Wayne Marshall

Biography

Wayne Marshall travels worldwide as a conductor, virtuoso organist and solo pianist. A renowned interpreter of Gershwin, Bernstein, Ellington and other 20th century American composers, he became Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in September 2007. Appearances as guest conductor have included many UK orchestras as well as Accademia di Santa Cecilia, RAI Torino, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Vienna Radio, Swedish Radio, Sydney Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Maggio Musicale. Recent highlights have included 'West Side Story' (Bregenz) and 'Porgy and Bess' (BBC Proms, Bregenz, Washington, Dall and Paris). Organist-in-residence at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, he has played in many of the world's top recital venues.

Wayne Marshall was born in the UK and, after musical studies there and in Vienna, swiftly established an international career as organist and pianist. Organist-in Residence at Bridgewater Hall since its opening in 1996, he is now also in demand as a conductor and became Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in 2007 and is a celebrated interpreter of Gershwin, Bernstein and other 20th century American composers.

As conductor he has worked with the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, Tonkunstler Orchestra, Brabants Orkest, WDR Cologne, Cherubini Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Moscow Chamber Choir and Maggio Musicale as well as his regular commitments with Orchestra Verdi. During the 2011/2012 season, Wayne Marshall will be conducting the Brussels Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia. Opera plans includes Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at Opera de Montreal and a new production and further performances of Candide in Berlin. In 2014 he will be conducting Kurt Weill’s Mahagony at the Staatsoper in Berlin.

Recent conducting engagements include working with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Maggio Musicale in Florence; Orchestre National de Lille, Strasbourg, Dresden and Luxembourg Philharmonic orchestras and Leipzig Gewandhausorkester. He has also worked with Vienna Symphony and Radio, RAI Turin, Hallé, Santa Cecilia, BBC, London, Strasbourg, Dresden, Royal Stockholm and Monte Carlo Philharmonic orchestras. In recent seasons he has conducted opera in Washington, Dallas and at the Opera Comique with the New World Symphony Orchestra.

As organ recitalist, he draws on exceptionally varied repertoire and performs worldwide. In 2004, he gave the inaugural organ recital in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Recent recitals include Florence Cathedral, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Notre-Dame de Paris, Royal Albert Hall, Stiftskircher Stuttgart and National Grand Theatre, Beijing. Forthcoming recitals include at the Royal Albert Hall for the 2012 BBC Proms, Bridgewater Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Vienna Konzerthaus for their 100th anniversary series. As pianist/director and organist he has performed with many orchestras, including Los Angeles Philharmonic (World Première of MacMillan’s organ concerto A Scotch Bestiary), Swedish and Munich Radio Symphony orchestras, and Berlin Philharmonic under Rattle and Abbado. He regularly features as piano soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra and future engagements include with Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic.

He is a regular performer in the BBC Proms in London as organist, pianist and conductor. Wayne Marshall performed the première of A Scotch Bestiary by James McMillan, also the Last Night of the Proms in 1997 and the First Night in 2008; He conducted Porgy and Bess to celebrate the Gershwin centenary and four Proms in the Park.

He collaborates regularly with Kim Criswell, the eminent singing actress, in both recital and orchestral projects. He also works with young musicians, including a number of youth and conservatoire orchestras – most recently an improvisation masterclass at Chethams School, Manchester and with El Sistema in Caracas.

He has recorded extensively for numerous major labels and received an ECHO (Deutscher Schallplattenpreis) award for his ‘Gershwin Songbook’ CD. In 2004 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 2010. Wayne Marshall has been recently appointed Artistic Director of the Valletta Capital of Culture 2018.