It has been a good year for the Wigglesworths! First, Mark Wigglesworth is named Edward Gardner's successor at English National Opera, now Ryan Wigglesworth has been picked to succeed Markus Stenz as the Halle Orchestra's new principal guest conductor.
No UK orchestra is riding higher than the Halle at the moment, under the baton of its music director Sir Mark Elder (indeed, it is a testament to the orchestral standards in the UK just now that the CBSO, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony, among other regional English orchestras, are holding their own so adroitly). The Manchester players of the Halle are also fortunate to have one of the UK's finest venues as their home, in Bridgewater Hall.
Wigglesworth the Younger has previously recorded with the Halle, an album of works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle. And the Yorkshire-born conductor has said that listening to the Halle was part of his childhood.
As a conductor, Ryan Wigglesworth has worked with admired ensembles such as the London Philharmonic, the RLPO, BBC Symphony Orchestra and DSO Berlin. His compositions have been played by the Aldeburgh Festival, ENO and the BBC Symphony.
