Mark Wigglesworth

Mark Wigglesworth has earned a broad international profile through his work across orchestral and operatic repertoire, and he has assembled an extensive recorded legacy highlighted by a full traversal of Shostakovich’s symphonies.

Born in England’s Sussex region on July 19, 1964, he studied first at Bryanston School in Dorset, then at Manchester University, and finished his conducting preparation at the Royal Academy of Music. A first-prize victory at the Kondrashin Conducting Competition in Amsterdam in 1989 launched a series of guest engagements; the following year he directed Mozart’s Così fan tutte for Opera Factory in London, after which operatic invitations multiplied. Between 1991 and 1993 he served as associate conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra; from 1996 to 2000 he led the BBC National Orchestra of Wales; and between 1998 and 2001 he also held the post of principal guest conductor with the Swedish Radio Symphony.

In the 2000s and 2010s he appeared regularly as guest conductor with major orchestras and opera companies, making his Covent Garden debut in London in 2002 and his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in 2005 with Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Additional engagements took him to the National Symphony in Washington, the New World Symphony in Miami, and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Although he was named music director of Belgium’s La Monnaie opera company for the 2008-2009 season, he never assumed the post. He did serve as music director of the English National Opera for the 2015-2016 season, resigning after disagreements with management over proposed cost reductions.

In 2018 he published the book The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters, which has since been issued in Spanish and Mandarin translations. His complete Shostakovich symphony cycle with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic for the BIS label began in 2005 with the Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65; the recordings were issued in multiple configurations and collected in a full set in 2021. He has also recorded Mahler and other composers in Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.