Christopher Seaman

General Management

British conductor Christopher Seaman is noted for his inspiring and authoritative music making.

Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (New York) until 2011, he was subsequently named Conductor Laureate. Previous positions include Music Director to the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra (Florida) for ten years, Conductor-in-Residence with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Adviser of the San Antonio Symphony, and Principal Conductor of both the BBC Scottish Symphony and the Northern Sinfonia.

He is recognised for his wealth of repertoire, which ranges from baroque to contemporary, and in particular for his performances of Bruckner, Brahms, Sibelius and British works. Christopher is also highly regarded for his work with younger musicians: he held the post of Course Director to the Symphony Services International Conductor Development Programme (Australia) for many years. In 2013 the University of Rochester published his first book, Inside Conducting, illustrating Christopher's wealth of experience as a conductor and a teacher. In the words of Stephen Johns, Artistic Director of the Royal College of Music: "Christopher’s book is so helpful and practical and required reading for conducting students".

Christopher has recently performed with the Aspen Music Festival, Detroit, Houston, St Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Seattle symphony orchestras, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North and Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil. He frequently visits Australia and Asia, where he has conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland and West Australian symphony orchestras, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic and National Taiwan and Singapore symphony orchestras.

As a recording artist he has worked with the Royal Philharmonic and the Philharmonia, and his recordings with the Rochester Philharmonic have received great critical acclaim. In 2019 he conducted the Britten Sinfonia and Guy Johnston in a recording of Howells’ Cello Concerto in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge for Hyperion Records. He also recorded Malcolm Arnold’s Bridge on the River Kwai suite with the BBC Concert Orchestra for a television broadcast on the BBC’s Our Classical Century documentary in April 2019.

Full biography

Selected reviews

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Selected reviews

“Throughout this symphony, bolstered by sweeping precision in the violins and juicy tremolos in the cellos, the orchestra gave Seaman precisely what he asked of them — big, lush playing that created music that satisfies.” - Jann Nyffeler, October 2016

“Seaman’s magnificent Mahler…the composer’s symphonic world was laid out with all the dramatic contrasts that one could wish for… the ever-calm Seaman creating a marvelous mélange of sound during the denser mixes … The Adagietto, tightened to a crisp eight minutes, revealed the APO strings in excellent form, catching all the subtle inflections of Mahler’s intricate voicings … The symphony’s final glorious affirmation of life, in and beyond the concert hall, was a thrilling conclusion after the particularly fragmented writing in the Finale.” - New Zealand Herald, February 2016

“Seaman and the orchestra gave a beautifully textured performance of the piece [Elgar In the South], moving convincingly from bold statements to dreamy interludes, making room for tender, lullaby-like viola solo lines played by principal violist Robert Levine. The concert ended with a tightly executed performance of Stravinsky’s 1919 revision of his Suite from ‘The Firebird’. Bringing musical fire to their polish and precision, the players sent the audience out the door with many patrons quite literally humming the bars from the piece’s iconic finale.” - Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 2016

“The connection between Seaman and his players was palpable. Seaman has a knack for eliciting a sound from his ensemble that is direct and conversational in its delivery, but with a full, nuanced and romantic tone… At the conclusion, Thursday’s audience responded to Seaman with overwhelming warmth and adoration.” - Daniel J. Kushner, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, May 2015

“The orchestra exuded intensity and energy, at the height of musicality, showing a renewed sense of purpose… With Seaman at the helm, the listener could hear the import inherent in every note.” - Daniel J. Kushner, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, March 2014

“This book is simply typical Christopher, something I would consider one of the highest compliments. Typical of Christopher to combine so much wisdom with so much wit. Required reading, I think, and one of the friendliest books about music ever penned.” - Sir Simon Rattle, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, on 'Inside Conducting'

“With humour, clarity and wisdom, Christopher Seaman gives insight into the mind of a conductor. A feast of inside scoops for music lovers.” - Yo-Yo Ma, cellist and Artistic Director of the Silk Road Project, on 'Inside Conducting'

“To hear the human truths from an experienced music director, enriched by examples from life, is marvellously illuminating. I learned many little things and some big ones.” - Norman Lebrecht, author and critic, on 'Inside Conducting'