Alexander Prior has been commissioned to compose LA Opera’s new opera for families, Jonah and the Whale, which will have its world premiere in March 2012 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, conducted by James Conlon. The fast-rising, London-based composer/conductor has had a number of high-profile engagements with major orchestras and ensembles around the world in recent season. You can check out excerpts from a number of his works at his website: www.alexprior.co.uk.

 

“It is such a privilege to be collaborating with one of the world’s great opera companies and one of the world’s most inspirational and outstanding conductors on Jonah and the Whale,” says Mr. Prior. “When Maestro Conlon initially approached me with his idea, it spoke to me directly and immediately. I have long had the idea of an all-encompassing opera like this in the back of my head, and now I have a most amazing opportunity to fulfill it. I am really enjoying my collaboration with librettist Velina Hasu Houston as we create a way to involve everyone present at the performance, drawing them into the music and hopefully touching their hearts. I hope that this will offer a wonderful opportunity for people from all walks of life to experience opera and I’m so happy to share my music with the people of Los Angeles. One of the major themes of this opera is the great power of love, both from God and between humans, and how it can overcome great obstacles and distances to reunite. It is my hope that this just might become a work that will come to mean something special to children, and to those of all ages and backgrounds, for many years to come.”

 

A remarkable young talent, Mr. Prior was born in London in 1992 of English and Russian parentage. (Interesting trivia: he is the great-grandson of renowned theater director and reformer Konstantin Stanislavski.) He graduated with distinction from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied composition and conducting. He was a prize winner in the 2008 International Prokofiev Composers Competition during which his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2, Northern Dances, was performed by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg.

 

Other performances of his works include his opera-ballet The Jungle Book at the Kremlin in Moscow, his Quadruple Concerto with the Northern Sinfonia and Royal Philharmonic, the symphonic poem Stalin’s March by the City of London Sinfonia, The Prince’s Feast by the National Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, conducted by the composer, and Svyatogor’s Quest by the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio at London’s Wigmore Hall. In 2008, following successful performances in St. Petersburg, the Rossica Choir toured the UK with performances of his choral cycle Sounds of the Homeland and parts of his All Night Vigil. The St. Petersburg Concert Society commissioned his choral symphony based on Gogol’s Diaries of a Madman, which was premiered in the Smolniy Cathedral in 2009, with the composer conducting the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra.

 

Most recently, in August 2011, he conducted the world premiere of his Triple Concerto, entitled That which must forever remain unspoken, with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. In April 2012, he will conduct the world premiere of his 6th Symphony with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, commissioned by the Fluor Corporation.

 

In his career as a conductor, Mr. Prior has performed with the Royal Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra (U.K.), Northern Sinfonia and St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony. Conducting engagements for the 2011/12 season include performances with the German Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Royal Danish Opera Orchestra and Helsingborg Symphony.

 

“I feel that Alexander Prior, an extremely gifted and prodigious young composer, is the right person to realize this project,” says James Conlon, who will conduct the world premiere of Jonah and the Whale. “His collaboration with one of Los Angeles’ most talented writers, Velina Hasu Houston, should prove rewarding for all of us who are devoted to bringing the classical arts closer to everyone in greater Los Angeles.”

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