The Irish conductor Kevin Mallon studied composition, conducting (with J.E. Gardiner) and singing, and specialised in baroque violin. He became concert-master of Le Concert Spirituel and Les Arts Florissants in Paris and led and directed The Irish Baroque Orchestra before moving to Canada to take up posts with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and the University of Toronto. In 1999 he founded the Aradia Ensemble, with whom he has toured widely and has made over 50 recordings for Naxos. With Torontoʼs Opera in Concert he has conducted ten baroque operas. From 2004–2009, he was artistic director of Opera 2005. In 2009 Kevin Mallon undertook an engagement with the Odessa Opera, conducting in Odessa, then on tour in Europe. In 2010 Mallon was appointed music director of Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra in Ottawa. He was appointed music director of Orchestra Toronto in 2013 and interim artistic director of Opera Lyra, Ottawa in 2014.
Kevin Mallon fulfils a wide range of guest conducting engagements, is an Irish fiddler as well as a composer, most recently writing music for the TV series Camelot.
Handel With Care: Kevin Mallon talks to Jeremy Siepmann