Thomson, Bryden

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Thomson, Bryden

Thomson, Bryden, Scottish conductor; b. Ayr, July 16, 1928; d. Dublin, Nov. 14, 1991. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow and at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, his principal mentors being Schmidt-Isserstedt and Markevitch. He was asst. conductor of the BBC Scottish Orch. (1958-62) and assoc. conductor of the Scottish National Orch. (1966-68) in Glasgow. From 1968 to 1973 he was principal conductor of the BBC Northern Sym. Orch. in Manchester; then was music director of the Ulster Orch. in Belfast (1977-85); also was principal conductor of the BBC Welsh Sym. Orch. in Cardiff (1978-82) and the R(adio) T(elefis) E(ireann) Sym. Orch. in Dublin (1984-87). In 1988 he returned to the Scottish National Orch. as its principal conductor, becoming well known for his championship of British music.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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