Alun Francis

Alun Francis ( born 1943 ) is a Welsh conductor.

His career began in 1966, when he became principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra and has held this position for ten years. In 1978 he initiated at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the premiere of the opera Gabriella di Vergy by Gaetano Donizetti.

1979-1985 was General Music Director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra in Seattle before it for two years (until 1987) as artistic adviser of the ensemble Opera Forum in Enschede was.

From 1987 to 1990 he worked in Herford as chief conductor and music director at the Northwest German Philharmonic. Chief as conductor of the Haydn Orchestra ( Bolzano ), the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano " Giuseppe Verdi" in Milan followed, before he was in 2003 chief conductor of the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha. He resigned in April 2008, eight months before his contract expires, from. He is also a regular guest conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic.

In his 40 -year career, Alun Francis has been at the helm of some 200 orchestras and made ​​numerous disks or CD - productions, including works by Francis Poulenc and played by the State Philharmonic of the Rhineland -Palatinate, by Otto Klemperer ( Symphonies 1 and 2 and four symphonic works ).

Alun Francis is the winner (2000) of the first prize of the " Cannes Classical Award " in the category CD premiere for his recordings of the complete symphonies by Darius Milhaud with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Basel.