Brian Castles-Onion is one of Australia’s most
exciting and best-known young conductors and pianists. He has been described
by Richard Bonynge as “exceptionally brilliant”. He has been Artistic
Director of Canterbury Opera in New Zealand and continues a long association
with Opera Australia.
Brian
Castles-Onion studied at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music before
commencing his employment on the music staff of Opera Australia. He has been
contracted to Lyric Opera of Queensland and was appointed Young Artist,
Repetiteur and Chorus Master for the Victoria State Opera in 1990. After
further study abroad, he returned to Opera Australia in 1994 and was awarded
the prestigious Churchill Fellowship to study conducting in Europe and has
worked at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Rossini Festival in Italy.
His conducting experience in Australia and
New Zealand includes: Faust, La Traviata, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Il
barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Lucia di Lammermoor, Così fan tutte,
Lucio Silla, Rinaldo, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, The Telephone, Turandot, Norma,
Iolanthe, The Merry Widow and Lakmé.
In concert, Brian Castles-Onion has
performed in numerous versions of Opera In The Park, Opera In The
Vineyards, Opera On The Beach, Canberra Floriade, Highlights From Opera,
Opera Australia’s 40th Anniversary Gala and
The Robert Allman Farewell Gala.
Recordings include The Stephen Sondheim
Songbook, When We Met, Amoureuse, The Power of Love,
Puccini Passion, Geraldine Turner – The Stephen Sondheim Songbook
Volume Two and the soundtrack to the American film
Harlem Aria.
He has appeared in cabaret in New York,
Berlin, London and throughout Australia where he also regularly appears on
national television.
2004
conducting engagements with Canterbury Opera and Opera Australia included
A Little Night Music, La Forza del Destino, Manon and The Mikado.
In 2005 Brian Castles-Onion conducted Tosca for Canterbury Opera and
Carmen for West Australian Opera. In 2006 he conducted Rigoletto
and The Pirates of Penzance for Opera Australia, Lucia di
Lammermoor for Canterbury Opera, Samson et Dalila for West
Australian Opera and led concerts starring Dame Kiri te Kanawa for West
Australian Symphony Orchestra. 2007 saw performances of Il barbiere di
Siviglia and The Gondoliers for Opera Australia; in 2008, he
conducts Les Pêcheurs de Perles for OA and Il barbiere di Siviglia
for Opera Queensland.
