chiltington,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

. She studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and later with the conductors

Sir Charles Groves Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE (10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting v ...

, Ilya Musin and

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...

. She won first prize in the 1984 Leeds International Conducting Competition, on the strength of which she was engaged for concerts with a number of British orchestras.Duchen, Jessica and Richard Wigmore
"Edwards, Sian"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 2 June 2011

Career

In 1986, Sian conducted opera for the first time, with Kurt Weill's '' Mahagonny'' for

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish ...

. The following year, she conducted '' La traviata'' at

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 1988 she conducted the world premiere of

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...

's opera ''Greek'' at the Munich Festival, and followed it with further performances at the 1988

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

. In the same year she was the first female conductor engaged by 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, with Tippett's ''

The Knot Garden ''The Knot Garden'' is the third opera by composer Michael Tippett for which he wrote the original English libretto. The work had its first performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 2 December 1970 conducted by Sir Colin Davis and p ...

''. She was invited back to conduct ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

'', the opening opera of the 1989–90 season Edwards first appeared at the

conducting

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

's ''The Gambler'' in 1990. In 1993 she succeeded

Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...

as ENO's music director. She resigned from the post in December 1995, and has since freelanced. Sian Edwards returned to English National Opera for a new production of Orpheus in the Underworld in October 2019

The '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' lists the orchestras she has conducted: the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the St Petersburg Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She appeared in the BBC 4 production of 'In the Bleak Midwinter' about the composer

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

, conducting the Royal College of Music Orchestra. Sian Edwards is performing as guest conductor with the Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO). As part of its centenary season, she conducted the world premiere at the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris of Hans Gefors's opera ''

Clara Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine gi ...

''.Notice de spectacle - Clara - at the BnF database
accessed 25 May 2016. Sian Edwards is frequently involved with new music projects; as well as regular performances with the

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

, she also appears with the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

, Ensemble Resonanz and

Klangforum Wien The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music. Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no ...

among others. Sian was appointed Head of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London in 2013, where she directs the Masters course and the Sorrell Women's Conducting Programme. In July 2018 the RAM awarded her an Honorary Fellowshi

Previously she taught conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Guildhall School, and also gives masterclasses for the Dirigentenforum, Germany, and

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, Scotland.Sian Edwards
Sian Edwards - Guildhall School of Music & Drama, accessed 29 October 2013.

Sources

* Flitner, Bettina: ''Frauen mit Visionen – 48 Europäerinnen (Women with visions – 48 Europeans)''. With texts by

Alice Schwarzer Alice Sophie Schwarzer (born 3 December 1942) is a German journalist and prominent feminist. She is founder and publisher of the German feminist journal '' EMMA''. Beginning in France, she became a forerunner of feminist positions against anti-ab ...

. Munich: Knesebeck, 2004. , 76–79 p.

Notes

External links

Interview with Sian Edwards
by Bruce Duffie, September 19, 1996

at

Tonhalle Düsseldorf Tonhalle Düsseldorf is a concert hall in Düsseldorf. It was built by the architect Wilhelm Kreis. The resident orchestra, the ''Düsseldorfer Symphoniker'', play symphonic repertoire at the Tonhalle as well as opera at the Deutsche Oper am Rhei ...

, 2003
Sian Edwards short biography
Bach Cantatas Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Sian 1959 births English conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Living people Women conductors (music) 21st-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British conductors (music) 21st-century English musicians 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English women musicians 20th-century English women musicians People from West Chiltington Musicians from Sussex Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music