Sir Andrew Davis has served as music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2000.
He began his tenure as chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in January 2013. Through his prolific recordings, many international tours, and relationships with the world’s finest orchestras and opera companies, Sir Andrew is one of today’s most recognized and acclaimed conductors.
In the 2019/20 season, Maestro Davis conducts three full cycles of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Lyric Opera, in a new production by David Pountney. Also at the Lyric Opera, he conducts Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Tchaikovsky’s Pique dame. In addition to his regular performances with the Melbourne and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, the BBC Symphony, and the BBC Philharmonic, this season Maestro Davis also conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in his own arrangement of Handel’s Messiah, and conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Maestro Davis’s career spans over 40 years, in which he has been the artistic leader at several of the world’s most distinguished operatic and symphonic institutions, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra (conductor laureate and chief conductor from 1991–2004), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (music director 1988–2000), and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate and Principal Conductor from 1975–1988), where he also served as Interim Artistic Director for two seasons from 2018–2020. He also holds the honorary title of conductor emeritus from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir Andrew has led performances at many of the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Bayreuth Festival, and the major companies of Munich, Paris, San Francisco, and Santa Fe. In addition, he has appeared with virtually every internationally prominent orchestra, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and all the major British orchestras.
A vast and award-winning discography documents Sir Andrew’s artistry, with recent CDs including the works of Berlioz, Elgar, Grainger, Delius, Ives, Holst, Handel (nominated for a GRAMMY® in 2018 for Best Choral Performance), and York Bowen (nominated for a GRAMMY® in 2012 for Best Orchestral Performance). He has been an exclusive artist of Chandos Records since 2009.
In 1992, Maestro Davis was created a Commander of the British Empire, and in 1999 he was designated a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours List. In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.
Current as of February 2020