Conductor and musical director Ben Glassberg will become the next principal conductor of the Glyndebourne Tour, it has been announced.
The Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra comprises a diverse mix of freelance musicians who come together to perform three productions for the Glyndebourne Tour. Glassberg begins his three-year tenure at the start of the 2019-20 season, which will see three operas on stage at Glyndebourne and at venues in Canterbury, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Woking and Norwich.
In the role, Glassberg will conduct one production on each tour for three years. The first will be Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love, 1832). The other two productions of the 2019 tour are Glyndebourne’s first production of Verdi’s Rigoletto (1851) and a revival of Handel’s Rinaldo (1711).
Glassberg is a regular at Glyndebourne. He first conducted a performance of La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus, Mozart, 1791) in summer 2017, returning in summer 2018 to conduct Madama Butterfly (Puccini, 1904), before conducting Verdi’s La traviata (The Fallen Woman, 1853) for last year’s Glyndebourne Tour.
The conductor commented: “I’m incredibly excited to be continuing my relationship with Glyndebourne as principal conductor of Glyndebourne Tour. My first professional work as an assistant was at Glyndebourne, and it’s where many memorable and joyous moments in my career so far have taken place. I look forward greatly to working with the outstanding orchestra and chorus over the next few years, after having a terrific experience with them both this year.”
Glyndebourne’s Director of Artistic Administration Steven Naylor added: “A major aim of the Glyndebourne Tour is to champion new talent. The role of principal conductor of the Glyndebourne Tour has been created to offer another vehicle for supporting exceptionally talented musicians, in this case conductors. From his previous work for Glyndebourne, it is clear that Ben is a rising star and we are delighted to be developing our relationship with him through this appointment.”
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Conductor Ben Glassberg on stage during a performance of La traviata Behind the Curtain for Glyndebourne Tour 2018 (Tristram Kenton).