Alexander Prior
Alexander Prior (b.1992) graduated with distinction from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied Symphonic and Opera conducting with professor Alexander Alexeev, a pupil of Hans Swarowsky, and composition with professor Anatoly Korolev.
In the 2009-2010 season Alexander served as the Assistant To Guest Conductors at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Within one month Alexander has already lead the orchestra in an open rehearsal of Mahler's 4th Symphony. The success of this rehearsal led the Seattle Symphpny directors to confirm Alexander as the conductor for a series of five concerts with the orchestra in Spring 2010. He worked with conductors such as Robert Spano, Thomas Dausgaard, Itzhak Perlman, Ludoviw Morlot, Vassilliy Sinaisky and others.
Alexander has also been invited to be a Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood, Music Centre this Summer as James Levine Scholar.
Alexander was Runner up in the 2009 Leeds Conductors Competition, conducting the Orchestra of Opera North in a performance of Sibelius Symphony No. 3 in the final round. David Whelton, Chairman of the Jury and Managing Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra, wrote: “I would particularly like to commend Alexander Prior, a young man of outstanding talent, and I look forward to seeing his career develop in years to come.” Other recent highlights include conducting the Northern Sinfonia at The Sage Gateshead – the result of a commission by Channel 4 to compose and conduct the premiere of a concerto featuring some of the world's most outstanding young musicians. This resulted in an immediate re-invitation to conduct the orchestra in January 2010.
Alexander made his UK conducting debut with The National Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican in March 2007, again receiving an immediate re-invitation to conduct the orchestra in April 2008. He has also conducted The State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg in a performance of his own String Symphony No.1 at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall in a concert devoted entirely to his own compositions. In November 2008 he conducted a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride and Verdi's La Traviata in St. Petersburg, and this was followed by a performance of The Nutcracker in January 2009.
In the 2009-2010 season Alexander was invited to conduct of The Barber of Seville at the International Opera Festival, Cheboksary National Opera and Ballet theatre (Russian Federation with Bolshoi Theatre soloists.) He also conducted productions of Dido and Aneas in Rubenstein Opera and Ballet Theatre, St. Petersburg.
As a composer, Alexander has worked in many genres, focusing on Opera/Ballet, symphonic and concerto repertoire, as well as occasionally writing for smaller ensembles and chamber music. In his music he often aims to capture the beauty and light of life, the great power of the human spirit, it's ability to withstand any suffering in the name of love, honor and truth; and to work in a style that encompasses feelings of our own time, yet strongly rooted in traditions of the past, creating a voice that aims to be innovative and exciting, and also accessible to a wider audience. Many aspects of his music draw on minimalism, that of the 20th century and that found in traditional music too. In 2006, Alexander's ballet Mowgli (based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book) was commissioned by choreographers Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vassilev of The Moscow State Classical Ballet. There have been several performances to date, all conducted by Alexander. The official premiere took place at the Kremlin, Moscow in February 2008 with Alex conducting the New Opera Orchestra (Moscow) and further performance in March 2009 in Kremlin.
Alexander was runner up in the 2008 International Prokofiev Composers Competition - his Concerto for piano and orchestra No 2 Northern Dances was performed by the State Academic Symphony orchestra of St. Petersburg in the Great Philharmonic Hall.
Other performances include his Sonata for Cello and Piano at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the selection of a symphonic poem, Stalin's March, as part of the Arts Council funded New Music Day with the City of London Sinfonia, The Prince's Feast performed by the National Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican (conducted by Alex) and the premiere of Svyatogor's Quest by the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio at the Wigmore Hall. In Autumn 2008, following successful performances in St. Petersburg, the Rossica Choir toured the UK, featuring Alex's choral cycle Sounds of the Homeland and parts of his All Night Vigil. Alex's most recent commission is by the St. Petersburg Concert Society, for a choral symphony based on Gogol's Diaries of a Madman, which was premiered in the Smolniy Cathedral in December 2009, with Alexander conducting the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra. Alexander recently received a commission to compose music, including a piano concerto, for a Franco-German film with an international cast.