Biography
London-born conductor Kevin Griffiths (1978) regularly conducts concerts with the following orchestras: Frankfurt hr-Radio Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Robert Schumann Philharmonic, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra della svizzera italiana, Sinfonietta Lausanne, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. He is also an annual guest at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad and the Vaduz-Classic Festival in Liechtenstein. From 2011 to 2018 he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Collegium Musicum Basel.
Recently, Kevin Griffiths has made several CD recordings with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, conducted the Orchestre National de Lille, the Transylvanian State Philharmonic and the South-Bohemian Philharmonic. He made his China debut with the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra and returned to the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Camerata Zurich. Other engagements have taken him to the Badische Staatskapelle, Jenear Philharmonic, Meininger Hofkapelle, Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg, Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra and the Hallé Orchestra Manchester.
As artistic director of the “Academy and Philharmonic Orchestra” of the Animato Foundation, which promotes young talented musicians, he conducted the tour in 2018 throughout Europe in cities such as Prague (Smetana hall), Budapest (Liszt Academy) and Vienna (Konzerthaus). The next tour will be in 2020.
Kevin Griffiths has directed opera productions including "L'heure espagnole" and "L'enfant et les sortileges" by Ravel, "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss, "Hänsel & Gretel" by Humperdinck, "Don Giovanni" by Mozart, and "Don Pasquale" by Donizetti at the Opera House in Chemnitz.
His interest in historically informed performance is seen in his work with orchestras on original instruments, such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in London or the Ensemble Musica Aeterna in Bratislava. The Mindener Tagblatt wrote about his concert with the Norwestdeutschen Philharmonie: " ... a sensational performance of Schumann 's 4th Symphony, which is a par of the exemplary recordings of Gardiner and Harnoncourt. "
Kevin Griffiths has contributed to the rediscovery of the romantic violin concertos of the Swiss composers Paul Juon and Hans Huber. He premiered both works and recorded them for the CD label Sony: "... the listener is always captivated by original ideas and rhythmic verve. The transparent sound makes an excellent impression” - klassikheute.de. He has recorded other rarities by Andreas Romberg, J. Wilhelm Hertel and Johann E. Brandl for the CD label CPO.
As co-founder and principal conductor of the London Steve Reich Ensemble, Kevin Griffiths has won international recognition for his commitment to contemporary music. For his debut CD he won the acclaimed Diapason d’Or award. His second highly praised recording with the ensemble was published in September 2011 by Warner Classics.
Kevin Griffiths regularly works with major soloists such as Sir James Galway, Pierre-Laurant Aimard, Vesselina Kasarova, Fazil Say, Isabelle van Keulen, Giuliano Carmignola, Sergei Nakariakov, Paul Lewis, Dmitry Sitkovetskzy, Michel Camilo, Royston Maldoom and members of the Berlin Philharmonic. He collaborated closely with the composers Steve Reich, Daniel Schnyder, Enjott Schneider, Lera Auerbach, Elena Firsova, Steven Mackey, Rodolphe Schacher and Oliver Waespi and premiered some of their works.
In the realm of film music Kevin Griffiths has established himself as a leading conductor accompanying the original live music to the motion picture on a large screen. Disney Studios Hollywood have accredited him as one of the few conductors for performances of this kind. In April 2018 he jumped in for Hollywood legend David Newman and directed ten Star Wars performances with the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. Shortly thereafter, he conducted the world premiere of "The Hunger Games", the European premiere of "La La Land" and James Bond “Casino Royal” as part of "City Light Concerts". He has also performed Charlie Chaplin films and he conducted and recorded the music for a documentary film about the particle accelerator CERN in Geneva.
Kevin Griffiths studied violin with Igor Ozim and Giuliano Carmignola before he began his studies as a conductor with Colin Metters, Sir Colin Davies and Yan Pascal Tortelier at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was then appointed Junior Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and worked with Sir Mark Elder. He also received a scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School, USA, with David Zinman in 2004 and 2005.
In 2010 Kevin Griffiths won the 2nd prize at the International Conducting Competition "Sir Georg Solti "in Frankfurt/Main. In the same year, following an audition, he was chosen from a large pool of applicants as the “Melgaard Young Conductor” with the “Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment”, London. He assisted Vladimir Jurowski, Leonard Slatkin, Trevor Pinnock and Sir Simon Rattle.