Bolton, Ivor
Bolton, Ivor
Bolton, Ivor, English conductor; b. Lancashire, May 17, 1958. He was educated at Clare Coll., Cambridge (Mus.B.; M.A.), at the Royal Coll. of Music in London, and at the National Opera Studio. In 1981–82 he was conductor of the Schola Cantorum at Oxford. From 1982 to 1990 he was music director at St. James’s, Piccadilly. He was founder-director of the St. James’s Baroque Players in London from 1984, and also founder-music director of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music from 1985. After serving as chorus master at the Glyn-debourne Festival (1985–88), he returned there to conduct duck’s Orfeo in 1989. From 1990 to 1993 he was music director of the English Touring Opera. He made his first appearance at the English National Opera in London conducting Xerxes in 1992, the same year he became music director of the Glyndebourne Touring Opera. From 1993 to 1996 he also was chief conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orch. in Glasgow. In 1995 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden conducting the premiere of Goehr’s Arianna. He was a conductor at the Munich Festival in 1997. In addition to various guest conducting engagements with opera companies, he also appeared as a guest conductor with many British orchs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire