FinneganDownie Dear

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  • Conductor

About Finnegan

Music Director: Shadwell

The 24/25 season sees Finnegan make debuts with the Staatskapelle Dresden, Warsaw Philharmonic, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; he returns to the Staatskapelle Berlin, Athens State Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. On the opera podium, he returns to the Staatsoper Berlin for Le nozze di Figaro, the Staatsoper Hamburg for Falstaff and leads the world premiere of Miroslav Srnka's Voice Killer in his debut at Theater an der Wien.

Recent symphonic highlights include engagements with Camerata Salzburg, Kammerakademie Potsdam, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

Opera highlights include The Makropulos Case at Staatsoper Berlin, Eugene Onegin at Staatsoper Hamburg, Macbeth at the State Opera of South Australia, Die tote Stadt at Polish National Opera, Hänsel und Gretel at Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Korea National Opera, Le nozze di Figaro at Royal Swedish Opera and Gerald Barry's Alice's Adventures Underground at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Future plans include his return to Covent Garden and debuts at Victorian Opera and Garsington Opera.

Finnegan is based in Berlin

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Contact

For availability and general enquiries:

Henry Lindsay

Henry Lindsay

Associate Director

For contracts, logistics and press:

Jemima Pickersgill

Jemima Pickersgill

Assistant Artist Manager

For availability and enquiries in Germany, Switzerland and Austria:

Alexander Hollensteiner

Alexander Hollensteiner

Managing Director/Geschäftsführer (Berlin)

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Sep 2024
Oslo Opera House, Oslo
Bartok: Violin Concerto No. 2 Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 Norwegian Radio Orchestra Midori Gotō (violin)
Nov 2024
Dresden Semperoper, Dresden
Webern: Variations for Orchestra Op. 30 Kurz: Trumpet Concerto Schubert: Symphony No. 5 Staatskapelle Dresden Sven Barnkoth (trumpet)
Jan 2025
Berlin State Opera, Berlin
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro Berlin State Opera
Feb 2025
Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin
Bartok: Divertimento for Strings Kurtag: What is the Word Schubert: Symphony No. 5 Staatskapelle Berlin
Feb 2025
Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, Warsaw
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnole, Op. 34 Saverio Mercandante: Flute Concerto No. 2 Op. 57 Elgar: Symphony No. 2 Warsaw Philharmonic Lukasz Dlugosz (flute)
Mar 2025
Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Brahms: Violin Concerto Ravel: Mother Goose Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 Sydney Symphony Orchestra James Ehnes (violin)
Apr 2025
Hamburg State Opera, Hamburg
Verdi: Falstaff Hamburg State Opera
Jun 2025
Theater an der Wien, Vienna
Miroslav Srnka: Voice Killer (World Premiere) Theater an der Wien

Video

Photos

News

Press

  • Harvey, Williams, Weinberg, Schubert 5

    Tapiola Sinfonietta
    Oct 2024

    • Under the leadership of the fine British conductor Finnegan Downie Dear, the orchestra skilfully and sensitively reached the tonal character of each piece. Downie Dear led the closing number of the concert, Schubert's symphony in B-flat major, with his expressive hands, with a luminous flow, in the spirit of Mozart, but also Beethoven and Haydn. An anxious minuet refreshingly broke the feeling of security.

  • Macbeth

    State Opera of South Australia
    Sep 2023

    • Finnegan Downie Dear conducted the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with clarity. Of course, as an audience member one is always aware of the sound that emerges from the orchestra pit, but it shouldn’t always be the primary focus. It needs to complement the action, rather than being a driving or motivating force itself. That is how he conducted. He understands the intent of the poetry of the libretto, and how Verdi’s score draws out the meaning. When it was appropriate that the music take centre stage, Finnegan Downie Dear unleashed the forces of the ASO with vigour without losing musicality.

    • From the moment the conductor, Finnegan Downie Dear, lifts his baton the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra adds another actor to the piece. The level and integrity of the score drive the opera in different directions with such ease; the conversations it creates with the singers are magical.

    • Verdi’s brilliant score is played with panache by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Finnegan Downie Dear, who also conducted the ASO’s last Symphony Series concert, and regular concertmaster Kate Suthers. The woodwind theme is especially beautiful. Downie Dear’s pacing is precise and they play with remarkable clarity...

    • The opening is enchanting: wood instruments and shrieking flutes talking to each other, as if they were voices running through the woods, setting the scene for the on-stage dark mischief, all conducted by Finnigan Downie Dear who did a thoroughly excellent job throughout the performance. Verdi’s score comes up vividly in the performance, heightening the drama as is fitting to the tragic opera.

  • Seeger, Beethoven & Mahler 4

    Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
    Aug 2023

    • The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) did not disappoint under the enthusiastic baton of British conductor Finnegan Downie Dear, making his debut appearance here... Osborne and Downie Dear displayed superb synergy as they reached the climax at the end of the first 'allegro moderato' movement. The second and third movements segued together seamlessly...

    • Steven Osborne and the ASO under conductor Downie Dear combined wonderfully in this captivating performance of the Beethoven.

  • Wagner, Berg, Harvey & Debussy

    Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
    Feb 2022

    • ***** [Downie Dear] is increasingly recognised for his mastery of complex scores and his intense and mature performances. In magnificent solos and fairytale-like tutti dizziness, he led the musicians through Debussy's world of ideas about the sea, letting the orchestra paint dense sound pictures full of shimmering colours and depth.

  • BBC National Orchestra of Wales

    Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff
    Dec 2021

    • Downie Dear ensured that the players, both in their accompaniment and in the expansive orchestral sections, matched Ridout in sensitivity. The sheer beauty of it all was mesmerising and, by the end, profoundly moving... Downie Dear balanced the score’s moments of languid delicacy with more vibrant characterisations that, being Ravel, never become remotely pantomimic.

  • Mozart Don Giovanni

    Nevill Holt Opera
    Aug 2021

    • Musically it is also a challenge but no problem for conductor Finnegan Downie Dear and the first Nevill Holt outing for the Shadwell Ensemble as he balances the musicians on stage with the singers behind him and all over and on and off that mound.

    • Charting the entire score admirably as well as seeking out its detail, conductor Finnegan Downie Dear confirmed his rising reputation.

      • George Hall, Opera Now
      • 01 October 2021

  • Ravel & Knussen

    Shadwell Opera Company
    Oct 2019

    • The Shadwell Ensemble played with terrific fervour under Finnegan Downie Dear… a lovely performance by the orchestra of Ravel’s fairytale ballet score, Mother Goose, the silky sonorities beautifully balanced by Downie Dear.

  • Beethoven Pastoral Symphony

    Kosice State Philharmonic
    May 2019

    • During this performance we had the opportunity to fully admire the abilities of conductor Finnegan Downie Dear. Thanks to his precise, inspiring and masterful conducting, we could immerse ourselves in the perfection of Beethoven's musical thinking.

  • Sibelius Valse Triste

    Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Apr 2019

    • Finnegan Downie Dear refreshingly brings life to this often routinely performed work. He sensitively draws out the fragility of the piece, accentuating the quiet sad tones and softening over the top cheeriness.

  • Scottish Opera

    Theatre Royal, Glasgow
    Feb 2018

    • In the pit, the soloists of the Orchestra of Scottish Opera were on first class form as a deranged cabaret band, under the baton of Finnegan Downie Dear.

    • The small twenty strong band of an eclectic mix of instruments under conductor Finnegan Downie Dear tackled the tumultuous and quirky score with infectious verve and enthusiasm.