Stefan Asbury

Iarlaith Carter
Spiros Chatziangelou
“The judicious and commanding baton of Stefan Asbury… [at the Leipzig Gewandhaus].”
(Leipziger Volkszeitung, February 2014)
A regular guest with leading orchestras worldwide, Stefan Asbury’s 2020/21 season starts with his return to Ensemble Modern to conduct works by Charles Ives, followed by engagements with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and Szczecin Philharmonic.
Recent seasons saw Stefan returning to and debuting with several orchestras across the world, including the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia and China National Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig as part of Beethovenfest Bonn and Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao during Bilbao’s Musika-Musica 2019 festival.
Stefan has particularly strong relationships with many living composers including Steve Reich, Wolfgang Rihm, Unsuk Chin and Mark-Anthony Turnage. In recent seasons he has conducted the world premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch’s Organ Concert at the Musikverein in Vienna and the world premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Piano Concerto with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, including the US premiere with Aimard and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Following the sad passing of Oliver Knussen, a very close mentor, Stefan conducted his last completed composition with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in November 2018.

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As a recording artist, Stefan’s CD of music by Jonathan Harvey was awarded a Monde de la Musique CHOC award, and his complete cycle of Gerard Grisey’s Les Espaces Accoustiques with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln won a Deutschen Schallplattenkritik award.
Since 1995 Stefan Asbury has served on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center and has held the Sana H. Sabbagh Master Teacher Chair on the Conducting Faculty since 2005.

“[Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie] The Symphonie’s rhythms, structures, and harmonic relations are all incredibly complex and varied, but conductor Stefan Asbury and the APO never flagged during this spectacular concert… The fifth movement was a highlight and the orchestra flung itself into this dancing maelstrom with power and abandon… Stefan Asbury’s conducting led us through this thicket of themes and motifs with logic and coherence. The musicians captured all the extreme contrasts in the work from the pure and delicate to the fiery and brutal.”
“Such a piece (Grisey’s Les Espaces acoustiques) imperatively needs a conductor – Asbury doesn’t only show the diversity of the music but also sees the bigger picture. The Brit knows how to shape a breathing musical organism.”
“Asbury conveys the captivatingly illustrative power of Shostakovich’s instrumentation with sheer cinematic imagination. The dreamy second movement shows the brutal conflicts with utmost severity.”
“Under Stefan Asbury’s baton, the young players (America’s finest) of the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra find all the sophistication of Gershwin’s score.”
“Asbury’s sovereignty guaranteed a vivid interpretation of Messiaen [at Staatsoper Hannover] which will stay in the audience’s memory for a long time.”
“The judicious and commanding baton of Stefan Asbury… [at the Leipzig Gewandhaus].”
“The big surprise was that the new chief’s authority, he was able to show this convincingly in standard repertoire. The prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde was full of romantic mystery. With elegant tension proved the conductor that in silence the most beautiful music can hide. Asbury’s handling of parts from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet music was nothing less than a sensation. He seemingly effortlessly elicited transparency and bright colors out of the orchestra, and his honest approach won him in perfect drops of theater out of the score. We have seldom heard this orchestra play so well. After the concert, the musicians applauded for the new chief-conductor and everyone was there to shine… Groningen has something to discover…”
“Stefan Asbury conducted with considerable attention to detail, skilfully guiding the performers through the music’s rhythmic complexities.”
“Outstanding: Stefan Asbury at the helm of the 11-strong ensemble from Klangforum Wien.”