Ivor Bolton is one of the most distinguished conductors in the field of Baroque and Classical repertoire; his versatility, however, is borderless. So he conducted the production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, which received the “best production”-prize by Opernwelt, at Teatro Real, where he holds the position of Music Director, as well as at Royal Opera House London. In addition to his leading positions at Sinfonieorchester Basel and Teatro Real in Madrid, Ivor Bolton is
Conductor Laureate of the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, with whom he appears annually at the Salzburg Festival and on tour, and Chief Conductor of the Dresden Festival Orchestra. He enjoys a close relationship with the Bayerische Staatsoper where, since 1994, he has conducted a wide range of new productions, most notably Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart. He was awarded the prestigious „Bayerische Theaterpreis“ for his outstanding work in Munich. Before his time in Salzburg, Ivor Bolton was Music Director of English Touring Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and Chief Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Ivor Bolton has been a regular guest at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Opéra national de Paris. Other operatic engagements have included Covent Garden, English National Opera, Bologna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Sydney, Berlin, Hamburg and Genoa. Orchestral engagements have included the BBC Proms, Lincoln Center New York, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonisch Orkest Rotterdam, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Wiener Symphoniker and the Freiburger Barockorchester.
Highlights of the 2019/20 season were new productions of The Magic Flute in Madrid and Così fan tutte in Amsterdam, an „artist in residence“ at Philharmonie Essen and concerts with Yomiuri Nippon SO in Japan.
The 2020/21 season – inspite of all the limitations caused by the pandemic – saw Bolton conducting highly acclaimed premieres of Rusalka and Don Giovanni in Madrid. Future engagements inculde, in addition to his activities in Madrid, Basel and Dresden, a.o. his return to Bavarian State Opera Munich, Theater an der Wien and Salzburg Festival.