The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) Board of Directors has extended William Boughton’s contract as its principal conductor and music director until the end of the 2018-19 season, which will coincide with the orchestra’s 125th Anniversary Season.
Boughton says, “It has been an incredible experience to make New Haven my musical home and I could not be more pleased to continue my role with the NHSO. As I look forward to the future and how we will continue to push boundaries and shape our community, I am excited by the possibilities that exist with this extraordinary orchestra.”
Boughton became the NHSO’s tenth Music Director of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in 2007. During his time with the orchestra he has conducted more than 175 concerts, including seven world premieres, and has led the NHSO in releasing three recordings. A champion of contemporary music, he instituted a Composer-in-Residence program and the Young Composer’s Project; under Boughton’s leadership, the NHSO was awarded the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming in both 2010 and 2014.
A tireless advocate for music education, Boughton has encouraged the development of the NHSO’s education programs, which have expanded from 50 to 220 events annually. Boughton also serves on the Yale School of Music faculty and teaches cello at Fairhaven Public Schools.
NHSO Board President Robert Santy says, “We are delighted that William has agreed to extend his contract with the NHSO through the orchestra’s 125th Anniversary Season. It is a testament to New Haven’s strong arts community that we continue to attract such world class musicians as Boughton, as well as the amazing talent of our orchestral roster. He has led our orchestra to artistic heights never imagined before his tenure and we look forward to what will come in the next four years.”
About William Boughton
William Boughton was born into a musical family: his grandfather (Rutland Boughton) was a composer, his father a professional viola player, and his mother a singer. After cello studies at the New England Conservatory (Boston), Guildhall School of Music (London), and Prague Academy, he entered the profession in London, playing with the Royal Philharmonic, BBC, and London Sinfonietta.
The experience of playing in orchestras led to a passion to pursue a career in conducting and he decided to return to studies first with George Hurst and then with Sir Colin Davis. In 1980, he formed the English Symphony Orchestra and developed the ESO’s repertoire through the Baroque period to Viennese classics and into contemporary music. During his time with the ESO, he commissioned more than 20 works from such composers as Peter Sculthorpe, John Joubert, Anthony Powers, Michael Berkeley, John Metcalf, Stephen Roberts, and Adrian Williams. The depth of his partnership with the ESO was epitomized in 1985 when, as Artistic Director of the Malvern Festival, he collaborated with Sir Michael Tippett in presenting a musical celebration of the composer’s eightieth birthday, which became the subject of a BBC “Omnibus” documentary.
With the ESO on Nimbus Records, he built a significant discography of internationally acclaimed recordings—predominantly of English music—a number of which reached the Top Ten on the US charts. During his final years with the ESO, Boughton successfully launched the first ESO Elgar Festival in Malvern and Worcester, and also celebrated the orchestra’s 25th Anniversary performing a complete Beethoven symphony cycle, in which he created a new series of pre-concert performances of British contemporary music, including works by Birtwistle, Knussen, Watkins, Woolrich, Holloway, and Turnage. He has participated in a number of high-profile arts programs for BBC Television, a radio program about Elgar that was broadcast in New York, Chicago, Washington, and Boston in 2006, and a series entitled “1st Eleven” for Classic FM, during the 2006 Soccer World Cup. He has guest conducted major orchestras around the world, including the San Francisco, London, and Helsinki Symphony Orchestras.
About the NHSO
In 2015 – 2016, its 122nd season in operation, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra continues to fulfill its mission of increasing the impact and value of orchestral music for its audiences through high quality, affordable performances and educational programming. The NHSO presents more than 55 concerts per season throughout the region and reaches more than 30,000 students through its award-winning educational and community programming.
