Music Director Andrew Sewell

Since becoming music director of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in 2000, Maestro Andrew Sewell "has improved the quality of [the] chamber orchestra in every aspect." (Wisconsin State Journal) With the release of three CDs, Mozart: The Early Concerti, Close to the Music and Momentum, he has brought the orchestra to national attention. Coupled with its move to the new Capitol Theater in Overture Center in November 2005, and a full core of 34 musicians, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra continues to build a strong presence in Madison and Wisconsin. Concurrent with this position, Maestro Sewell is also music director of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra.

As a guest conductor, he has led orchestras both in the US and abroad including the Toronto, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Columbus Symphony Orchestras; Kyushu Symphony; Auckland Philharmonia; Christchurch Symphony; City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong; National Symphony of Mexico; and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. For the past three years, he has been a guest conductor for summer masterworks festivals held in England and the US.

A native of New Zealand, Maestro Sewell received his music training on the violin and piano and began conducting at an early age of 16. Six years later, he made his professional opera debut with the Mercury Opera and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He was awarded the Australian Guarantee Corporation's Young Achiever's Award in 1987, which allowed him to further his studies abroad.

Sewell earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan and graduated with honors. His previous appointments include music director and conductor for the Mansfield Symphony (Ohio), resident conductor for the Toledo Symphony, and assistant conductor of the Memphis Symphony.

New Zealand honored him in 1997 as the first recipient of the Aotea Performing Arts Trust's "Star" Award, for which he spent time conducting in Finland and England. Between his duties in Wichita, Maestro Sewell resides in Madison with his wife, Mary; their three children, Anna, Lydia, and Alistair; and their British labrador, Lexie. Maestro Sewell and Mary became citizens of the United States in 2007.

(photo top: Jae Feinberg)