PAUL DANIEL is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and talented conductors of his generation and is in great demand with both opera companies and orchestras worldwide.

Paul Daniel appears as a guest conductor with major orchestras throughout the world, including the Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with whom he has recently recorded Elijah for Decca and toured to New York, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National de Lyon at the Montreux Festival, the Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig.

He became Music Director of English National Opera in September 1997 where he has conducted The Flying Dutchman, Falstaff, From the House of the Dead, The Tales of Hoffmann, Manon, Otello, Boris Godounov, La traviata, The Dialogue of the Carmelites, Der Rosenkavalie and Peter Grimes. He had already worked extensively with the company where productions included the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's Mask of Orpheus (together with the conductor Elgar Howarth), Figaro's Wedding (Mozart), Akhnaten by Philip Glass, Tosca, Carmen, Rigoletto and performances of King Priam, as part of the Tippett birthday celebrations.

Paul Daniel was Music Director of Opera North from 1990-1997, where he attracted critical acclaim for his exciting and fresh performances of Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, Tippett's King Priam, on Giovanni, Schreker's Der Ferne Klang, Boris Godunov (with which Opera North made its Prom debut in 1992), Don Carlos, Wozzeck, Gloriana, Il Trovatore, Pelleas and Melisande, the world premieres of Michael Berkeley's Baa Baa Black Sheep and Benedict Mason's Playing Away, which was premiered at the Munich Biennale and won awards for best production and design, Jenufa, Luisa Miller, Medea, Falstaff and Tannhäuser.

During his tenure as Principal Conductor of the English Northern Philharmonia, the orchestra of Opera North, he conducted numerous concerts throughout the UK and has also took the orchestra to many festivals including "Musica" in Strasbourg and the Edinburgh Festival. He made many recordings with the English Northern Philharmonia for EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Chandos and Naxos. He was Music Director of Opera Factory from 1987-1990.

Other operatic engagements have included King Priam for Opera de Nancy (which won the French Critics Prize for the best French production - Prix Claude Rostnad), Mitridate at the Royal Opera House, Beatrice and Benedict and Khovanshchina at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, Erwartung and Duke Bluebeard's Castle for Geneva Opera, The Marriage of Figaro, and the world premiere of Hans-Jurgen von Bose's Slaughterhouse 5 and a new production of Katya Kabanova at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Forthcoming orchestral engagements include concerts with the Philharmonia, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Forthcoming operatic engagements include Pelléas et Mélisande, Nixon in China, and the world premiere of The Silver Tassie by Mark Anthony Turnage for English National Opera.

In February 1998 Paul Daniel received an Olivier Award for outstanding achievement in opera, and in 1999 he received a Gramophone award for his English music series on the Naxos label. He was awarded the CBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours list.

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