Longborough Festival Opera has appointed Harry Sever as its first Ring Cycle Conducting Fellow. Harry will work alongside Longborough Music Director and eminent Wagnerian Anthony Negus for the next three seasons, building towards its 2024 Ring cycle.

For his first performance in the post, Harry will conduct Siegfried at Longborough on Friday 3 June 2022. Anthony will conduct on 30 May, 1, 5, and 7 June.

Harry Sever said, “I’m so thrilled to be joining this Ring cycle at Longborough and conducting a performance of Siegfried in the upcoming season. I feel such a musical affinity with Anthony Negus’ approach to this repertoire and can’t wait to work alongside him and all the team at Longborough. Opportunities to work on a Ring cycle are few and far between, so this really is a dream come true for me!”

Harry Sever

Longborough Music Director Anthony Negus said, “I very much look forward to welcoming Harry for Siegfried this coming summer. At his audition earlier this year, he showed great sensitivity to the music and style, understanding of singing in German, as well as pianistic ability which is so important for working with singers. I also felt that he would be pleasant to work with as a personality: in all, an extremely promising prospect.”

Longborough said that Harry was chosen following an extensive audition process in which eight emerging conductors worked with Anthony Negus on the opening scene of Siegfried. An expert and experienced panel observed the process, including Anthony, Polly Graham (Longborough Artistic Director), Isabel Murphy (Longborough Artistic Advisor for the Ring) and Brenda Hurley (Royal Academy of Music’s Head of Opera, previously Director of the prestigious International Opera Studio in Zürich).

Polly Graham said, “We are thrilled to be working with Harry Sever – an extraordinary young conductor. We are excited to be expanding our work with Emerging Artists into the field of conducting. Anthony’s knowledge and vast experience in this repertoire are things which must be passed on to the next generation, and we have created this new role to make sure this happens.”

Main image: Matthew Williams-Ellis

Harry Sever image: James Rose

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