He has opened the Prague Spring International Music Festival and the Berliner Festspiele with the Berlin Philharmonic, and travels widely, in particular to the United States where he regularly visits many of the leading North American orchestras. Recorded work and awards He has made a number of recordings with the London Sinfonietta, which he co-founded. His work in the recording studio has gained a number of awards as well as a number of Grammy Award nominations. His first award came in 1971 when he won the Conductor of the Year Award from the Composers' Guild of Great Britain (now the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors). In 1973 he won the oldest and most prestigious Dutch Music Prize, the Edison Award. He won the premier French award for musical recordings, the Grand Prix du Disque in 1977 and the Koussevitzky Award in 1981. The following year he won the Prix Caecilia and his recording of Michael Tippett's opera King Priam won the International Record Critics' Award, generally regarded as the world's top recording prize. Tippett wrote in his autobiography, "Some artists will show insight into my vision: an example would be David Atherton's conducting... But then, Atherton is a conductor of genius." Television Atherton was the conductor in a performance of Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage in 1984 for Thames Television. In 1988 he was the conductor in a performance of Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd for the BBC and in 1995 he was the conductor in the English National Opera performance of Britten's opera Peter Grimes for the BBC. Personal life and family Atherton married Ann Gianetta Drake in 1970, with whom he had three children, two daughters and a son. The couple separated in 1983. In 2012, he married his companion of 27 years, violinist Eleanor Ann Roth. His sister Joan is a freelance violinist who has held the position of Principal Second Violin with the London Sinfonietta since 1970. His eldest daughter Elizabeth is an opera singer. References External links Interview with David Atherton by Bruce Duffie, August 4, 1997 English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Blackpool 1944 births Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians