Entering his eleventh season as Music Director of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Andrew Sewell continues to inspire his audiences with energy, vitality and spirit. Of a recent Schubert 9th performance, the Wisconsin State Journal 77 Square critic wrote: “Music Director Andrew Sewell and the orchestra were expressively sure throughout, and the performance was intriguing and rich, giving great life to the curious, exploratory and yet masterful writing that Schubert put into the composition.”
Andrew Sewell also served for ten seasons as Music Director of the Wichita Symphony concluding in 2010. About a recent performance The Wichita Eagle stated, "Andrew Sewell led an inspired performance - among his best. He caught hold of the piece's perpetual energy, that ever-building momentum, and the musicians were able to convey that from bold start to rousing finish."
Maestro Sewell is in demand as a guest conductor, having led orchestras in North America including the Toronto, Detroit, Milwaukee, Columbus, Syracuse and Monterey Symphony Orchestras, as well as abroad with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony of Mexico, Kyushu Symphony (Japan), Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony, and City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.
A native of New Zealand, Maestro Sewell received his music training on the violin, piano and cornet, and began conducting at age 16. Six years later, he made his professional opera debut with the Mercury Opera and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He was then awarded the Australian Guarantee Corporation’s Young Achiever’s Award allowing him to further his studies abroad. Sewell holds a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan. His previous appointments include Music Director and Conductor of the Wichita Symphony (Kansas), Mansfield Symphony (Ohio), Resident Conductor of the Toledo Symphony and Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony.
Recent guest engagements have included a two week residency with the Monterey Symphony (CA), his debut at the Peninsula Music Festival (WI), four concerts with the Syracuse Symphony (NY) and his debut at the OK Mozart Festival (Bartlesville, OK). His guest-conducting engagements in 2010-11 include the Salem Chamber Orchestra (OR) and his debut with the Green Bay Symphony (WI).
New Zealand honored Sewell 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. Maestro Sewell resides in Madison with his wife, Mary and their three children.
