FinneganDownie Dear

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Conductor
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Contact

For availability and general enquiries:

Henry Lindsay

Henry Lindsay

Associate Director

For contracts, logistics and press:

Jemima Pickersgill

Jemima Pickersgill

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

About Finnegan

Music Director: Shadwell

This season will see Finnegan make debuts at the Staatsoper Hamburg (Eugene Onegin), as well as with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Athens State Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic and NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. He returns to the Staatskapelle Berlin, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic and the Romanian Radio Orchestra.

The 2022/23 season saw Finnegan debut with the Staatskapelle Berlin in both opera (The Makropulos Case) and concert; following the engagements he was re-invited for three future opera productions, as well as symphonic concerts. He went on to make first appearances with Camerata Salzburg and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and was re-invited by both. Other symphonic highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hallé, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Filarmonica di Bologna and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Recent opera highlights include Macbeth at the State Opera of South Australia, Die tote Stadt at Polish National Opera, Hänsel und Gretel at Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Korean National Opera, Le nozze di Figaro at Royal Swedish Opera, Don Giovanni at Nevill Holt Opera and Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Finnegan will conduct future productions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Staatsoper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Theater an der Wien and at Garsington Opera.

Finnegan is based in Berlin

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Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Oct 2023
De Doelen, Rotterdam
Thomas Ades: The Exterminating Angel Symphony Britten: Violin Concerto in D Minor Op. 15 - Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition Rotterdam Philharmonic Clara Jumi Kang (violin)
Nov 2023
Megaron, Athens
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 - Elgar Symphony No. 2 Athens State Orchestra Kirill Gerstein (piano)
Jan 2024
Zorlu Performing Arts Center, Istanbul
Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 - Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra Alexandra Conunova (violin)

Video

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Press

  • Macbeth

    State Opera of South Australia
    Sep 2023

    • Finnegan Downie Dear conducted the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with clarity. Of course, as an audience member one is always aware of the sound that emerges from the orchestra pit, but it shouldn’t always be the primary focus. It needs to complement the action, rather than being a driving or motivating force itself. That is how he conducted. He understands the intent of the poetry of the libretto, and how Verdi’s score draws out the meaning. When it was appropriate that the music take centre stage, Finnegan Downie Dear unleashed the forces of the ASO with vigour without losing musicality.

    • From the moment the conductor, Finnegan Downie Dear, lifts his baton the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra adds another actor to the piece. The level and integrity of the score drive the opera in different directions with such ease; the conversations it creates with the singers are magical.

    • Verdi’s brilliant score is played with panache by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Finnegan Downie Dear, who also conducted the ASO’s last Symphony Series concert, and regular concertmaster Kate Suthers. The woodwind theme is especially beautiful. Downie Dear’s pacing is precise and they play with remarkable clarity...

    • The opening is enchanting: wood instruments and shrieking flutes talking to each other, as if they were voices running through the woods, setting the scene for the on-stage dark mischief, all conducted by Finnigan Downie Dear who did a thoroughly excellent job throughout the performance. Verdi’s score comes up vividly in the performance, heightening the drama as is fitting to the tragic opera.