Draft:Matthew Toogood


Matthew Toogood, 2019

Matthew Toogood was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He studied piano (Bachelor’s degree) and conducting (Master of Music) at the University of Melbourne.[1]

Career

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Between 2016/2017 to 2018/2019 seasons, he was a Kapellmeister and assistant to the general music director at the National Theatre Mannheim.[2] There, he conducted the world premiere of Björk's Vespertine under the title "Björk's Vespertine: A Pop Album as an Opera" with the orchestra and soloists of the National Theatre Mannheim, which was released as an album by Oehms Classics in 2019.[3][4][5]

In the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons, Toogood served as interim music director and Kapellmeister at the Konzert Theater Bern.[6] In 2021, he arranged a smaller orchestration of Janáček's Jenůfa for the Konzert Theater Bern. The production, including the arrangement, was praised in the German magazine Opernwelt:

“The grandeur here is the musical form...the musical director Matthew Toogood created a radically soloistic score, necessary because the full orchestra could never fit in the pit under social distancing rules.” Egbert Tholl, Opernwelt, August 2021.[7]

In 2022, he conducted the world premiere of the children's opera Pippi Longstocking at the Komische Oper Berlin, composed by Franz Wittenbrink and directed by Dagmar Manzel.[8] Also at the Komische Oper Berlin he conducted Barrie Kosky's direction of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo with orchestration by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin. For the Australian Contemporary Opera Company he conducted Alice's Adventures in Wonderland composed by English composer Will Todd.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Mühlhaus, Gregor (13 August 2019). "Dirigent formiert aus "buntem Haufen" in Marth ein klassisches Orchester". Thüringer Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Dirigent steht unter der funkelnden Diskokugel". Mannheimer Morgen [de] (in German). 24 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Björk-Oper am Nationaltheater Mannheim – Weit entfernt von Kitsch". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Nationaltheater Mannheim: Björk-Album "Vespertine" als Pop-Oper". Westdeutsche Zeitung (in German). 25 May 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Björks "Vespertine" als Oper in Mannheim: Donnerlittchen, ein doppeltes Lottchen". Stuttgarter Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Bern/ Konzert Theater: Die Fledermaus – Derniere". Online Merker (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Grandios". Opernwelt (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  8. ^ Nöther, Matthias (7 November 2022). "Pippi Langstrumpf begeistert in der Komischen Oper". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  9. ^ Miller, Nick (2 March 2022). "Forget the footy: Yarra Park plays host to a new weekend wonderland". The Age. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
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