Singapore Symphony Orchestra & Andrew Litton
Biography Singapore Symphony Orchestra & Andrew Litton
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore’s flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene in the cosmopolitan city-state. The orchestra has earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. The SSO performs primarily at the Esplanade Concert Hall, with more intimate works and all outreach performances taking place at its home, the Victoria Concert Hall. The SSO has performed in Europe, Asia and the United States. In 2016 the orchestra was invited to the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Festival. The resulting five-city tour also included the SSO’s return to the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2014 the SSO was invited to début at the 120th BBC Proms in London. Notable SSO releases on the BIS label include three discs of Debussy’s orchestral works, a Rachmaninov symphony cycle, the sea-themed anthology Seascapes featuring music by Debussy, Frank Bridge, Glazunov and Zhou Long, and the first-ever cycle of Alexander Tcherepnin’s piano concertos and symphonies. Lan Shui was the SSO’s music director from 1997 to 2019, and is now conductor laureate. From the 2020–21 season, the orchestra’s chief conductor is Hans Graf.
Andrew Litton
Born in New York City, Andrew Litton earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School in piano and conducting. He is music director of the New York City Ballet, principal guest conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Music director laureate of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Litton led the orchestra for a period of 12 years (2003–15) during which it gained international recognition through extensive recording and touring. For his work with the orchestra, Litton was presented with the Royal Order of Merit by King Harald V of Norway. Other honours include Yale’s Sanford Medal, the Elgar Society Medal and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bournemouth.
Past commitments as a conductor include periods as principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and a 14-year tenure as artistic director of the Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest. Litton regularly guest conducts leading orchestras around the globe. An avid opera conductor, he has led major opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In Norway, he was key to founding the Bergen National Opera; he also often conducts semi-staged opera programmes with symphony orchestras. An extensive and wide-ranging discography numbers more than 130 recordings, which have garnered America’s Grammy Award, France’s Diapason d’Or and other honours.
Andrew Litton often performs as a piano soloist, conducting from the keyboard. An acknowledged expert on George Gershwin, he has performed and recorded Gershwin widely as both pianist and conductor and serves as advisor to the University of Michigan Gershwin Archives. In 2014 he released his first solo piano album, ‘A Tribute to Oscar Peterson’, testimony to his passion for jazz.
