Colin Metters
"Colin Metters is considered universally as one of the world's most distinguished and sought after conducting pedagogues, in demand internationally as a performer, teacher and adjudicator. If the test of any great teacher is the respect that he commands from his students, then Colin Metters is without doubt a great teacher."
Raymond Holden. Conductor, broadcaster, lecturer and distinguished author of books on conductors and conducting.
In 1983 Colin Metters was appointed Head of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London, “....to establish and direct a conducting programme to be internationally pre-eminent”. Across his 30 years as Head of Conducting he established a conducting course with a worldwide reputation which, during his tenure was recognised internationally as one of the world's foremost conductor training programmes. Following an international review of music conservatoires the New York Times made special mention of the conducting programme under Colin Metters as "world renowned".
In addition to his commitment to teaching, Colin Metters' career has taken him across the world conducting in Australia, Venezuela, Turkey, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Poland, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Korea and USA. He has conducted for major ballet companies at the Sydney Opera House; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and Lincoln Centre, New York. He has taught in conservatoires in Helsinki, Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, St Petersburg, Weimar, Sydney, Cracow, Chicago, Michigan and New York and given masterclasses with professional orchestras in Berlin, Belgrade, Moscow, Dubrovnik, Cardiff, Vilnius and Liepaja.
Colin Metters is Emeritus Professor of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London, gives a masterclass each term at the Royal College of Music in London and is Visiting Professor of Conducting at the Academy of Music in Cracow.
He has served on a number of international juries including the 5th Prokofiev Competition in St Petersburg; the 4th International Violin Competition in Qingdao, China; various juries for the Dirigentenforum in Germany; the Atlantic Coast International Conducting Competition in Portugal and the Matacic International Conducting Competition in Zagreb. In 2022 he will serve on the jury for the Leeds International Conductors Competition in the UK.
"Colin Metters is considered universally as one of the world's most distinguished and sought after conducting pedagogues, in demand internationally as a performer, teacher and adjudicator. If the test of any great teacher is the respect that he commands from his students, then Colin Metters is without doubt a great teacher."
Raymond Holden. Conductor, broadcaster, lecturer and distinguished author of books on conductors and conducting.
In 1983 Colin Metters was appointed Head of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London, “....to establish and direct a conducting programme to be internationally pre-eminent”. Across his 30 years as Head of Conducting he established a conducting course with a worldwide reputation which, during his tenure was recognised internationally as one of the world's foremost conductor training programmes. Following an international review of music conservatoires the New York Times made special mention of the conducting programme under Colin Metters as "world renowned".
In addition to his commitment to teaching, Colin Metters' career has taken him across the world conducting in Australia, Venezuela, Turkey, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Poland, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Korea and USA. He has conducted for major ballet companies at the Sydney Opera House; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and Lincoln Centre, New York. He has taught in conservatoires in Helsinki, Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, St Petersburg, Weimar, Sydney, Cracow, Chicago, Michigan and New York and given masterclasses with professional orchestras in Berlin, Belgrade, Moscow, Dubrovnik, Cardiff, Vilnius and Liepaja.
Colin Metters is Emeritus Professor of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London, gives a masterclass each term at the Royal College of Music in London and is Visiting Professor of Conducting at the Academy of Music in Cracow.
He has served on a number of international juries including the 5th Prokofiev Competition in St Petersburg; the 4th International Violin Competition in Qingdao, China; various juries for the Dirigentenforum in Germany; the Atlantic Coast International Conducting Competition in Portugal and the Matacic International Conducting Competition in Zagreb. In 2022 he will serve on the jury for the Leeds International Conductors Competition in the UK.
Jonathan Mann
Hailed by Bernard Haitink for the “infectious joy in his conducting and music making”, Jonathan Mann is in demand as both performer and music educator. He has conducted extensively internationally with recent collaborations as diverse as the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Chineke! Youth Orchestra (London) and the Arad State Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania).
Jonathan travels for projects throughout Asia and Europe. He is currently Music Director of UK based Ensemble Cambrica and Artistic Director of the Immanuel Orchestra - Music for Life Foundation in Thailand.
At the Jeunesses Musicales International Conducting Competition 2015 in Bucharest, Jonathan received the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra prize and a special jury prize leading to his Polish debut with the Kielce Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also previously selected as one of 20 finalists from 300 live auditionees to participate in the prestigious Besancon International Conducting Competition in France.
As founder and Music Director of the Cardiff Sinfonietta, Jonathan Mann oversaw the orchestra’s expansion over a 15 year period. The orchestra broadcast for the BBC and S4C and worked with soloists including Nicola Benedetti, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Benjamin Grosvenor, Sunwook Kim and Dennis O’Neill.
At the start of 2020 the Cardiff Sinfonietta merged with the Welsh Sinfonia to form Ensemble Cambrica, an exciting new orchestra aimed at reaching the community in new ways. Their first project was a series of virtual orchestra performances raising money for health workers and freelance musicians in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
Passionate about inspiring young musicians, Jonathan Mann has conducted numerous youth orchestra festivals around the world. Since 2015 he has been Artistic Director of the Immanuel Orchestra in Bangkok which is loosely modeled on the renowned Venezuelan music program ‘El Sistema’. During this time he has raised the standard of the orchestra performing symphonies by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert. He also helps to mentor students and encourage them into higher education.
Jonathan is also a popular teacher of conducting as guest clinician for universities and conferences and teaches classes at his home and virtually. He is Artistic Director of the Cardiff International Academy of Conducting providing intensive live and virtual courses for emerging conductors and with the founding of the Thai Conductors Forum in 2019 he has started to mentor a new generation of young Thai conductors.
Hailed by Bernard Haitink for the “infectious joy in his conducting and music making”, Jonathan Mann is in demand as both performer and music educator. He has conducted extensively internationally with recent collaborations as diverse as the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Chineke! Youth Orchestra (London) and the Arad State Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania).
Jonathan travels for projects throughout Asia and Europe. He is currently Music Director of UK based Ensemble Cambrica and Artistic Director of the Immanuel Orchestra - Music for Life Foundation in Thailand.
At the Jeunesses Musicales International Conducting Competition 2015 in Bucharest, Jonathan received the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra prize and a special jury prize leading to his Polish debut with the Kielce Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also previously selected as one of 20 finalists from 300 live auditionees to participate in the prestigious Besancon International Conducting Competition in France.
As founder and Music Director of the Cardiff Sinfonietta, Jonathan Mann oversaw the orchestra’s expansion over a 15 year period. The orchestra broadcast for the BBC and S4C and worked with soloists including Nicola Benedetti, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Benjamin Grosvenor, Sunwook Kim and Dennis O’Neill.
At the start of 2020 the Cardiff Sinfonietta merged with the Welsh Sinfonia to form Ensemble Cambrica, an exciting new orchestra aimed at reaching the community in new ways. Their first project was a series of virtual orchestra performances raising money for health workers and freelance musicians in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
Passionate about inspiring young musicians, Jonathan Mann has conducted numerous youth orchestra festivals around the world. Since 2015 he has been Artistic Director of the Immanuel Orchestra in Bangkok which is loosely modeled on the renowned Venezuelan music program ‘El Sistema’. During this time he has raised the standard of the orchestra performing symphonies by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert. He also helps to mentor students and encourage them into higher education.
Jonathan is also a popular teacher of conducting as guest clinician for universities and conferences and teaches classes at his home and virtually. He is Artistic Director of the Cardiff International Academy of Conducting providing intensive live and virtual courses for emerging conductors and with the founding of the Thai Conductors Forum in 2019 he has started to mentor a new generation of young Thai conductors.
Irina Walters
Irina Walters was born in Moscow, Russia. She studied choral conducting and composition at the Ippolitov-Ivanov music college, and went on to gain a first class honours degree in choral conducting from the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow.
Irina has been living in UK since 1995. She is head of music at the ACS Egham International School, and founder of Friendship Through Music - an annual concert series drawing together music students from a number of schools in Egham and Slough, at which she conducts the joint choir. She also teaches aural musicianship at the Purcell School for Young Musicians. She has a passion for Russian and Eastern European choral music and is in demand giving workshops and lectures on various aspects of Russian and Eastern European choral repertoire and style, for ABCD(the Association of British Choral Directors) and others.
She loves singing Russian songs, while improvising a piano accompaniment, and is delighted to be sharing some of the many beautiful and passionate Russian melodies with a wider audience through her choral arrangements published by Canasg Music (www.canasg.com)
Irina Walters was born in Moscow, Russia. She studied choral conducting and composition at the Ippolitov-Ivanov music college, and went on to gain a first class honours degree in choral conducting from the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow.
Irina has been living in UK since 1995. She is head of music at the ACS Egham International School, and founder of Friendship Through Music - an annual concert series drawing together music students from a number of schools in Egham and Slough, at which she conducts the joint choir. She also teaches aural musicianship at the Purcell School for Young Musicians. She has a passion for Russian and Eastern European choral music and is in demand giving workshops and lectures on various aspects of Russian and Eastern European choral repertoire and style, for ABCD(the Association of British Choral Directors) and others.
She loves singing Russian songs, while improvising a piano accompaniment, and is delighted to be sharing some of the many beautiful and passionate Russian melodies with a wider audience through her choral arrangements published by Canasg Music (www.canasg.com)
Jac Van Steen
Jac van Steen was born in The Netherlands and studied orchestra and choir conducting at the Brabants Conservatory of Music.
Since participating in the BBC Conductors Seminar in 1985, he conducts the best orchestras in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany, which included holding the post of Music Director and Chief Conductor of the National Ballet of The Netherlands, the orchestras of Bochum and Nürenberg, the Staatskapelle Weimar, The Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra of Dortmund Musikkollegium Winterthur and Principal Guest Conductor at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
He is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast. He made his debut with Opera North in 2013 as well as with the Volksoper in Vienna. In 2015 he has made a very successful debut at Garsington Opera. In 2015-16 Jac visited the UK regularly for various engagements with the British orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, the CBSO, Opera North and the Ulster Orchestra. In the present season he returned to Opera North with very successful performances of Puccini’s Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, the Volksoper Vienna with Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane and made his debut in Tokyo with the New Japan Philharmonic with an all-American programme. He has participated in many recordings for the BBC, as well as live broadcasts of his concerts. There are a substantial number of CD recordings of his work with various orchestras.
Besides his activities as conductor, he is dedicated to teaching and is Professor for Conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. He also regularly works with the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s School of Music (Manchester) as well as the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music (London).
Jac van Steen was born in The Netherlands and studied orchestra and choir conducting at the Brabants Conservatory of Music.
Since participating in the BBC Conductors Seminar in 1985, he conducts the best orchestras in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany, which included holding the post of Music Director and Chief Conductor of the National Ballet of The Netherlands, the orchestras of Bochum and Nürenberg, the Staatskapelle Weimar, The Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra of Dortmund Musikkollegium Winterthur and Principal Guest Conductor at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
He is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast. He made his debut with Opera North in 2013 as well as with the Volksoper in Vienna. In 2015 he has made a very successful debut at Garsington Opera. In 2015-16 Jac visited the UK regularly for various engagements with the British orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, the CBSO, Opera North and the Ulster Orchestra. In the present season he returned to Opera North with very successful performances of Puccini’s Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, the Volksoper Vienna with Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane and made his debut in Tokyo with the New Japan Philharmonic with an all-American programme. He has participated in many recordings for the BBC, as well as live broadcasts of his concerts. There are a substantial number of CD recordings of his work with various orchestras.
Besides his activities as conductor, he is dedicated to teaching and is Professor for Conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. He also regularly works with the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s School of Music (Manchester) as well as the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music (London).
Robert Guy
Robert hails from North Wales and is a conductor, concert presenter, artistic director and teacher with a breadth of communication and interpersonal skills. An advocate of new music, Robert has con- ducted significant world premières which include working with the Orchestra of Opera North in Kevin Malone’s Violin Concerto and NEW Sinfonia in Rebecca Dale’s Requiem Materna and Paul Mealor’s Symphony No.2. He was selected by Kirill Karabits to work with the Britten Pears Orchestra in their Young Artists’ Programme.
As Artistic Director and co-founder of NEW Sinfonia, orchestra in residence at the North Wales In- ternational Music Festival, Robert has worked with leading soloists including Tamsin Waley Cohen, Federico Colli and Raphael Wallfisch and has led education workshops featured by the BBC. A com- mitted advocate of collaborative working, Robert leads an evolving partnership with Welsh National Opera in North Wales where he has conducted Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Haydn’s The Creation. He is grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for their support in his vision to create a partnership with Disability Arts Cymru.
As a guest conductor Robert works regularly with Manchester Camerata where he has performed with trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth in a new concerto Seven Halts on the Somme by Deborah Pritchard, recorded for Sony Playstation and performed for Manchester International Festival. Pas- sionate about audience and community engagement, Robert is a skilled concert presenter, animateur and education workshop leader in a range of settings from schools to care homes in cities and rural communities.
Robert is proud to be Director of the University of Manchester’s elite undergraduate conducting pro- gramme, Head of Choral Programmes and Director of Ensembles. In these roles he directed the first performance of Barry Cooper’s new Bärenreiter edition of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and has led memorable performances ranging from Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius to Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Maharal Dreaming by John Casken. He has been involved in several prestigious projects including at the BBC Proms as Assistant Conductor to Simon Halsey and the BBC Proms Youth Choir. At Huddersfield University he devised and now delivers two BMus courses teaching and mentoring stu- dents with particular focus on equipping aspiring music teachers with conducting skills to build their confidence in directing ensembles.
Robert is currently Principal Guest Conductor to Stockport Symphony Orchestra where he has co-pre- sented concerts with Lindsay Russell (Blue Peter). He is Principal Conductor to the Orchestra of Square Chapel where he is currently working through the late Haydn and Mozart symphonies. Last season he completed a Beethoven milestone having conducted all nine symphonies. He has conducted the Huddersfield Choral Society and Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra in Britten’s War Requiem and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast at Huddersfield Town Hall.
Frequently in demand as an empathetic and committed conductor of youth orchestras, Robert has been invited to conduct at APAC Orchestra Festival - Vietnam and has recently led projects for AMIS - Salzburg, Haileybury Astana - Kazakhstan, NLCS - South Korea, Pro Corda at Cadogan Hall and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales
Robert is a proud former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, Liverpool FC fan and ear- lier this year ran his first Peak District trail.
Robert hails from North Wales and is a conductor, concert presenter, artistic director and teacher with a breadth of communication and interpersonal skills. An advocate of new music, Robert has con- ducted significant world premières which include working with the Orchestra of Opera North in Kevin Malone’s Violin Concerto and NEW Sinfonia in Rebecca Dale’s Requiem Materna and Paul Mealor’s Symphony No.2. He was selected by Kirill Karabits to work with the Britten Pears Orchestra in their Young Artists’ Programme.
As Artistic Director and co-founder of NEW Sinfonia, orchestra in residence at the North Wales In- ternational Music Festival, Robert has worked with leading soloists including Tamsin Waley Cohen, Federico Colli and Raphael Wallfisch and has led education workshops featured by the BBC. A com- mitted advocate of collaborative working, Robert leads an evolving partnership with Welsh National Opera in North Wales where he has conducted Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Haydn’s The Creation. He is grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for their support in his vision to create a partnership with Disability Arts Cymru.
As a guest conductor Robert works regularly with Manchester Camerata where he has performed with trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth in a new concerto Seven Halts on the Somme by Deborah Pritchard, recorded for Sony Playstation and performed for Manchester International Festival. Pas- sionate about audience and community engagement, Robert is a skilled concert presenter, animateur and education workshop leader in a range of settings from schools to care homes in cities and rural communities.
Robert is proud to be Director of the University of Manchester’s elite undergraduate conducting pro- gramme, Head of Choral Programmes and Director of Ensembles. In these roles he directed the first performance of Barry Cooper’s new Bärenreiter edition of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and has led memorable performances ranging from Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius to Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Maharal Dreaming by John Casken. He has been involved in several prestigious projects including at the BBC Proms as Assistant Conductor to Simon Halsey and the BBC Proms Youth Choir. At Huddersfield University he devised and now delivers two BMus courses teaching and mentoring stu- dents with particular focus on equipping aspiring music teachers with conducting skills to build their confidence in directing ensembles.
Robert is currently Principal Guest Conductor to Stockport Symphony Orchestra where he has co-pre- sented concerts with Lindsay Russell (Blue Peter). He is Principal Conductor to the Orchestra of Square Chapel where he is currently working through the late Haydn and Mozart symphonies. Last season he completed a Beethoven milestone having conducted all nine symphonies. He has conducted the Huddersfield Choral Society and Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra in Britten’s War Requiem and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast at Huddersfield Town Hall.
Frequently in demand as an empathetic and committed conductor of youth orchestras, Robert has been invited to conduct at APAC Orchestra Festival - Vietnam and has recently led projects for AMIS - Salzburg, Haileybury Astana - Kazakhstan, NLCS - South Korea, Pro Corda at Cadogan Hall and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales
Robert is a proud former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, Liverpool FC fan and ear- lier this year ran his first Peak District trail.
Kenneth Woods
Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “a symphonic conductor of stature”, American conductor Kenneth Woods was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and has quickly built up an impressive and acclaimed body of work with them. Woods was also recently appointed Artistic Director of both the Colorado MahlerFest – the only US organisation other than the New York Philharmonic to receive the International Gustav Mahler Society’s Gold Medal – and the Elgar Festival in Worcester.
As a guest, Woods has conducted ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra, and has made numerous broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has appeared on the stages of some of the world’s leading music festivals, such as Aspen, Scotia and Lucerne.
Under Kenneth Woods’ leadership, the English Symphony Orchestra has gained widespread recognition as one of the most innovative and influential orchestras in the UK. They received Classical Music Magazine’s “Premiere of the Year” plaudit for both Donald Fraser’s orchestration of the Elgar Piano Quintet in 2015 and John Joubert’s opera Jane Eyre in 2016. Jane Eyre also marked the ESO’s first foray into opera, and the premiere and subsequent Somm Recordings CD were both received with international critical acclaim including a string of five-star reviews, Disc of the Month and MusicWeb Opera Recording of the Year nods, and was named the Birmingham Post’s “classical music highlight of 2016.”
In 2016, Woods and the ESO launched their “21st Century Symphony Project,” an ambitious multi-year effort to commission, premiere and record nine new symphonies by leading composers, with Philip Sawyers’ Third Symphony, a work described by ClassicalSource as “a masterpiece” following its triumphant St John’s Smith Square premiere in 2017. In 2018 The Spectator selected the premiere of the second work in the 21CSP, David Matthews’ Ninth Symphony, as one of the top-10 classical concerts of 2018. In 2019, the ESO premiered Matthew Taylor’s Fifth Symphony at Cadogan Hall, and this work was welcomed by Robert Matthew-Walker, editor of Musical Opinion as “a masterwork of genuine symphonic thinking.”
A widely read writer and frequent broadcaster, Woods’ blog, A View from the Podium, is one of the 25 most popular classical blogs in the world. He has spoken on Mahler on NPR’s All Things Considered and is a regular speaker on BBC radio programmes. Since 2014, he has been Honorary Patron of the Hans Gál Society.
Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “a symphonic conductor of stature”, American conductor Kenneth Woods was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and has quickly built up an impressive and acclaimed body of work with them. Woods was also recently appointed Artistic Director of both the Colorado MahlerFest – the only US organisation other than the New York Philharmonic to receive the International Gustav Mahler Society’s Gold Medal – and the Elgar Festival in Worcester.
As a guest, Woods has conducted ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra, and has made numerous broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has appeared on the stages of some of the world’s leading music festivals, such as Aspen, Scotia and Lucerne.
Under Kenneth Woods’ leadership, the English Symphony Orchestra has gained widespread recognition as one of the most innovative and influential orchestras in the UK. They received Classical Music Magazine’s “Premiere of the Year” plaudit for both Donald Fraser’s orchestration of the Elgar Piano Quintet in 2015 and John Joubert’s opera Jane Eyre in 2016. Jane Eyre also marked the ESO’s first foray into opera, and the premiere and subsequent Somm Recordings CD were both received with international critical acclaim including a string of five-star reviews, Disc of the Month and MusicWeb Opera Recording of the Year nods, and was named the Birmingham Post’s “classical music highlight of 2016.”
In 2016, Woods and the ESO launched their “21st Century Symphony Project,” an ambitious multi-year effort to commission, premiere and record nine new symphonies by leading composers, with Philip Sawyers’ Third Symphony, a work described by ClassicalSource as “a masterpiece” following its triumphant St John’s Smith Square premiere in 2017. In 2018 The Spectator selected the premiere of the second work in the 21CSP, David Matthews’ Ninth Symphony, as one of the top-10 classical concerts of 2018. In 2019, the ESO premiered Matthew Taylor’s Fifth Symphony at Cadogan Hall, and this work was welcomed by Robert Matthew-Walker, editor of Musical Opinion as “a masterwork of genuine symphonic thinking.”
A widely read writer and frequent broadcaster, Woods’ blog, A View from the Podium, is one of the 25 most popular classical blogs in the world. He has spoken on Mahler on NPR’s All Things Considered and is a regular speaker on BBC radio programmes. Since 2014, he has been Honorary Patron of the Hans Gál Society.
