ALUN FRANCIS has conducted more than 200 orchestras and opera ensembles in more than 30 different countries in the last 40 years. He appears regularly in the music capitals of Europe — Amsterdam, Berlin, London and Milan.
Principal Positions
- 1966 – 1976Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Ulster Orchestra and Northern Ireland Opera Trust
- 1976 – 1978Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Iranian National Opera in Teheran
- 1978 – 1984Music Director of the NEPAC Opera in Durban
- 1979 – 1985Music Director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra in Seattle, USA
- 1985 – 1988Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Opera Forum in The Netherlands
- 1987 – 1991Principal Conductor and General Music Director of ‘Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie’
- 1990 – 1994Principal Conductor of the Haydn Orchestra Bolzano/Trento in Italy
- 1989 – 1996Chief Conductor of the Berliner Symphoniker
- 1996 – 1999Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano ‘Giuseppe Verdi’
- 2002 – 2004Permanent Guest Conductor, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra
- 2003 – 2008Chief Conductor of the Thuringia Philharmonic
- Since 2008Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the ‘Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM’ / Mexico City
Alun Francis regularly conducts concerts and Compact-Disc recordings with the Italian Radio Orchestra (RAI) Turin, the Cologne Rundfunk-Sinfonie Orchester, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Frankfurter-Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) Hannover, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, the Radio Sinfonie Orchester Basel, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish National Radio Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, and the SWR Rundfunkorchester, Kaiserslautern.
In January 2000 Alun Francis won the first Prize of the ‘CANNES CLASSICAL AWARDS’ presented at MIDEM 2000 in the category of CD Premiers, for his recordings of the complete symphonies of Darius Milhaud. His recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Mozart Players have won much critical acclaim, including the LONDON SUNDAY TIMES, ‘Best Classical Recording of 1983’.
Highly regarded as a conductor of Bel Canto opera, Alun Francis was invited to direct the world premiere of DONIZETTI’S Gabriella di Vergy in London in 1978. At the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Alun Francis directed Rigoletto in a Roman Polanski production. His Opera repertoire includes over 70 different operas.
Apart from his classical repertoire, Alun Francis is a noted specialist in 20th century music, with a repertoire which ranges from Berio and Stockhausen to a sizeable number of world premieres. As a composer, Alun Francis has written works for concert hall, theatre and films, which are published in London and New York.