Guest Conductors

Peter Stark

Peter is a firm orchestra favourite with at least 14 appearances, most recently performing Prokofiev 7 and Lutoslavski's Concerto for Orchestra.

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Toby Purser

Toby is Head of Conducting at the Royal College of Music and returned to OUO in 2023 for a performance including Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony. He has led the orchestra three times before, most recently in 2008 having also attended Oxford and graduated with a BA in Music

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Daniel Harding CBE

Daniel joined us for sell-out concerts in 2011 and 2016, performing alongside soloists Steven Isserlis and Carolin Widmann. He is an internationally renowned conductor, continuing to work regularly with Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

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Rémy Ballot

We are really excited to welcome Rémy to join OUO for our Michaelmas 2024 concert. Since 2011 Rémy Ballot has made a name for himself internationally with his Bruckner interpretations. Considered by some to be the world’s best Bruckner conductor of his generation, his CDs have received numerous awards including several Grammy nominations. Having covered most of Bruckner's repertoire, Rémy will lead OUO in a programme of works by other 19th Century European composers: Ravel, Schubert, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Rémy is supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum.

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Chloe Rooke

Chloe, an OUO alumna (flute), was the first to participate in our 'early-career conductors' scheme. Having graduated from Oxford in 2018, she has enjoyed conducting success in the UK and abroad. Chloe performed Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony with us alongside the world premiere of Light Through Sand by Sam Buttler (OUO 2014-17, oboe), one of her university contemporaries.

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Ed Liebrecht

Ed joined us for an exciting jazz collaboration concert in May 2024. He is building a strong international reputation with top orchestras having studied conducting at the Royal Academy and in Amsterdam following his undergraduate at Cambridge

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John Warner

John led the orchestra in performances of Sibelius and Wagner for a very special concert, our first back after the 2020-21 lockdown. John is an OUO alumnus (percussion) and has conducted extensively in the UK across Europe since graduating, also founding Orchestra for the Earth

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Joe Davies

Joe, an OUO alumnus (cello), conducted Rachmaninov and Debussy in 2023 with OUO. Having graduated from Oxford in 2018 and then pursuing conducting at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Joe has built an excellent reputation in the West Midlands and has conducted elsewhere around the UK

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Ben Palmer

Ben joined OUO in 2017 to conduct the newly composed score live to the 1916 film The Battle of the Somme as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations, having also led the orchestra in 2013 and 2015. As one of Europe’s foremost specialists in conducting live to picture, he is regularly seen performing internationally and at the Royal Albert Hall.

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Sir Roger Norrington

Roger took charge of OUO in 1999 for the Sheldonian Organ inaugural gala concert with a programme including Sain-Saens' Organ Symphony and Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. He was joined by Simon Preston on the Organ.

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Robert Hodge

Robert conducted OUO in 2018 and 2021, most recently performing a 'Centenary Celebration' programme of 20th century British composers: Malcolm Arnold, Ruth Gipps, and Elizabeth Maconchy. We particularly enjoyed Robert's anecdotes about the life of Malcolm Arnold which really brought his music to life.

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Robin Browning

Robin teaches conducting for the University of Southampton and the British Army, as well as being Artistic Director of SON. He conducted OUO in 2016 and 2018 performing Mahler's 5th Symphony and Bruckner's 7th Symphony.

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Dane Lam

Dane joined OUO in 2012 for a concert of Mendelssohn's 3rd Symphony, and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. He is now Music Director of the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of China's Xi'an Symphony Orchestra.

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Dr. John Traill

John is director of music and a fellow of St Anne's College, he lead OUO in our Trinity 2006 concert. He currently leads the Oxford Conducting Institute and is the conducting teacher of a number of our current and past members.

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James Burton

James joined OUO in 2009 and 2007 for a festival concert in South Park alongside Schola Cantorum. He is now engaged with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and Boston University.

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Douglas Boyd

Dougie conducted OUO four times between 1997 and 2005. He was an award-winning oboist and gave a recital in Carnegie Hall before focussing full-time on conducting in 2006. Dougie has gone on to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra, CBSO, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, among many others. He is currently artistic director of Garsington Opera.

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Alexander Shelley

Alexander joined OUO in 2008 to conduct Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony. In 2005 he won the Leeds Conductors Competition and is an especially well-respected conductor in Germany having won an ECHO Music Prize and been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He is now music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

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Neil Thomson

Neil joined OUO and Cynthia Millar in 2009 and has conducted some of the UK's top orchestras including the LSO, London Phil., Royal Phil., Royal Liverpool Phil., the Halle, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He is now artistic director and principal conductor of the Goias Philharmonic Orchestra in Brazil.

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Hugh Brunt

Hugh was a choral scholar at New College and has conducted for the 2015 film Macbeth and Radiohead's 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool. He has conducted at the BBC Proms as well as for international orchestras including the LA Phil., New York Phil., Melbourne Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. Hugh joined OUO for performances in 2014 and 2016.

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Previous conductors also include:

Jan Latham-Koenig - An internationally-renowned Wagner expert, Jan joined us in November 2019 for a thrilling evening of selections from Wagner and Bruckner's 7th Symphony.
Jason Lai
Benjamin Goodson
Jamie Phillips
Nicholas Cleobury
Thomas Blunt
Geoffrey Patterson
Hilary Davan Wetton
Benjamin Wallfisch
Sarah Ioannides
Leon Gee
Jaques Cohen
Garry Walker
John Beswick
Michael Trowski

Steven Isserlis CBE

Steven is an acclaimed cello soloist having performed with a host of the top orchestras around the world. He is one of only two living Cellists featured in Gramophone's Hall of Fame. Steven joined us alongside Daniel Harding in 2011 to perform Dvorak's Cello concerto.

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Carolin Widmann

Named ‘Musician of the Year’ at the International Classical Music Awards 2013, Carolin has enjoyed collaborations with some of the world’s leading orchestras include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de France, Vienna Radio Symphony, and Sydney Symphony. She joined us in 2016 to prepare for her critically acclaimed Mendelssohn/Schumann Concerto’s disc which saw her give performances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra among many others.

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Cynthia Millar

Cynthia and her Ondes Martenot joined us to perform Messiaen's Turangalila, as she has done with top orchestras worldwide including the Berlin Phil., Orchestre National de France, New York Phil., the LSO, and at the BBC Proms. On top of this, Cynthia has played in well over 100 film and television scores - including Ghostbusters - and has written music for film, television, and theatre. Click here to see her explain the instrument in our Hilary 2009 concert listing.

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Simon Preston CBE

Simon joined OUO and Sir Roger Norrington for the special concert to celebrate the new Sheldonian organ in 1999. He was organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey from 1981 to 1987 as well as performing in 21 Proms concerts and giving nine recitals at the Royal Festival Hall.

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Thomas Trotter

Thomas joined us for Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony in 2001. Having been the organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge, he has gone on to perform recitals internationally at the Royal Festival Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus. Thomas has also played with many of the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Phil., Vienna Phil., and Royal Philharmonic as well as receiving the Queen's Medal for Music in 2020.

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Guy Johnston

Guy won BBC Young Musician in 2020 and made his Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra the next year. He won a Classic BRIT Award in 2002 and performed Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations with OUO in 2005. As well as performing abroad, Guy has performed concertos extensively in the UK including with the London Phil., BBC Phil., CBSO, Royal Liverpool Phil., and BBC NOW.

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Featured soloists also include:

Carson Becke (Piano)
Robyn Allegra Parton (Soprano)
Martha Jones (Alto)
Luis Pares (Piano)
David Chivers (Violin)
Jonathan Clarke (Organ)
Priya Mitchell (Violin)
Julie Kench (Soprano)
Vanessa Woodward (Alto)
Raphael Wallfisch (Cello)
Duncan McTier (Double Bass)
Giles Underwood (Baritone)
Catriona Scott (Clarinet)
Clive Driskill-Smith (Piano)
Douglas Boyd (Oboe)
Anthony Marwood (Violin)
Schola Cantorum of Oxford

Guest Conductors

Peter Stark

Toby Purser

Daniel Harding CBE

Rémy Ballot

Chloe Rooke

Ed Liebrecht

John Warner

Joe Davies

Ben Palmer

Sir Roger Norrington

Robert Hodge

Robin Browning

Dane Lam

Dr. John Traill

James Burton

Douglas Boyd

Alexander Shelley

Neil Thomson

Hugh Brunt

Previous conductors also include:

Guest Soloists

Steven Isserlis CBE

Carolin Widmann

Cynthia Millar

Simon Preston CBE

Thomas Trotter

Guy Johnston

Featured soloists also include:

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