Music Director of New York City Ballet and Conductor Laureate of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton also served as Music Director of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, leading it to international prominence through acclaimed recordings and high-profile tours which included performances at the BBC Proms, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Wiener Musikverein, Philharmonie Berlin, and Carnegie Hall, New York. In recognition of his work, he was awarded the Norwegian Royal Order of Merit (Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden) in 2011. Previously Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, he led its first American tour and many recordings, including a Grammy-winning Belshazzar’s Feast. During his tenure as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, he conducted major European tours, launched an award-winning educational TV series, produced twenty-eight recordings, and played a key role in significantly increasing the Orchestra’s endowment. He is a frequent guest conductor with leading orchestras around the world, and appears regularly with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (where he is a former Principal Guest Conductor), as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Kungliga Hovkapellet, Stockholm, among many others. He has conducted more than 140 recordings, winning a Grammy Award and France’s Diapason d’Or. A seasoned opera conductor, he has led productions at The Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Opera Australia. He also helped establish Bergen Nasjonale Opera, conducting a wide range of critically acclaimed performances. Born in New York City, he studied piano and conducting at The Juilliard School and held early posts at Teatro alla Scala and the National Symphony Orchestra. His honours include Yale School of Music’s Sanford Medal, the Elgar Society Medal, and an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University. Andrew Litton is a noted expert on George Gershwin and serves as advisor to the Gershwin Archives at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.