Alex Prior

Alexander Prior (born 5 October 1992) is a British composer and conductor who studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2022, appointed at the age of 23.

He is also known to be an avid fan of both geographic elevation facts and Country Music, and especially the music of Corb Lund, Blake Shelton, and Paul Brandt. In September 2022 the Edmonton Symphony and Prior released a video of Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds. Alex has also been a champion of music by younger living composers – especially the music of Nicole Lizée, Gabriella Smith, Vivian Fung, and Alissa Cheung.

Prior has received particular critical praise for his performances of the music of Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Bruckner

His YouTube channel has over 1 million followers and over 15 million views.

Life and career

Prior was born in London to a British father and a Russian-Ukrainian mother, who is a direct descendant of Konstantin Stanislavski. Prior began composing at the age of eight and by his early teens had written 40 works, including symphonies, concertos, two ballets, two operas, and a Requiem for the children of Beslan. At an early age, he began piano lessons. He later enrolled in the junior department of the Royal College of Music. At 13, he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory where he studied composition with Boris Tishchenko and opera and symphonic conducting with Alexander Alexeev (a pupil of Hans Swarowsky). In 2009, at age 17, he graduated with distinction, with two masters degrees in symphonic and operatic conducting, and in composition from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, a feat previously accomplished by only Sergei Prokofiev.

Prior has conducted many of the world orchestras and ensembles, including the San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas, Toledo, Seattle, Queensland, Düsseldorf, and Houston Symphony Orchestras. Further collaborations include performances with the Brevard Festival Orchestra, the New World Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid/Orchestra of Teatro Reál, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Spanish Radio Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Badische Staatskapelle Karslsruhe, the Deustche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the German Radio Orchestra in Saarbrücken, Camerata Salzburg, the Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Copenhagen and Calgary Philharmonic orchestras, and the Kristiansand, Helsingborg, and Aarhus Symphony Orchestras. He was appointed as Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at just 23 years of age (with a designate season prior to commencing his full tenure in 2017). Prior invested greatly in the artistic output and community outreach of the orchestra – championing new music, with a focus on programming which reflects the rich diversity and cultural history of the region. By his third season every masters' series concert featured music by female composers.

Other operatic engagements include Martinu's Mirandolina at the Bayerische Staatsoper, La Traviata with Leipzig Opera, Rusalka at the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl, Hänsel und Gretel at Vancouver Opera, and two productions of Richard Strauss's Elektra – one with Edmonton Opera and the other with Theater Erfurt, where he also led a critically acclaimed production of Weingartner's epic opera "Orestes" – the first performance of this opera in well over 100 years, as well as a completely sold out production of Wagner's The Flying Dutchman. At Frankfurt Opera, where he has a long-lasting ongoing relationship with the orchestra and the company, he has conducted Verdi's Rigoletto, Martinu's Julietta, and in their symphonic series Holst's The Planets. A planned production of Holländer in 2021 was sadly cancelled due to the COVID19 pandemic. Following his debut with Mozart's The Magic Flute at Staatstheater Braunschweig he was invited back to conduct a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, after which the orchestra awarded him their prestigious and rare "Louis-Spohr-Medal". Prior's Piano Concerto No. 1 was premiered at the V International Piano Festival in St. Petersburg in September 2006. Prior was runner-up in the 2008 International Prokofiev Composers Competition – his Piano Concerto No. 2 Northern Dances was performed by the State Academic Symphony of St. Petersburg in the Great Philharmonic Hall. In 2006, Prior's ballet Mowgli (based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book) was commissioned by choreographers Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vassilev of the Moscow State Classical Ballet. The official premiere took place at the Kremlin Theatre in Moscow in February 2008.

In November 2008 he conducted a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride in St. Petersburg, followed by a performance of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in January 2009.

On 8 January 2010, the Seattle Symphony appointed Prior as an Assistant Conductor.

In Summer 2010. he was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.

In August 2011, he conducted the world premiere of his Triple Concerto, entitled "That which must forever remain unspoken", with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.

In 2011, Prior was the principal conductor for the Northwest Mahler Festival in Seattle.

In December 2011, Prior made his debut with the Royal Danish Orchestra and Royal Danish Ballet performing The Nutcracker at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. He has subsequently reinvited to conduct Carmen at the Royal Danish Theatre.

Awards

• Louis Spohr Medal, 2016
• 2nd prize at the Leeds conducting competition at the age of 16
• International Prokofiev Composition Competition
• In Russia he was awarded the order of The Blue Cross, for his contribution to the national and international arts scene, and for his charitable work within music.

Reviews

"Anyone who is in the habit of leaning back and taking a deep breath in the concert hall didn't have much of an opportunity on Friday evening at the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie. There was a real Sir to be admired, one of the great masterpieces of piano music, and a young, heartwarming conductor. (...)

The conductor talked from the stage about Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's suite from the opera "The Night Before Christmas" as one of his "favourite pieces". His routs are half British, and one quarter each Russian and Ukrainian. In these destructive times, Prior creates in equal measure heartwarming words and sounds.  His whole being seems to embrace music and people.

And with the Philharmonic he indeed succeeds in turning the Suite into a fairytale winter wonderland, carried by a colourful yet crystal-clear sound, with excellent soloists in the orchestra, and rousing, rhythmic tuttis again and again. A delightful pleasure. "Music is perhaps the most beautiful part of humanity," says Prior. One wishes to add nothing more."

Süd Kurier, Germany

“Alexander Prior is 25-years-old. Currently the Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as well as a highly commissioned composer, he conducted An Emotional Rollercoaster with the visionary insight and polished skill of superstar veterans like Simon Rattle. Prior’s synergy with the orchestra was inspired. His command of Debussy’s Prelude a’ L’Apres-midi d’un faune revelled in the music’s dreamy ambience, elastic rhythms, lightly nuanced strings and moments of repose. Debussy’s symphonic poem unfolded with a refreshing and seductive spontaneity. In top form, the strings, French horns and woodwind excelled in highlighting the composer’s impressionistic wash of vibrant colour. Brahms Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op. 98, showed Prior’s flair for shaping grand architecture, his inventive, meaningful phrasing and attention to detail. The first theme in the Allegro non troppo had an infectious lilt and spring and the conductor coaxed amazing crescendos that grew and grew and kept on giving. All sections played with crystal clarity. The woodwinds’ extroverted lyricism impressed and the strings sang beautifully throughout. Solo horn in the Andante Moderato was world-class and viola champions must have been charmed by Imants Larsens’ melting viola solo in the third movement. High standards are expected from professional orchestras and concerto soloists but this concert was unforgettable, a stunner. Perhaps the event should have been dubbed Dynamic Trio because conductor, soloist and orchestra excelled in executing this program of contrasts and extremes and wowed the crowd.”

Gillian Wills, Limelight Magazine (Australia)

“Accompanying these images (stage: Martina Segna) are brilliant sounds from the orchestra pit: The 27-year-old Alexander Prior confirmed his reputation as an insider-tip. With subtle small gestures he submerged the music down to invisibility, and then ignited storms of sound with furious large gestures. The orchestra of the Tiroler Festspiel followed: there was playful natural magic from the harp and woodwinds to reveling in the choir’s proud trumpeting (rehearsal: Olga Yanum) simultaneous to calls to damnation for Rusalka, who roared like a “dies irae” doomsday, thoughtfully planned and musically gripping.”

Wolf Dieter Peter, Abendzeitung München

“The British conductor (and composer) Alexander Prior made his debut as the new General Music Director of Theater Erfurt with "Elektra".  The just 30-year-old made the orchestra flourish in many colors and shades with rich gestures and visible physical exertion, and always very quickly fixed any minor mistakes that happened in the orchestra with regard to the sometimes very tricky tempi.

In the end the maestro was not only enthusiastically celebrated by the audience, but also by the visibly enthusiastic singers and orchestra, who proved to be perfectly up to the enormous challenges of this complex opera. In the end the monumental orchestral sound, the extremely difficult vocal parts, and the profound storytelling flowed together inseparably.”

MDR Germany

"The two great virtues of this interpretation (of Bruckner symphony no.9) were its sense of overall architecture, and the clarity and detail Prior got from the orchestra. This ability to allow inner lines and orchestral elements to be audibly unravelled is clearly one of Prior’s hallmarks, and was shown to advantage here"

Mark Morris, Edmonton Journal

"Weingartner's score is written for a large orchestra, and with that spirit the Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra bolstered by the Thuringia Philharmonic play, under the musical direction of Chief Conductor Alexander Prior. With great passion and precision, the musicians bring the incredibly colourful, complex sounds to life. And Prior creates suspense and arcs that make the three hours fly by." "With this ingenious production Theater Erfurt and Guy Montavon have given the opera world back a work that has all the strength to endure."

Jan Krobot, The Online Marker

"At the dress rehearsal of "Rusalka", the first impression is of the all-encompassing beauty of the sound-world of the music.(...) Alexander Prior savors the yearning and poetry in the opera, but also the huge dramatic surges, the festival orchestra follows him with great ease”

Egbert Tholl, Süddeutsche Zeitung

"The British conductor (and composer) Alexander Prior made his debut as the new General Music Director of Theater Erfurt with "Elektra". The just 30-year-old made the orchestra flourish in many colors and shades with rich gestures and visible physical exertion, and always very quickly fixed any minor mistakes that happened in the orchestra with regard to the sometimes very tricky tempi. In the end the maestro was not only enthusiastically celebrated by the audience, but also by the visibly enthusiastic singers and orchestra, who proved to be perfectly up to the enormous challenges of this complex opera. In the end the monumental orchestral sound, the extremely difficult vocal parts, and the profound storytelling flowed together inseparably.”

Michael Ernst, MDR

Chief Conductor Alexander Prior celebrated his first concert of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s new season with an epic performance of an epic symphony, Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11, with the orchestra once again showing how far it has come.”

“Prior’s uncanny ability to remorselessly unfold textures and events took over in the second movement, where the second great build-up, taken really fast, was the most menacing and ruthless and powerful of any performance I have heard. There was deep sadness when that fog returns, with a real lament in the trumpets. Then the final movement was deliberately, strictly, built up, almost rigid in its remorselessness, until it broke out into the big march, full of truly terrible Stalinist dread. This was a harrowing interpretation of real power, once again demonstrating Prior’s outstanding abilities in Russian repertoire.”

Mark Morris, Edmonton Journal

“This was a superlative performance, one of the best in the (Sibelius) Festival, confirming that Prior is a Sibelius conductor to be reckoned with. (...) Here, though, the Festival ended with his most popular symphony, the Second. The orchestra had clearly got the measure of what Prior was looking for in his interpretation, especially in those layered dynamics (this is where extra rehearsal pays such dividends). For he concentrated on the shape of the symphony, crisp and with no sentimentality in the opening movement, and a very slow build-up dynamically in the second movement. The virtues of this performance were the very deliberate and even tempi – those with a Romantic leaning might have wished for more flashy accelerandi, rallentandi, and crescendi, but that remorseless deliberation seemed to me to show the unfolding of the symphony a new, and very effective, light. It was almost as if the symphony were in one whole movement, rather than four. This makes sense, as those four movements share the organic growth of germ material, and similar contrasts of mood, and the difference in tone between them is not nearly as marked as in many symphonies.

And so the isle was now empty of those sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. The thousand twangling instruments had ceased their humming, and the Festival was over.”

Mark Morris, Edmonton Classical Review

"One special moment at this performance is the debut of the conductor and composer Alexander Prior – a young man of only 21 – with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. His interpretational approach reveals both commitment and passion; the introduction comes across as at once filigree and fragile, as if anticipating Violetta's last breaths. The chamber-music-like withdrawal of the orchestra to an intimate piano level and the character portrayal in pastel- coloured sounds, especially in the strings, evoke strong emotions. He does not take the tempi too fast, and Prior produces those typical Verdi slurs/lines; he has all the phrasing properly executed. This is an impressive and confident performance from such a young artist."

Opernnetz

Selected compositions

"Horizons: An American Crescendo for Four Soloists and Orchestra", dedicated to John Adams.

Concertos

• 3 Piano concertos St. Petersburg Dances of the North and No.3
• Concerto for 4 soloists and orchestra Velesslavitsa
• Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello "That which must forever remain unspoken"

Symphonies

• No.1 Karelian
• No.2
• No.3 "Northern"
• No.4 "Gogol"

Operas

• The Desert, based on Alexander Pushkin's tales.

Ballets

• Mowgli

Choral

• All Night Vigil
• Sounds of the Homeland
• At the North for SATB Choir on Ivan Bunin's poetry

Piano Solo

• 10 preludes
• Evenings on the Farm near Dikanka

External links

• Gallafent, Alex, "Child prodigy composes ballet", The World program, PRI Radio, 19 June 2007
• "UK teen conducts Moscow ballet", BBC News, Tuesday, 19 June 2007
• Alex Prior on classicalx.com