Recognized from childhood for his musical promise, Andrew Litton completed his studies in the United States and first gained recognition as a compelling conductor in England. He later returned to America to lead a major ensemble, the Dallas Symphony. One of the few American-born and American-educated musicians to occupy a prominent podium post in the United States, Litton attracted unusually intense attention. He has conducted in outstanding halls and benefited from exceptionally clear recorded sound. In 2015 he assumed the post of music director at the New York City Ballet. While at the head of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, he brought out the final installment of his Prokofiev symphony cycle in 2020.
Litton entered the world in New York on May 16, 1959. At the Juilliard School of Music he studied conducting with Sixten Ehrling and piano with Nadia Reisenberg. His abilities earned him the Bruno Walter Scholarship, which supported additional work with Edoardo Müller, Neeme Järvi, and Walter Weller. Success in the 1982 Rupert Foundation International Competition in England led to a debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra later that year and substantial exposure among British listeners. From 1982 to 1986 he served first as associate conductor and then as assistant conductor under Mstislav Rostropovich at the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington. During those years he absorbed extensive knowledge from the man he calls his “first and only boss,” particularly gaining deep insight into Shostakovich. Litton has often stated that Shostakovich stands as the twentieth century’s foremost symphonist, reflecting the tensions of contemporary life.
Following his tenure with the National Symphony, he appeared throughout the United States and Europe. In 1988 he was named principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in England. With that ensemble he earned favorable notice from British critics, strong support from local audiences, and broader international visibility through an extensive series of recordings. Appointed music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1994, he simultaneously became conductor laureate in Bournemouth. Several opera engagements followed, including his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1989 with Eugene Onegin. When the Glyndebourne Festival production of Porgy and Bess, originally led by Simon Rattle, reached Covent Garden in 1992, Litton took the podium. He also conducted Salome and Falstaff for the English National Opera.
In Dallas from 1994 to 2006, Litton embraced the full responsibilities of an American music director, overseeing not only performances but also significant fundraising efforts. His outgoing nature helped him connect with the Dallas community and underscore the orchestra’s central role in civic life. He noted with satisfaction an endowment that rose from $19 million to $100 million within seven years. Under his direction the Dallas Symphony became the first major orchestra to stream a live concert on the Internet, an innovation he believed could dispel preconceptions about concert music and allow listeners immediate reactions, thereby ending the critic’s monopoly on commentary. Named music director of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, he guided the ensemble on tours and recordings that raised its international profile. He played a key part in establishing Bergen’s National Opera and conducted its well-received productions. His leadership of the Bergen Philharmonic continued until 2015, when he was appointed music director laureate. That same year he became music director of the New York City Ballet. In 2017 he was named principal guest conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Litton’s extensive discography opened with a 1986 recording of Bach works featuring the English Chamber Orchestra and violinist Yuzuko Horigome. He has since produced a substantial body of recordings with every orchestra he has directed. A 1995 account of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Bournemouth Symphony and Bryn Terfel received a Grammy Award. A live New York Philharmonic performance of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd brought a second Grammy nomination. During the 2010s he and the Bergen Philharmonic embarked on a cycle of Prokofiev symphonies for the BIS label, completing it in 2020 with a release of the composer’s first three symphonies.
