SF Conservatory buys Askonas Holt representation agency

By The Associated Press on December 9, 2022.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The San Francisco Conservatory added a major classical music agency to its commercial businesses, announcing Friday it was acquiring London-based Askonas Holt.

Askonas’ clients includes conductors Daniel Barenboim, Myung-Whun Chung, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simon Rattle, Nathalie Stutzmann and Michael Tilson Thomas; sopranos Angel Blue and Eva-Maria Westbroek; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato; tenors Marcelo Álvarez and Ian Bostridge; and composers Thomas Adès and George Benjamin.

The conservatory purchased Opus 3 artists in October 2020 and added the record label Pentatone Music this past May.

Donagh Collins, Askonas’ CEO since 2014, will become CEO of both agencies and join the conservatory trustees’ committee on business and corporate alliances. Conservatory president David Stull is chairman of the alliance of the various organizations.

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