Biography
Conductor
Timothy Brock, now recognized as one of the world's foremost experts in film music and beyond, has conducted major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, BBC Symphony, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra di S. Cecilia, all the main orchestras in France, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zurich, Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra della Toscana, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, and Comunale di Bologna, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He is a regular guest at venues such as: Konzerthaus in Vienna, Barbican in London, Philharmonie in Paris, Bozar in Brussels, Maison de Radio France, Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, and Auditorium de Lyon.
In December 2011, he debuted at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. During the 2011-2012 season, he performed twice with the New York Philharmonic, returning again in 2015 and 2016, and toured with them to Shanghai in the summer of 2016. In recent years, he has debuted in Montreal, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, and Lisbon, and has returned, as always, to Madrid, Paris, Lyon, London, Glasgow, Vienna, Rome, Florence, Milan, and Turin.
Born in Olympia, Washington, in 1963, Timothy Brock is active as a conductor and composer, specializing in the repertoire of the first half of the 20th century and in silent film performances with musical accompaniment. His compositions include three symphonies, two operas, and several concertos for solo instrument and orchestra, as well as over 20 original scores for silent films. Throughout his career, he has presented over 30 North American premieres by composers such as Shostakovich, Eisler, Schulhoff, and others.
In 1999, the Chaplin Foundation asked Timothy Brock to restore the original score for "Modern Times". This marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between the Chaplin family and the Cineteca Nazionale di Bologna, leading to the restoration of the original music for all of Charlie Chaplin's great masterpieces, which Brock has performed practically all over the world.
Timothy Brock has composed music for films by Buster Keaton, Ernst Lubitsch, Robert Wiene, F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, John Ford, and many others. He has also restored famous film scores such as Shostakovich's "The New Babylon" and Pizzetti/Mazza's "Cabiria".
Among his most recent engagements are concerts in the States, two concerts at the Philharmonie in Paris, in Brussels, a new production of "West Side Story" at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, recent debuts at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples with Gershwin's "Lady Be Good" and at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo in June 2024, in addition to regular productions with major orchestras from Tokyo to Montreal, from Vienna to Paris, and finally upcoming debuts in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Macao, and San Francisco. He also conducted a production of the musical "Carousel" at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in July 2023. Among his latest appearances for the Ravenna Festival, he performed on July 18, 2021, for the screening of Buster Keaton's "The General" with his original score. He also returned to the 2023 Festival, performing the newly restored version (film and score) of Chaplin's "The Great Dictator." The world premiere of this title was on June 23 at the Baths of Caracalla, with Brock leading the Orchestra of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Throughout the 2024, 2025, and 2026 seasons, he will perform this title with all the major orchestras worldwide. Notable is his debut leading the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Disney's "Fantasia," with three sold-out performances within the first week of 2025. Finally, for 2025, his return to Lyon is planned, to Palermo with the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo, two projects with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, and also a double bill with the Orchestra Nazionale della RAI in September.