Richard James Bradshaw (26 April 1944 – 15 August 2007) was a British opera conductor and the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in Toronto.
Early life and education Bradshaw was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. He grew up in Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire, where he began taking piano lessons when he was eight years old, and played the organ at his church when he was twelve."Richard Bradshaw". The Canadian Encyclopedia, by Evan Ware, May 5, 2010 Bradshaw received a Bachelor of Arts with honours in English from University of London in 1965. He studied conducting with Adrian Boult.Derek Shore. "Richard Bradshaw, 63". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 13 October 2007. ISSN 0006-2510. p. 92.
Career In 1971, Bradshaw conducted several concerts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.Musical Opinion. Vol. 95. Musical Opinion; 1971. p. 241.
From 1975 to 1977, Bradshaw was the Chorus Director at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. From 1977 to 1989, he was Chorus Director and Resident Conductor at San Francisco Opera.Cum Notis Variorum: The Newsletter of the Music Library, University of California, Berkeley. Vol. Issues 49-67. The Library; 1981. p. 4.
In 1988, he was a guest conductor of the Canadian Opera Company. In 1989, he was appointed Chief Conductor and Head of Music. In 1993 he conducted the company's production of Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" and Schoenberg's "Erwartung", which toured to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and to the Edinburgh International Festival."Thousands say goodbye to COC's Richard Bradshaw". CTV News, August 21, 2007
In 1994, he was appointed Artistic Director and General Director in 1998. At the COC, he conducted more than 60 operas"Salome Story Given New Twist". Winnipeg Free Press, via Newspaper Archives. September 29, 1996 - Page 22 as well as leading the orchestra in concerts."Concert Reviews". La Scene Musicale, By Joseph K. So on 1 May 1998
In 2004, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario for having "brought the COC international acclaim, including a first-ever invitation to the Edinburgh Festival, garnering two prestigious awards"."Canadian Opera Company Director Richard Bradshaw Honored by Ontario". Playbill, By Ben Mattison, Sep 11, 2005
In 2006, Bradshaw received the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. It was also that year that saw the opening of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. In September of that year, Bradshaw and the COC opened the season with three complete performances of Wagner's Ring, becoming the first conductor since Wagner himself to inaugurate an opera house with a complete Ring. He continued to conduct the COC orchestra until his death the following year."Reviews 2007:Elektra". Stage Door, Christopher Hoile, 2007-04-23
Death and legacy
On 15 August 2007, at age 63, Bradshaw died after collapsing from an apparent heart attack while at Toronto Pearson International Airport. He left a wife Diana, daughter Jenny, and son James."Richard Bradshaw". The Guardian, Barry Millington, 29 Aug 2007
The Richard Bradshaw Fellowship in Opera at the University of Toronto was founded in his name, and Toronto's Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre was named for him. A prize in his name was presented at the Canadian International Organ Competition in Montreal in 2008."Montreal plays a fine host for organists". Toronto Star, Oct. 25, 2008
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