Finnegan Downie Dear
Sydney Symphony Orchestra / Ravel - Brahms
An emerging conductor of acute musical discernement… Downie Dear led with exacting attention to balance and detail, creating tension and expectancy… An utterly absorbing experience.
Sydney Morning Herald (03/07/2025)
Hamburg State Opera - Falstaff
Conductor Finnegan Downie Dear has a rock solid hold on what comes out of the pit, and the orchestra play for him with razor sharp precision and a joy in the ensemble.
Seen and Heard International ( April 7, 2025)Representation
Worldwide general managment
Contact
Links
Website
Instagram
Season 25/26 and Highlights
GÜRZENICH ORCHESTRA COLOGNE
Voice of Opera
Sep 21
Welsh National Opera
A Night at the Opera
Sep 26, Oct 1/9/16
SEMPEROPER DRESDEN
STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN
Oct 12/13/14
-
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN
Magic Flute
Oct 23/28/30, Nov 1/3KAMMERAKADEMIE POTSDAM Strauss - String Sextet for the Opera “Capriccio”
Berg - Chamber Concerto op. 8
van Beethoven - Suite from “The Creatures of Prometheus” op. 43 (selection)
Nov 8BALTHASAR-NEUMANN ORCHESTRA
Beethoven at his Best
van Beethoven - Overture “To the Naming Party”
van Beethoven - Violin Concerto in D major
van Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 A major
Nov 21 Baden-Baden
Nov 34 ElbphilharmonieATHENS STATE ORCHESTRA
Beethoven 's Triple Concerto
van Beethoven - Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, op. 56
Janacek - Taras Bulba, rhapsody for orchestra
Ravel - La Valse
Dec 5BREMEN PHILHARMONIC
Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin – Suite d'Orchestre
Brahms - Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
Elgar - Enigma Variations
Dec 14/15ENESCU PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Enescu - Rhapsody No. 2, in D major, Op. 11
Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Strauss - Rosenkavalier Suite
Ravel - La Valse
Jan 15BERLIN STATE OPERA
Mozart - Don Giovanni
Feb 6/17/19/21/25SWEDISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Ravel - Ma Mere l' Oye
Poulenc - The Human Voice
Mar 5OPÉRA DE LYON
Billy Budd
Mar 21/23/27/29/31, Apr 2/4BERLIN STATE OPERA
Turn of the Screw
Apr 10/12/18/21OPERA FESTIVAL GARSINGTON OPERA
The Rosenkavalier
May 28/30, Jun 5/14/16/19/25/27/29
Biography
British conductor Finnegan Downie Dear has established an international presence through his work across both symphonic and operatic repertoire, developing close relationships with leading orchestras and opera houses throughout Europe and beyond.
-
The 2025/26 season sees Downie Dear return to the Staatskapelle Dresden for subscription concerts, following his debut with the orchestra last year. He will also return to the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic, Kammerakademie Potsdam, and the Athens State Symphony. Debuts include the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Enescu Philharmonic and the orchestra of Welsh National Opera, as well as leading a tour with the Balthasar Neumann Orchestra to Baden-Baden and the Elbphilharmonie. Operatic highlights this season include debuts at Opéra de Lyon (Billy Budd) and Garsington Opera (Der Rosenkavalier), as well as a return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Die Zauberflöte).
Downie Dear is a regular guest at the Staatsoper Berlin, returning in 2025/26 for Don Giovanni and The Turn of the Screw. At the Staatsoper, he has previously conducted productions of Věc Makropulos and Le nozze di Figaro, as well as numerous concerts with the Staatskapelle Berlin, in repertoire ranging from Schubert and Ravel to Kurtág, Benjamin, and Abrahamsen.
In recent seasons, he has conducted numerous renowned orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the DSO Berlin, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Soloists with whom he has collaborated include Kirill Gerstein, Mikhail Pletnev, Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne, Gil Shaham, Isabelle Faust, Veronika Eberle, James Ehnes, and Gautier Capuçon.
His recent operatic appearances include the Staatsoper Hamburg (Eugene Onegin and Falstaff), Theater an der Wien (Voice Killer by Miroslav Srnka), the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Alice’s Adventures Under Ground by Gerald Barry), Korean National Opera (Hänsel und Gretel), Polish National Opera (Die tote Stadt), and the Aix-en-Provence Festival, in Oliver Leith’s acclaimed reimagining of Billy Budd. He has also performed at the Salzburg Osterfestspiele and the Tokyo Spring Festival.
Downie Dear is Artistic Director of Shadwell Opera — a London-based company committed to contemporary British repertoire and experimental operatic forms. Their production of Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are toured to the Mariinsky Theatre and to Bamberg, in partnership with the Bamberger Symphoniker. Last summer, the company gave the world premiere of The Devil’s Den by Isabella Gellis at the Nevill Holt Festival, and Downie Dear will bring the piece to Opera North in a new production in November 2025.
Born in London, Downie Dear graduated with distinction in musicology from the University of Cambridge and in piano from the Royal Academy of Music. He came to international attention in 2020 when he was awarded First Prize at the International Mahler Competition of the Bamberger Symphoniker.
2025/26
—
Any changes or reductions must be approved by ARSIS Artist Management. Please do not use older material.
