"Particularly commendable for general professionalism and panache was Geoffrey Paterson. He is definitely someone to watch."
MusicWeb International
Britten-Pears Contemporary Ensemble
Aldeburgh Festival
"A first-rate musician. His handling of the score was remarkable."
Opera Magazine
Peter Grimes
Cambridge
"He allowed the music to speak for itself, the Orchestra of Opera North responding with unqualified enthusiasm."
Yorkshire Post
Ninth Leeds Conductors Competition
Gala Final
July 2010
As I write I'm in the middle of the run of Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House, where I'm conducting the off-stage music. It's truly exciting to be working on a production featuring such world-renowned singers, and although Plácido Domingo's performance in the title role is inevitably the main attraction, Ferrucio Furlanetto and Joseph Calleja are also magnificent as Fiesco and Adorno. I was recently able to step in to play the piano for a chorus rehearsal for next season's production of Tannhäuser, and it is great to begin to feel a part of the team at Covent Garden, ahead of starting on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme in September.
I can also now confirm the Theseus Ensemble's next three concerts, which will be as follows:
5 November 2010, 7.30pm, Royal College of Music
Brian Elias: Geranos
Harrison Birtwistle: Verses for Ensembles
14 February 2011, 1pm, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
George Benjamin: Upon Silence
Pierre Boulez: Le marteau sans maître
16 February 2011, 7.30pm, Royal College of Music
George Benjamin: Upon Silence
Pierre Boulez: Le marteau sans maître
We are currently seeking sponsorship for the ensemble's future projects. For more information, or to reserve tickets for the concerts, please see www.theseusensemble.com, or email theseusensemble@gmail.com
June 2010
This month brings me to the end of my first season working at Glyndebourne, and hopefully it won't be my last! I've made many new friends, and learned a huge amount from my colleagues on the music staff. Billy Budd (my main project) opened to rave reviews, and I'm also proud to have been involved with the preparation of no fewer than four of the other five operas this season, with Hansel and Gretel the only piece I've avoided as it starts rehearsals after I leave!
My performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony with the New Bristol Sinfonia is fast approaching, and I'll follow that with a concert with the Lydian Orchestra at the beginning of July. The Lydian is a fantastic youth orchestra based in my home town of Sevenoaks, and this will be the third concert I've conducted with them. Back when I was at school and played viola in the Lydian, I was commissioned to write a short piece for the orchestra, and nine years later we'll be giving its second performance! We'll be also playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with up-and-coming soloist Martyn Jackson, and Schumann's 'Rhenish' Symphony.
Also in July I'll be taking part in two conducting masterclasses with Elgar Howarth and the London Sinfonietta as part of the Sinfonietta's 2010 Academy. It's a great privilege to have been selected for these classes, giving me the opportunity to work with one of the world's leading contemporary music ensembles and to study with such an eminent conductor of modern repertoire.
FInally, please take a look at a promotional film from the Theseus Ensemble's first concert, which can be seen on our website, www.theseusensemble.com, or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKxWdPFxOZ4. I can also make an unofficial announcement as to the ensemble's next couple of projects. The date is still to be confirmed, but in early November we will be giving a concert of Harrison Birtwistle's Verses for Ensembles, Brian Elias' Geranos and Lyric Pieces by Alexander Goehr, my university composition teacher. Then, in February 2011, we will give two performances of George Benjamin's Upon Silence and Le marteau sans maître by Pierre Boulez, our patron. The first of these will take place in the Linbury Theatre of the Royal Opera House, and it's especially exciting to be taking the ensemble to such a prestigious venue.
May 2010
News just in - I've been invited to return to the New Bristol Sinfonia next month to conduct their performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony on Saturday 19th June. This is a piece I conducted as an undergraduate at Cambridge, and it's hard to believe seven years have passed since then. It will be very interesting to see what I make of the piece returning to it after all this time, and, needless to say, I can't wait to begin rehearsals in a few weeks' time.
April 2010
The Theseus Ensemble's launch concert at the beginning of April was an enormous success, and the enthusiastic response we received from the audience really affirmed my conviction that, given a few pointers, there is as much pleasure to be gained from modern music, even by supposedly 'difficult' composers like Ligeti and Boulez, as there is from the classics of eras past. There are some photos from the concert here, so please take a look. We are already planning our first full season, to begin this Autumn, and I will announce any details here as soon as they are confirmed.
This month I have also started work at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as a repetiteur on Billy Budd, Così fan Tutte and Macbeth. It's a treat to rehearse in such idyllic surroundings, and (for now) the weather is perfect too. I've also just been invited to conduct at Pigotts Music Camp later at the beginning of August, so I'm looking forward to a summer largely spent in the countryside!
Plans post-summer are also coming together - I'll be joining the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House from September, where I'll be for two years, working intensively as a conductor and repetiteur. For years it's been an ambition of mine to join the JPYAP, so this really is a dream come true. I'll still have the chance to take on concert engagements outside my commitments at the Royal Opera, among which will be the New Year's Day concert at the Bridgewater Hall, making my debut with the Manchester Camerata.
March 2010
We received the wonderful news last month that Pierre Boulez has agreed to be founding Patron of the Theseus Ensemble. He is without doubt the world's most distinguished conductor-composer, and his generous support for our project is invaluable. Tickets are on sale for our Launch Concert on April 1st, and there is a discount for advance purchase, so do book now by emailing theseusensemble@googlemail.co.uk!
January 2010
I'm proud to announce the launch concert of the Theseus Ensemble. It will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 1 April 2010, at the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall of the Royal College of Music. The programme is the Piano Concerto by György Ligeti, with soloist Simon Smith, and Dérive 2 by Pierre Boulez. The ensemble is formed of some of the UK's top young professional instrumentalists. The ensemble's website, www.theseusensemble.com will soon go online, but meanwhile please click here for more information.
December 2009
I am in Leeds this month, where I'm busy at work on Opera North's La Bohème, and already eagerly looking forward to conducting performances in the New Year. I'm also delighted to be able to announce future engagements with the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the details of which will follow.
On 1 April 2010 I will conduct the inaugural concert of a new ensemble specialising in accessible performances of modern masterpieces. The concert will take place in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at the Royal College of Music, and the programme will include György Ligeti's Piano Concerto, with soloist Simon Smith, and Dérive 2 by Pierre Boulez. Please make a note of the date, and look back in January for full details of this exciting venture.
November 2009
I have been invited to conduct the New Bristol Sinfonia on Saturday 21st November, standing in for my colleague James Lowe. The programme is Rossini's Overture to 'The Italian Girl in Algiers', Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Scott Lygate and Brahms' 2nd Symphony. This is a wonderful programme which I'm delighted to be taking on.
In other news, I've been invited back to the Royal Opera in June and July 2010 to conduct the stage music in Simon Boccanegra. This is Plácido Domingo's hugely anticipated UK debut as a baritone, and I'm thrilled that I'll be present at this historic event.
October 2009
Hello, and welcome to my website!
Since winning the Leeds Conductors Competition this summer I have been very busy, and enjoying every second! I spent two months working with British Youth Opera, firstly as Musical Director for a performance of Mozart opera scenes at the summer festival in Anghiari, an idyllic Tuscan hill-town, and then as Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor on The Rake’s Progress. Rehearsals were intensive, and I was especially proud of the exceptional commitment and professional standard of the chorus. My memories of the six weeks working with them will last for a long time.
I am currently working on the music staff of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, for their double-bill production of L’Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi, with responsibility for conducting most of the ‘stage music’. In these operas this consists of some offstage singing, chiming bells and precisely notated door-knocks, which I actually play myself using a technique that is a closely guarded secret! It’s an inspiring experience to watch Antonio Pappano rehearse and to learn from the way he always makes music while co-ordinating these fast-paced and complex scores.
I will shortly be joining Opera North for three months as Assistant Conductor to Richard Farnes on La Bohème. This is an exciting opportunity for me to immerse myself in one of the greatest works of the operatic literature, and I'm looking forward to conducting two performances, on 10 February and 12 March 2010.
Please follow the links above to read my latest biography, to see my current repertoire list and to find links to the sites of some opera companies and other musical institutions where I have worked. Finally, please feel free to get in touch with me using the contact form provided.
As I write I'm in the middle of the run of Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House, where I'm conducting the off-stage music. It's truly exciting to be working on a production featuring such world-renowned singers, and although Plácido Domingo's performance in the title role is inevitably the main attraction, Ferrucio Furlanetto and Joseph Calleja are also magnificent as Fiesco and Adorno. I was recently able to step in to play the piano for a chorus rehearsal for next season's production of Tannhäuser, and it is great to begin to feel a part of the team at Covent Garden, ahead of starting on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme in September.
I can also now confirm the Theseus Ensemble's next three concerts, which will be as follows:
5 November 2010, 7.30pm, Royal College of Music
Brian Elias: Geranos
Harrison Birtwistle: Verses for Ensembles
14 February 2011, 1pm, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
George Benjamin: Upon Silence
Pierre Boulez: Le marteau sans maître
16 February 2011, 7.30pm, Royal College of Music
George Benjamin: Upon Silence
Pierre Boulez: Le marteau sans maître
We are currently seeking sponsorship for the ensemble's future projects. For more information, or to reserve tickets for the concerts, please see www.theseusensemble.com, or email theseusensemble@gmail.com
June 2010
This month brings me to the end of my first season working at Glyndebourne, and hopefully it won't be my last! I've made many new friends, and learned a huge amount from my colleagues on the music staff. Billy Budd (my main project) opened to rave reviews, and I'm also proud to have been involved with the preparation of no fewer than four of the other five operas this season, with Hansel and Gretel the only piece I've avoided as it starts rehearsals after I leave!
My performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony with the New Bristol Sinfonia is fast approaching, and I'll follow that with a concert with the Lydian Orchestra at the beginning of July. The Lydian is a fantastic youth orchestra based in my home town of Sevenoaks, and this will be the third concert I've conducted with them. Back when I was at school and played viola in the Lydian, I was commissioned to write a short piece for the orchestra, and nine years later we'll be giving its second performance! We'll be also playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with up-and-coming soloist Martyn Jackson, and Schumann's 'Rhenish' Symphony.
Also in July I'll be taking part in two conducting masterclasses with Elgar Howarth and the London Sinfonietta as part of the Sinfonietta's 2010 Academy. It's a great privilege to have been selected for these classes, giving me the opportunity to work with one of the world's leading contemporary music ensembles and to study with such an eminent conductor of modern repertoire.
FInally, please take a look at a promotional film from the Theseus Ensemble's first concert, which can be seen on our website, www.theseusensemble.com, or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKxWdPFxOZ4. I can also make an unofficial announcement as to the ensemble's next couple of projects. The date is still to be confirmed, but in early November we will be giving a concert of Harrison Birtwistle's Verses for Ensembles, Brian Elias' Geranos and Lyric Pieces by Alexander Goehr, my university composition teacher. Then, in February 2011, we will give two performances of George Benjamin's Upon Silence and Le marteau sans maître by Pierre Boulez, our patron. The first of these will take place in the Linbury Theatre of the Royal Opera House, and it's especially exciting to be taking the ensemble to such a prestigious venue.
May 2010
News just in - I've been invited to return to the New Bristol Sinfonia next month to conduct their performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony on Saturday 19th June. This is a piece I conducted as an undergraduate at Cambridge, and it's hard to believe seven years have passed since then. It will be very interesting to see what I make of the piece returning to it after all this time, and, needless to say, I can't wait to begin rehearsals in a few weeks' time.
April 2010
The Theseus Ensemble's launch concert at the beginning of April was an enormous success, and the enthusiastic response we received from the audience really affirmed my conviction that, given a few pointers, there is as much pleasure to be gained from modern music, even by supposedly 'difficult' composers like Ligeti and Boulez, as there is from the classics of eras past. There are some photos from the concert here, so please take a look. We are already planning our first full season, to begin this Autumn, and I will announce any details here as soon as they are confirmed.
This month I have also started work at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as a repetiteur on Billy Budd, Così fan Tutte and Macbeth. It's a treat to rehearse in such idyllic surroundings, and (for now) the weather is perfect too. I've also just been invited to conduct at Pigotts Music Camp later at the beginning of August, so I'm looking forward to a summer largely spent in the countryside!
Plans post-summer are also coming together - I'll be joining the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House from September, where I'll be for two years, working intensively as a conductor and repetiteur. For years it's been an ambition of mine to join the JPYAP, so this really is a dream come true. I'll still have the chance to take on concert engagements outside my commitments at the Royal Opera, among which will be the New Year's Day concert at the Bridgewater Hall, making my debut with the Manchester Camerata.
March 2010
We received the wonderful news last month that Pierre Boulez has agreed to be founding Patron of the Theseus Ensemble. He is without doubt the world's most distinguished conductor-composer, and his generous support for our project is invaluable. Tickets are on sale for our Launch Concert on April 1st, and there is a discount for advance purchase, so do book now by emailing theseusensemble@googlemail.co.uk!
January 2010
I'm proud to announce the launch concert of the Theseus Ensemble. It will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 1 April 2010, at the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall of the Royal College of Music. The programme is the Piano Concerto by György Ligeti, with soloist Simon Smith, and Dérive 2 by Pierre Boulez. The ensemble is formed of some of the UK's top young professional instrumentalists. The ensemble's website, www.theseusensemble.com will soon go online, but meanwhile please click here for more information.
December 2009
I am in Leeds this month, where I'm busy at work on Opera North's La Bohème, and already eagerly looking forward to conducting performances in the New Year. I'm also delighted to be able to announce future engagements with the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the details of which will follow.
On 1 April 2010 I will conduct the inaugural concert of a new ensemble specialising in accessible performances of modern masterpieces. The concert will take place in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at the Royal College of Music, and the programme will include György Ligeti's Piano Concerto, with soloist Simon Smith, and Dérive 2 by Pierre Boulez. Please make a note of the date, and look back in January for full details of this exciting venture.
November 2009
I have been invited to conduct the New Bristol Sinfonia on Saturday 21st November, standing in for my colleague James Lowe. The programme is Rossini's Overture to 'The Italian Girl in Algiers', Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Scott Lygate and Brahms' 2nd Symphony. This is a wonderful programme which I'm delighted to be taking on.
In other news, I've been invited back to the Royal Opera in June and July 2010 to conduct the stage music in Simon Boccanegra. This is Plácido Domingo's hugely anticipated UK debut as a baritone, and I'm thrilled that I'll be present at this historic event.
October 2009
Hello, and welcome to my website!
Since winning the Leeds Conductors Competition this summer I have been very busy, and enjoying every second! I spent two months working with British Youth Opera, firstly as Musical Director for a performance of Mozart opera scenes at the summer festival in Anghiari, an idyllic Tuscan hill-town, and then as Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor on The Rake’s Progress. Rehearsals were intensive, and I was especially proud of the exceptional commitment and professional standard of the chorus. My memories of the six weeks working with them will last for a long time.
I am currently working on the music staff of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, for their double-bill production of L’Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi, with responsibility for conducting most of the ‘stage music’. In these operas this consists of some offstage singing, chiming bells and precisely notated door-knocks, which I actually play myself using a technique that is a closely guarded secret! It’s an inspiring experience to watch Antonio Pappano rehearse and to learn from the way he always makes music while co-ordinating these fast-paced and complex scores.
I will shortly be joining Opera North for three months as Assistant Conductor to Richard Farnes on La Bohème. This is an exciting opportunity for me to immerse myself in one of the greatest works of the operatic literature, and I'm looking forward to conducting two performances, on 10 February and 12 March 2010.
Please follow the links above to read my latest biography, to see my current repertoire list and to find links to the sites of some opera companies and other musical institutions where I have worked. Finally, please feel free to get in touch with me using the contact form provided.