The
Lovely*
Michael Withers
Michael has been conducting now for over
25 years. Opera is his first love, but in his other existence as a clarinetist
and saxophone player he has a wide experience of other aspects of musical
theatre! He has conducted an extremely wide repertoire, ranging from Purcell
(King Arthur and Dido & Aeneas) to Britten (Rape of Lucretia). His interest
in bringing new life to rarely performed works had led him to perform operas
such as Dvorak's 'The Devil and Kate' and Holst's 'The Perfect Fool', and more
recently, in Brighton, three neglected operas by Vaughan Williams 'Hugh the
Drover', 'The Pilgrim's Progress', and 'The Poisoned Kiss'.
Michael is
the musical director of Brighton-based opera group Heber Opera for which he not
only rehearses and conducts, but also arranges the orchestrations for a chamber
orchestra of eight players. Their recent performances have included Mozart's
'Magic Flute', Strauss's 'Die Fledermaus' and 'Cosi fan tutte'.
West Side Story (2002)
marked Michael's first outing with BHOS, and he seems to have enjoyed this
diversion from opera into musicals enough that he followed-on with
Brigadoon (2003),
Carousel (2004), and
now Sugar!
(* You'll have to ask our ex-Chairman,
Melinda!!)
Apr'04.