Bryan Balkwill

Bryan Balkwill was born in London in July 1922 and began piano lessons at the age of four. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music; after wartime service in Italy he was appointed répétiteur for the New London Opera Company in 1947, becoming its assistant conductor and making his début at the Cambridge Theatre with Carl Ebert’s production of *Rigoletto*.

He joined the music staff at Glyndebourne in 1950, returning in 1953 as chorus master and associate conductor under Vittorio Gui, with whom he worked particularly on the Rossini revivals of that period. He was principal conductor of the Wexford Festival from 1953 to 1959, resident conductor at Covent Garden from 1959 to 1965 (leading over 200 performances across a wide repertoire), and music director of Welsh National Opera from 1963 to 1967. He played a continuing role in the Arts Council’s *Opera for All* programme through the 1950s. He later joined the faculty of Indiana University as a professor of music.

Balkwill died in February 2007. Music Preserved’s archive includes a selection of his work with Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera and the touring programmes that defined the post-war British operatic landscape.