Christopher Lyndon-Gee, conductor, composer and pianist, was born in London. His early teachers and mentors include Arthur Hutchings, Rudolf Schwartz, Franco Ferrara, Goffredo Petrassi, Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf and Maurice Abravanel. He is perhaps best known for his celebrated and extensive discography (he was one of the first conductors to sign for Naxos, in 1993), encompassing compositions as diverse as the complete works of Igor Markevitch and George Rochberg (nominated for Grammys in 1998 and 2004) to the works of Edgard VarŹse with the National Polish Radio so, a multi-award winning Respighi with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and music of Shostakovich, Richard Strauss and Stravinsky. He has also won a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Penguin Guide to Compact Discs Rosette (five times), and fourfold Critics’ Choice from ‘Fanfare’ magazine.
During his twelve-year residence in Australia, he was Chief Conductor of the Canberra ‘Pro Arte’ Orchestra, with which he organized Festivals of the music of Alfred Schnittke and Rodion Shchedrin, gave Australian premieres of Arvo Pärt’s Miserere and Wenn Bach Bienen bezüchtet hätte, Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maEtre, Rachmaninov’s The Bells and All Night Vigil, Maxwell Davies’ Symphony Concertante, and tens of other works. He was named as ‘Artist of the Year’ by the National Critics’ Circle of Australia (1993) and as ‘Best Conductor’ by the Sydney Critics’ Guild for his conducting of the world premiere of Larry Sitsky’s The Golem at Sydney Opera House (1994).
Having in recent years served as the principal Guest Conductor of the Arnhem Philharmonic Orches-tra (the Netherlands) and the Radio-Symphony Orchestra of Saarbrücken, he now performs regularly with orchestras in Germany, Italy, England, Sweden, The Netherlands, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, the United States and several other countries.
Since 2002 he has been Chair and Professor of Music at Adelphi University, New York. He is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the New York-based Adelphi Symphony, which is composed primarily of expatriate Russian and Ukrainian musicians, many of whom are former principal players of great Russian orchestras. Recent programmes with them include Louis Andriessen’s De Staat, music by Peteris Vasks, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar’.
Schnittke’s Viola Concerto and Concerto Grosso No. 1 are planned for the 2005/06 season.
Christopher Lyndon-Gee is also a greatly accomplished pianist, specializing in the contemporary repertoire. Over two hundred new works were written specially for him in the 1970s and 80s. He co-founded, with composer Lorenzo Ferrero, the contemporary music ensemble Fase Seconda in Turin, and is the founder of the Oxford Sinfonietta and Telford Sinfonia.
Also a widely performed composer, Lyndon-Gee won the major international composition prize of the Onassis Foundation for the ballet score Il Poeta muore (2001), has been awarded the Adolf Spivakovsky Prize, the ‘Sounds Australian’ Prize (three times) and two MacDowell Fellowships. His works have been performed in many countries and his commissions include those from the Forte Quartet of New York and the Kreutzer Quartet in London as well as the John Armitage Memorial Trust.