... musically this was the conductor's evening, with Walker bringing the Pittsburgh opera
orchestra to heights it had seldom before achieved. (Billy Budd - Pittsburgh Opera - Opera Now August 07)

Antony Walker’s direction is impressively focused in its judgement of tempi and juxtaposition of mood, and there is a questing instrumental contribution which starts with an exceptional continuo presence. ... The most compelling reason to acquire this account is the consistent esprit of Walker’s troupe, a clear love of the score and the elevated ensemble work throughout. The most wonderfully simple but distinctive music in the opera is the sommeil scene in Act 4 when Dardanus is sensuously hypnotised to sleep. It is beautifully done and encapsulates the most inviting aspects of this enterprising and welcome addition to the catalogue. (Dardanus CD - Pinchgut Opera - Gramphone July 07)

... superb conducting by Antony Walker, ... Antony Walker leads a masterly performance, tight in ensemble and generous in both emotion and evocation of the sea. (Billy Budd - Pittsburgh Opera - Tribune May 07)

... this opera and production were both its greatest gamble and its strongest success to date.
Singing, acting, chorus and orchestra, the latter under the baton of music director Antony Walker, were superb. (Billy Budd - Pittsburgh Opera - Pittsburgh Post Gazette May 07)

Washington Concert Opera's performance of this rarely heard piece, which took place Sunday night at Lisner Auditorium under the direction of Antony Walker, made for an exhilarating evening, and I wish it were happening all over again tonight, tomorrow and the next night, for I would be there. (Otello - Washington Concert Opera - Washington Post May 07)

The night also marked the debut of new Pittsburgh Opera music director Antony Walker. His presence was immediately felt in the overture, when he adroitly emphasized the interplay between the first and second violins in its allegro. Elsewhere during the performance he offered inspiration, precision and purpose to the orchestra and singers. This was exciting Mozart that surrendered none of its beauty. ... it's clear the opera has an active conductor with strong musicianship and technique. I look forward to hearing more. (Magic Flute - Pittsburgh Opera - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 07)

With this Dardanus we savor the full complement of pretty well exemplary vocal performances not to mention the splendidly gutsy instrumental sound of the original instruments of the Orchestra of the Antipodes under Antony Walker's baton at its best. (Dardanus CD - Opera-Opera March 07)

Antony Walker, the choir Cantillation and the Orchestra of the Antipodes have long established a reputation for excellence, and this evening's performance was no exception. (Idomeneo - Pinchgut Opera - Opera Critic December 06)

Conductor Antony Walker fused all those diversely excellent singers into a genuine ensemble, and the director ensured that each musical flourish had its specific dramatic intent ... (Semele - New York City Opera - Newsday September 06)

Walker was able to draw a large, full orchestral sound and capture the score's complexities. (Vanessa - Chautauqua Opera - Opera-Opera October 06)

Conducted with sensitive propulsion by Antony Walker, the production united an
ensemble of virtuosic singing-actors. (Semele - New York City Opera - Financial Times September 06)

Antony Walker demonstrates his consummate understanding of the requirements of early Baroque music and convincingly juxtaposes the intimatacy of the original performance for the Duke of Mantua's court and the grandiose concept of the story. ... Walker brings out the freshness of Monteverdi's music and his tempos in the quick passages are engagingly sprightly, yet delicatley poised in the slower, more poignant moments. He also achieves an apt balance between orchestra and singers. (Orfeo CD - 3MBS FM magazine - June/July 06)

Finally, thanks to Antony Walker, the artistic director and conductor of WCO, not only for choosing a glorious work and a worthy cast and coordinating a sumptuously blended performance, but for his part in reviving one of Washington's musical treasures. Strapped with persistent money worries and changes in personnel, WCO almost folded two years ago. Sunday's "Tancredi" served only to reaffirm all that the troupe gives to us, and how much it would have been missed. (Tancredi - Washington Concert Opera - Washington Post - April 2006)

Artistic Director Antony Walker conducted his orchestra and highly capable male chorus in a splendid performance. Staged or no, the quality of the company's presentations consistently has been as good as it gets, particularly in neglected repertoire. (Tancredi - Washington Concert Opera - Washington Times - April 2006)

Why they love it is easy to understand when it is performed as well as it was Friday night... HOT's [Hawaii Opera Theatre] production, directed by Karen Tiller, also has it all: strong leads, good staging, colorful sets, costumes and lighting, and a fine chorus and orchestra, all led by an excellent conductor... Best of all (perhaps obviously when discussing satisfying opera) was the music... On Friday, conductor Antony Walker was, to put it simply, excellent - and a major reason the performance was so successful. He managed singers, orchestra, and chorus equally well... Walker conducted as though he were breathing along with the singers, timing stretches and releases to their control, so the music seemed to flow effortlessly. He cued cleanly, kept ensembles in balance, and held tempi to keep the pacing brisk while allowing expansive lyric moments and climaxes. (Tosca - The Honolulu Advertiser March 06)

The orchestra under Antony Walker's baton was in tremondous shape. The conductor was agile and accurate, the impetus was there and the instrumentalists participated in the action as much as the singers did. (Tosca - Honolulu Star-Bulletin March 06)

As the guiding spirit for Pinchgut, Antony Walker directed the Orchestra of the Antipodes and the chorus of Cantillation to perfection, sustaining the tension between runs towards agitation and retreats into calm. (Dardanus - The Bulletin Dec 05)

Antony Walker led the Orchestra of the Antipodes, a hand picked ensemble of early music specialists, through the rich textures of the score, offering an interpretation of such discerning variety. He was constantly supportive of the singers yet was still able to provide dramatic impetus at all times to the action on stage. The balance between the orchestra and the stage was superb - no mean feat given that there is no orchestra pit in the City Recital Hall. (Dardanus - The Opera Critic Dec 05)

Period instrument playing has now reached international standards here, thanks in part to Antony Walker with his Sinfonia Australis and Orchestra of the Antipodes. The latter, under Walker's animated and thoroughly musical direction, were a joy all night, playing with precision and exuberance. (Dardanus - The Australian Dec 05)

It was artistic director Antony Walker who stole the show -- both shows, in fact. He has assembled an excellent small orchestra and chorus that are capable of surprising lushness; his leadership is inevitably vigorous, exacting and proportionate. He built "Cavalleria Rusticana" as one long tone poem. (Cavalleria/Tabarro - Washington Post Nov 2005)

Australian maestro Antony Walker was in total command of the score, his musical forces and the performance. He nuanced and shaped Adams' music as masterfully as director Robinson shaped the stage picture and, together, they were clearly responsible for the great success of the production. (Nixon in China - Opera-Opera June 2005)

Walker presided over the evening with assurance and intelligence: "Luisa Miller" has rarely seemed so all of a piece -- not merely a collection of arias and ensembles but a genuine music drama, with all that entails. (Luisa Miller - Washington Post June 2005)

The succession of glorious songs and dances that then end The Fairy Queen are all finely realized, and much credit is surely due to conductor Antony Walker. (Fairy Queen CD - International Record Review May 2005)

... all responding eagerly to Antony Walker¹s firm musical direction, and one wonders if Handel himself had ever seen his opera in a more compelling production. (Orlando - Classical Music Review April 2005)

Conductor Antony Walker, a company debutante, was successful at making the New York City Opera Orchestra sound like a Baroque ensemble, with clear string textures, strong lines for the continuo and sprightly playing. This is another glorious jewel in the City Opera¹s ever enlarging collection of Handel¹s operas ... (Orlando - Classics Today April 2005)

Walker's ... conducting was vigorous and proportionate -- he has clearly thought through every note of this gigantic score -- and he summoned eager performances from the orchestra and chorus, who threw themselves into their work ... (Esclarmonde - Washington Post April 2005)

Conductor Antony Walker, in his company debut, brings supple pacing and a strong musical profile to his performance... (Orlando - NY Times March 2005)

The ravishment is established within the first five minutes, first, in the familiar instrumental prelude, under conductor Antony Walker ... (L'Orfeo - Sydney Morning Herald December 2004)

Under the precise direction of Antony Walker, the accompaniment from the Orchestra of the Antipodes is accomplished and well balanced, with the full range of the ensemble's fascinating and distinctive period-instrument sonorities revealed at regular intervals. (L'Orfeo - The Australian December 2004)

Admirably cast in depth from the rank of the nation's younger and more talented singers, it is backed meticulously on period instruments by the fledgling but highly skilled Sirius Ensemble; and its choruses of priests, augurs, nymphs and swains are superbly brought to life by the equally fresh-faced vocal cords of Cantillation - all under the exemplary baton of Antony Walker. (Semele CD - Opera-Opera June 2004)

The orchestra and chorus under the baton of Antony Walker performed with passion and polish ... (Donna del lago - Washington Times May 2004)

WCO Artistic Director Antony Walker led the good pickup orchestra and chorus with a vibrant, appreciative sense of Rossinian style. (Donna del lago - Washington Post May 2004)

... the opera has surrounded the young singers with a stellar professional staff led by Chatham Baroque and conductor/organist Antony Walker. (Ulysses - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 2004)

Conductor Antony Walker led a dramatically astute performance, well paced and attentive to the singers. (Ulysses - Pittsburgh Tribune May 2004)

The Sydney-based chamber orchestra Sinfonia Australis is under the baton of Australian conductor Antony Walker. They prove themselves to be a most excellent orchestra with really fine playing which is fresh and clean and with a crisp attack. (Beethoven Piano concertos - Musicweb April 2004)