Richard Buckley

Conductor

Renowned American conductor Richard Buckley has been heralded by critics across the world for his dynamic contributions and passionate conducting style in both the orchestral and operatic genres. His extraordinary career includes performing with: Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Baltimore Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Canadian Opera Company, and L’Opéra de Montréal.

Mo. Buckley is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Austin Lyric Opera. He brought National attention to this company by spearheading a city wide Shostakovich Festival in 2006, bringing new works into the repertoire including Elektra and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and producing the American premiere of Glass’ Waiting for the Barbarians. This season’s engagements include a new Aida for Edmonton Opera, Rigoletto with the Lyric Opera Baltimore, I Pagliacci, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Faust for Austin Lyric Opera.

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…brought a refreshing dynamism…

“Conductor Richard Buckley brought a gorgeous lushness along with a refreshing dynamism to the score. Puccini’s big sweeping emotional moments got all their due and then some without ever overshadowing the tenderness of the smaller poignant episodes.” – Austin 360

…led with elan and expressivity…

“And the orchestra, led with élan and expressivity by Richard Buckley, Lyric’s music director, was the star of the show. This was major-league playing, with especially polished violins, and Buckley made the most of the score’s contrasts of both color and intensity.”– Opera News

…very personal, very sensitive…

“On the podium, Richard Buckley conducted a very personal, very sensitive and imaginative interpretation of Verdi’s opera. Tempos were often on the slow side, but always with reason, making musical sense, rich in detailed orchestral phrasing, both a commentary on the vocal lines and a support to the singers. Audiences sensed the deep involvement of Buckley, awarding him the most clamorous of ovations for any conductor this season.”– Opera News Online

…a stunning performance…

“Maestro Richard Buckley led the Lyric orchestra in a stunning performance in which the radiant colors of the orchestration, the abundant rhythmic details and the innate drama of the score were all brilliantly communicated. In total, it was an inspired evening of modern American opera.”– L’Opera

…shaped the orchestral sounds masterfully…

“Buckley shaped the orchestral sounds masterfully, infusing excitement yet investing familiar melodies with nuance and meaning. His promise of a new era of musical excellence for the company is well on its way to fulfillment.”– Opera News

Composer	Opera
Barber	Antony and Cleopatra
Bartok	Bluebeard’s Castle
Berg	Wozzeck
Bizet	Carmen
Chabrier	L’etoile
Donizetti	L’Elisir d’Amore
	Lucia di Lammermoor
Dove	Flight
Dvorak	The Devil and Kate
Floyd	Of Mice and Men
Gershwin	Porgy and Bess
Glass	Waiting for the Barbarians
Gordon	The Grapes of Wrath
Gounod	Faust
Humperdinck	Hansel and Gretel
Leoncavallo	I Pagliacci
Levy	Mourning Becomes Electra
Mascagni	Cavalleria Rusticana
Menotti	The Consul
Mozart	The Magic Flute
	Le Nozze di Figaro
Offenbach	Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Paulus	The Postman Always Rings Twice
	The Woodlanders
	The Women at Otawi Crossing
Poulenc	Dialogues of the Carmelites
Puccini	La boheme
	La fanciulla del West
	Gianni Schicchi
	Madama Butterfly
	Manon Lescaut
	Suor Angelica
	Il Tabarro
	Tosca
	Turandot
Rossini	Il barbiere di Sivilgia
	Il Viaggio a Rheims
	L’Italiana in Algeri
Sallinen	The King Goes Forth to France
Sheng	The Song of Majun
Schoenberg	Erwartung
Shostakovich	Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
J. Strauss	Die Fledermaus
R. Strauss	Der Rosenkavalier
	Elektra
Stravinsky	The Rake’s Progress
Verdi	Aida
	Don Carlo
	Un Ballo in Maschera
	Falstaff
	Luisa Miller
	Macbeth
	Otello
	Rigoletto
	La Traviata
	Il Trovatore
Weill	Street Scene

Internationally, he has enjoyed return engagements at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, L’Opéra National de Paris, Hamburg Statsoper, National Theatre of Mannheim, Teatro Colon, Royal Danish Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, Göteborg Opera, Norwegian National Opera, De Nederlandse Opera, and Teatro San Carlo Lisbon, among many others. Mo. Buckley’s engaging interpretations have been heard with some of the world’s finest orchestras including: the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Toronto, Utah and Seattle.

Maestro Buckley has toured with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has had guest appearances with the Prague Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Hallé Orchestra, L’Orchestre National de Lyon, Ulster Orchestra, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary Philharmonic. Mo. Buckley has served as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, Music Director of the Oakland Symphony, and Principal Conductor of Opera Cleveland.

Buckley continues to be a strong supporter of new works. He premiered Bright Sheng’s The Song of Manjun, Stephen Paulus’ The Woodlanders and The Woman at Otowi Crossing, and led the United States premiere of Aulis Sallinen’s The King Goes Forth to France. He conducted newly revised versions of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra and Martin Levy’s Mourning Becomes Elektra as well as Ricky Ian Gordon’s Grapes of Wrath.