Dr James Ross - Music Director
James studied at Harrow School, and later at Christ Church, Oxford from where he received an MA in Modern History (1993), an MSt in Music (1994), and a DPhil in French opera (1998) awarded the Donald Tovey Prize. He studied with conductors including Sir Charles Mackerras, Ernst Schelle, Victor Feldbrill and Alan Hazeldine, and was a finalist in the 1998 BBC Philharmonic Conducting Competition.
Since graduating he has conducted over 1,000 works in eighteen countries throughout Western and Eastern Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, and in Westminster Abbey and leading UK concert halls including the Royal Festival Hall and St. John’s, Smith Square, London, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, where he performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for the 350th anniversary in 2014.
In 2013 he gave the first orchestral concert at Sri Lanka’s new national performing arts venue, the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, Colombo, with the Commonwealth Festival Orchestra. He is music director of the Oxford Opera Company, the Christ Church Festival Orchestra, and from 2006 the Sidcup Symphony Orchestra. Previous positions include with Oxford University Sinfonietta and St Albans Symphony Orchestra.
James has conducted numerous first performances of new works, including by composers such as Tunde Jegede, Philip Sheppard and Geoffrey Álvarez, at London’s Saatchi Gallery, and for Queen Elizabeth II on Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey. In June 2016 he gave the first performance of the opera Love Hurts, composed by Nicola Moro with libretto by Lisa Hilton, at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro.
James is also a director of global classical music production company and consultancy Ulysses Arts.
Complete repertoire, details of concerts, publications and a large selection of press reviews are available at www.james-ross.com and www.facebook.com/James.Ross.conductor.
Ondřej Soukup - Chorus Master
In the 2021/2022 season, Ondřej Soukup has made his debut with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic at Prague's Rudolfinum, will debut with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, and will assist Jac van Steen with FOK Prague Symphony Orchestra on two programmes.
Ondřej is a well-rounded musician, who believes that a conductor should aim to perfect his/her art in all forms: choral, orchestral, operatic, new music and so on. His repertoire counts 250+ works including Wagner's Das Rheingold and 5 other operas. He has led performances with up to 250 singers and instrumentalists, for example in Dvořák's Stabat Mater at Edinburgh's St Mary's Cathedral. Mentors and colleagues alike have praised Ondřej's musicality, leadership, and fervour, which he radiates to fellow musicians and to audiences.
Recent highlights include recording Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale with Sir Thomas Allen, stepping in for Martyn Brabbins at short notice to conduct Thea Musgrave's Turbulent Landscapes, stepping in for Joana Carneiro to conduct Anna Clyne's <>, working with Maxim Vengerov, assisting Sir Antonio Pappano, conducting the English National Opera Orchestra in a private masterclass, and working with ENO's current and previous chorusmasters.
He is currently Guest and Assistant Conductor with RCM Symphony Orchestra and RCM Philharmonic, Chorus Master of Haslemere Musical Society, Musical Director of King's College London Symphony Orchestra and Resident Student Conductor with the University of London Symphony Orchestra. In recent years, Ondřej was MD of Thomas Coats Memorial Choral Society (works with RCS Symphony), MD of InChorus, Conducting Fellow with Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, Conductor at Dramatic Voices Program Berlin, Assistant Conductor at Berlin Opera Academy, and Guest Conductor at VoiceArc opera company. He was Principal Conductor of EUMS Sinfonia, Founder and Principal Conductor of Unison Chamber Orchestra, and MD of Edinburgh University Brass Band (EUBB). Ondřej is a recipient of the Roderick Brydon memorial award.
For full bio, visit www.ondrej-soukup.com.
Tom Horn - Orchestra Leader
Tom began learning the violin from a very early age and has played with various youth orchestras in Kent, the Channel Islands and London. Most notably Tom was leader of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, which enabled him to work with world-renowned artists such as Thomas Sanderling, Alexandre Markov and Robbie Coltrane.
Whilst studying Music and Acoustics at Southampton University he became heavily involved in the music scene around the city. He played with every orchestra in Southampton and led and conducted both of the university orchestras, as well as setting up and directing the Concerto Ensemble.
As a soloist Tom performed a number of works with various orchestras including all the Vivaldi Seasons, The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, Shindler’s List by John Williams, Tzigane by Ravel and both the Mendelssohn and Bruch violin concerti.
Tom now has a career as a violin teacher and freelance, playing in and around London. He teaches for the Buckinghamshire music service and conducts the Aylesbury Youth Orchestra, with whom he was invited to play at the Music for Youth festival in Birmingham two years running. After the success of the Haydnathon where Tom performed all 104 symphonies, he is in the planning stages of a similar challenge with the Mozart Symphonies next year. He continues playing and conducting with various orchestras and ensembles across the South East and is now enjoying experimenting as a jazz violinist.
Clive Osgood - Assistant Chorus Master and Rehearsal Accompanist
After completing his undergraduate studies at Bangor University, Clive Osgood undertook an MA in Musicology at the University of Cardiff. He was then awarded an organ scholarship at Salisbury Cathedral before training to be a teacher in London. He is currently completing a doctorate in composition at the University of Surrey. He is the Director of Music at St Bartholomew’s Church, Haslemere.
His compositions include instrumental, chamber and choral music as well as musicals. In 2006 his anthem Do not Fear was performed on the Sunday Worship programme on Radio 4. His other recent compositions include a setting of the Stabat Mater and a piano quintet. He has had music performed in several Cathedrals including St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey and is currently working on a string quartet. Clive is currently working on a commission for HMS.