The Orchestra of Scottish Opera
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, formed in 1980, is an integral part of Scotland's national opera company. The orchestra performs for all of Scottish Opera's main-scale and medium-scale performances, and is in ever-increasing demand as a concert-giving ensemble.
In addition to its commercial and education commitments, the orchestra works closely with Scotland's choral unions and societies and enjoys a special relationship with the highly successful Children's Classic Concerts and Celtic Connections. Under its founder, Sir Alexander Gibson, and subsequent Music Directors including John Mauceri, Sir Richard Armstrong and now Francesco Corti, the orchestra has acquired an enviable reputation both in the UK and abroad.
Michael Rosewell - conductor
Michael Rosewell has conducted extensively throughout Germany and Austria, including the opera houses of Kassel, Wiesbaden and Mannheim, where he held the position of resident staff conductor. As a member of the music staff of the Vienna State Opera he assisted Claudio Abbado and worked closely with many of the worlds' leading conductors and singers, notably Domingo, Carreras and Pavarotti. As a pianist, he also toured in concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Michael has conducted concerts in Leipzig, Vienna, Paris, Stuttgart and Zagreb with many European ensembles and orchestras, and recorded for Radio France Musique and Südwestfunk, Baden-Baden. He performs a wide and varied repertoire of opera and operetta, working at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera and English Touring Opera with regular appearances at the Aldeburgh, Bath, Buxton, Perth and Montepulciano Festivals. Michael has a close affinity with the music of Benjamin Britten with critically acclaimed performances of his operas, and in 2001, he was given the ‘American Opera Association Award' for his performances of The Rape of Lucretia, in Cincinnati, USA. As Associate Conductor for the London Handel Society, he has introduced many rarely-performed Handel operas to the London stage.
Michael Rosewell is Music Director of English Touring Opera, Artistic Director of the London Phoenix Ensemble and Director of Opera at the Royal College of Music, London.
