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The Australian conductor, Peter Alexander, studied conducting with Louis Frémaux and Sir Charles Mackerras.
Peter Alexander has performed with and conducted a wide variety of ensembles in Sydney for over forty years. He has sung with Sydney Chamber Choir, Opera Australia, The Song Company, The Leonine Consort and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. His repertoire includes George Frideric Handel's The Messiah, symphonies of W.A. Mozart, L.v. Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, Berlioz’ Sinfonie Fantastique, Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 5 & 10, Verdi’s Rigoletto, La Traviata and Otello and the W.A. Mozart’s Requiem and The Magic Flute. In 2016 he prepared his own edition of, and then conducted, John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera.
As Music Librarian for Opera Australia since 1982, Peter Alexander has prepared orchestra and vocal scores for hundreds of operas and has worked closely with conductors such as Richard Bonynge, Simone Young, Christopher Hogwood, Richard Gill, Guillaume Tourniaire, Carlo Felice Cillario and Pietari Inkinen and collaborated with directors Neil Armfield, Barrie Kosky, John Bell, Baz Luhrmann and Graeme Murphy.
Peter Alexander's scenic soundscape for the new Norwegian play Virus – a Fugue based on J.S. Bach's fugue in G minor was lauded by the playwright, critics and audiences. His arrangements of W.A. Mozart's Bastien and Bastienna and J.S. Bach's Coffee Cantata BWV 211 for a chamber ensemble received standing ovations from the audiences. The seasoned players – most of whom had been out of work because of COVID – loved playing these unfamiliar pieces from the classical Masters. His recent arrangements and musical direction of Grieg’s incidental music for Peer Gynt wowed audiences and made 30 Sydney musicians very happy. |
