Bramwell Tovey, the famous British conductor and composer loved for his years of working with Canadian orchestras and opera companies, has died at the age of 69.
The news was announced by the Sarasota Orchestra, of which Tovey was music director since 2021. “An international music leader and global citizen, Maestro Tovey impacted several generations on several continents through his musical creation, direction and teaching, “his statement said. , which specified that the cause of death was cancer, originally diagnosed in 2019.
In addition to his position in the Sarasota Orchestra, Tovey was also artistic director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the Orchester Symphonique de Québec and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
“The family of the BBC Concert Orchestra is deeply saddened to lose Bramwell Tovey, our principal conductor for the past four years and dear friend for many more,” read a statement from its director, Bill Chandler. “He was a musician’s director whose warmth, sense of humor and artistic leadership will be sorely missed.”
In Canada, Tovey was best known for his successful stint as music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) from 2000 to 2018. His CBC Records violin concerto album by Samuel Barber, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and William Walton , with soloist James Ehnes, won a Grammy Award in 2008 for best instrumental solo performance with orchestra.
With the VSO, Tovey conducted complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler. He also headed the VSO School of Music and was its artistic advisor.
In January 2019, Tovey became artistic director of the Calgary Opera, where he planned two of the company’s seasons before stepping down for health reasons. On Twitter, Calgary Opera described Tovey as “a true pioneer in the arts industry.”
From 1989 to 2000, Tovey was the musical director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, where a major success was the establishment of the famous WSO New Music Festival, alongside Glenn Buhr, the orchestra’s first resident composer. and his successor, Randolph Peters.
Tovey was also a composer. His Requiem for a Charred Skull won a Juno Award in 2003 for best classical composition. The Calgary Opera commissioned his opera The Inventor, written with playwright John Murrell. He also wrote a trumpet concerto, Songs of the Paradise Saloon, for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and John McCandless.
Tovey was a frequent guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic and, from 2004 to 2012, conducted and hosted its annual Summertime Classics festival at Avery Fisher Hall. On the West Coast, in 2007, Tovey was named principal guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl, where he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s classical summer subscription series.
Recognitions include the 2015 Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Musical Performance and the Prix d’Or at the Academie Lyrique Française for his recording of Jean Cras ’1922 opera, Polyphème. In 2013 he was named an honorary officer of the Order of Canada.
CBC Music will pay tribute to Tovey in a special edition of About Time with Tom Allen on Thursday, July 14, starting at noon (12:30 pm NT). Paolo Pietropaolo will honor Tovey’s memory at In Concert on Sunday, July 17th.