| Biography | Sir Richard Armstrong CBE is a British conductor. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar.
From 1973 until 1986 Armstrong was musical director of the Welsh National Opera. In this period he worked in collaboration with many leading European directors, including Peter Stein, Joachim Herz, Lucian Pintilie, and Harry Kupfer. He has returned regularly to WNO as a guest conductor, notably for the world première of Peter Maxwell Daviess The Doctor of Myddfai, and for Peter Steins 1988 production of Falstaff.
He was Music Director of Scottish Opera from 1993 to 2005. During this time he conducted operas including Jenufa, From the House of the Dead, I due Foscari, Salome, Fidelio, Mary Stuart, Káta Kabanová, Peter Grimes, Tristan und Isolde, La forza del destino, The Jacobin, La traviata, Il trovatore, and the world première of James MacMillan's Inês de Castro. He conducted five complete performances of Scottish Operas acclaimed production of the Ring Cycle, which opened at the 2003 Edinburgh International Festival.
Armstrong made his BBC Proms début in 1979, and has worked with many leading British orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. |