Prodigy Alex Prior hopes to put Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on world stage
CBC News | Posted: October 31, 2016 3:32 PM | Last Updated: October 31, 2016
'It's the form of music-making where you have the widest palette of colours'
The orchestra pit was already humming when Alexander Prior learned he would be making his conducting debut.
Only 12 years old, his composition was being performed at an opera house in St. Petersburg, but the man who was set to lead the orchestra was in no shape to wield the baton.
"My music was being recorded and performed as part of a prize and the conductor showed up to Russia a little bit tipsy so he couldn't do it," Prior said.
"And so they said, 'Alex you have to do it.' I was 11 or 12 and I had absolutely no clue, but when you're 12, you don't care.
"So on I went and did it and I had great fun — I'm sure the musicians didn't — but I thought, 'Well I like this so I best take lessons'. "
Prior has come a long way since that night, but even then he was a musical prodigy.
His list of credentials would put a man three times his age to shame.
And now, at 24, he has another accomplishment to add to his resume. Prior has been named the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor.
'The luckiest man alive'
Prior who has been making guest appearances with the orchestra since 2014, says the partnership feels pitch-perfect.
"I'm very fortunate, to have a job the thing I love the most," Prior said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
"I feel certainly like the luckiest man alive in these last few days with this announcement."
"I worked very hard at a very young age, very willingly and happily, but it really does feel like it's paying off, and that means I get to get on stage and make music with friends and colleagues. It's just awesome."
But Prior has no reason to be humble.
The London-born dynamo speaks six languages and has stood before orchestras around the world, conducting from Vienna to London to Hong Kong.
Prior began composing at the age of eight and has written more than 40 works, including symphonies, concertos, two ballets, and two operas.
At the age of 13, his ballet Mowgli, commissioned by the Moscow State Ballet, received international accolades.
At 17, he was the youngest student since Sergei Prokofiev to graduate with distinction as a conductor from the Conservatory in St. Petersburg.
'I really intend to make a home here'
"I had the great the fortune of being exposed to great music making at a very young age and I got the bug," Prior said.
"I expressed my desire to be a musician and my parents had the faith in me to support that.
"And I realized that conducting was the best choice of for me. It's the form of music-making where you have the widest palette of colours."
Prior will replace outgoing ESO conductor Bill Eddins starting in the 2017-2018 season, on a five-year contract. It's his first time as the artistic leader of an orchestra, and Prior hopes to use his time to promote the Edmonton orchestra to a wider audience.
"It's my primary job to explore musical facets, new sounds ... but also it's about bringing the community together and helping the orchestra and Winspear be what they are, the pulsing heart of the city.
"It's about advocacy. Advocacy of the orchestra to Edmonton and advocacy of Edmonton to the world.
"I really intend to make a home here."