There have been many prodigies in the history of classical music, from Mozart in the 18th century to such contemporary artists as Lorin Maazel (conducting debut at 8), Gian Carlo Menotti (wrote his first opera at 8), and Nino Rota (composed his first oratorio at 10 and conducted it in Milan and Paris at age 12).
On that illustrious list is a composer-conductor, who made his debut at age 8, and is now heading to a San Francisco Symphony appearance on July 13 and 14. Alexander Prior, 25, will conduct a program of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. The event is dubbed by SFS Marketing “Decadent Romance” because of its “lush beauty and turbulent drama.” Oh well.
The soloist in the Tchaikovsky is another explosive young talent: William Hagen, also 25, with a thriving career on three continents and a wide-ranging repertory.
Prior was born in London to a British father and a Russian mother who can trace her ancestry to famed actor-director Constantin Stanislavski. He attended the St. Petersburg Conservatory, studying both composition and conducting, and at age 17 he became the youngest student to graduate with distinction since Prokofiev in 1909.
Prior says of his San Francisco debut: “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I’ve heard the orchestra play many times over the last decade and have always admired them in a very special way, so it’s going to be personal and significant to make music with them.”
Composing since pre-teen years, Prior, at the age of 13, received international critical acclaim for his ballet Mowgli, commissioned by the Moscow State Ballet. He has been awarded conducting fellowships at Tanglewood and Aspen, and he has been engaged to conduct orchestras across North America, including the Seattle Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, and Michael Tilson Thomas’s New World Symphony.
Prior considers MTT, Thomas Dausgaard, Robert Spano, Andrew Manze, Philharmonia Baroque’s Nicholas McGegan, and Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos his mentors.
Hired as an assistant conductor by the Seattle Symphony at age 17, Prior greeted the "fantastic opportunities presented in North America," wishing to have had them in Britain too. "I found more work across the Pond, which is true of many conductors around the world." Soon enough, the teenage musician ended up working in Europe a great deal, and "now I am about 50-50, and feel very lucky in doing so."
The Seattle position, which he won over 180 applicants, was unusual: a six-month fellowship as "Assistant to Guest Conductors," serving as a standby to substitute for visiting conductors, required to learn all repertory they were scheduled to lead so that he may step in as necessary. He was understudying such guest conductors as Kurt Masur, Roberto Abbado, Vassily Sinaisky and Itzhak Perlman.
A conducting fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center, and appointment as principal conductor for the Northwest Mahler Festival in Seattle followed.
In the past few years, Prior made his debut with a score of major symphony orchestras and opera houses even while maintaining a dizzying composing career, including the Velesslavitsa Concerto for piano, two violins, cello, and orchestra; Distant Calls for voice and piano quintet; and Elegy in memory of Gyorgy Ligeti for cello and piano (one of his most performed works).
Other major compositions of his include Horizons: An American Crescendo for four soloists and orchestra, premiered by the Royal Philharmonic under his direction; Symphony No. 4 (“Gogol”); and the Triple Concerto (“That which must remain unspoken”) for piano, violin, and cello. The Dallas Symphony premiered Prior’s commissioned Sixth Symphony.
Prior is now in his first season as the chief conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and during the 2017-18 season, he made his conducting debut with the Detroit, Hamburg, and Toledo Symphonies; I Musici de Montréal; and Oper Frankfurt, with Rigoletto.
“I’m constantly jet lagged,” he says, “but it’s worth it.”
During the previous season, Prior led the Houston Symphony, Vancouver Opera (conducting Hänsel und Gretel), and the Edmonton Opera (conducting Elektra), as well as a return to the Royal Danish Opera, conducting Swan Lake. He has a dozen more future engagements for symphony and opera; he is also about to publish new compositions.
