Conductors

Dominic Grier

Dominic Grier is acknowledged as being among the most versatile conductors of his generation, equally at home in opera, ballet and symphonic work as well as contemporary music and orchestral training. He has served as a frequent guest conductor with many of the foremost ballet companies in the UK and Europe, and as Staff Conductor for The Royal Ballet, and Associate Conductor of Northern Ballet. He was also an Assistant and Guest Conductor at the Opéra National de Lyon from 2007- 2011 and Music Director of the King’s College London Symphony Orchestra from 2009-2012. Dominic has been Music Director of the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra since 2014, and is also conductor of the Symphony and Classical orchestras at the Junior Royal Academy of Music.

  • On the concert platform and in the theatre, he has worked with orchestras and ensembles including the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon, Symfonish Orkest van Opera Vlaanderen, the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, the Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, The Berkeley Ensemble, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and the SNG Symphony Orchestra Maribor. Dominic is also a much-respected and established teacher of conducting, serving on the academic staff at the Royal Academy of Music as Course Director for the Undergraduate and Second Study Conducting programmes. He is additionally senior tutor and a co-founder of the Girton Conducting Course and Director of The George Hurst Foundation. Recent engagements include The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet, Faust for Ballet Vlaanderen with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, a new version of Eugene Onegin for Maribor Opera and Ballet in Slovenia, David Bintley’s acclaimed production of Cinderella for Birmingham Royal Ballet, and concerts with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia the Purcell School Symphony Orchestra, and the Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra. Dominic read music at the University of Cambridge, at the same time studying conducting with George Hurst. He continued his studies on the postgraduate conducting course at the Royal Academy of Music with Colin Metters. Other tutors and mentors have included Sir Colin Davis and Martyn Brabbins.

Mark Prescott

Mark Prescott was born in Madrid and is of Romany heritage. He was educated in Edinburgh where he studied the piano and cello. At age of 16 he made his conducting debut leading performances of Beethoven and Schubert with the Orchestre Jeunesse de Liege et Tournai following masterclasses with the Greek conductor Alexandre Myrat. A scholarship enabled him to study conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he had the opportunity to participate in masterclasses with Colin Davis, Mark Elder, and Rostropovich among others.

  • Mark has conducted many professional and amateur orchestras in chamber, symphonic and operatic repertoire. These include the BBC Philharmonic, Orchesta Sinfonica de Galicia, City of London Sinfonia and Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra. He has collaborated with musicians such as Alison Balsom, George Benjamin and Angela Hewitt. 2024 will see him give concerts with the Oxford University Orchestra, Haydn Chamber Orchestra and the Prague chamber philharmonic of Pardubice among others. Alongside symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Dvorak and Sibelius he will be performing a range of diverse and contemporary repertoire, including works by Augusta Holmes, Dobrinka Tabakova, Grace Williams, Ruth Gipps and Elizabeth Maconchy.

Andrew Morley

Andrew studied conducting and orchestration with Denis McCaldin at Lancaster University and later gained a scholarship to study with Peter Stark at Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban) where he graduated with distinction and won the Ricordi Conducting Prize. He began his career with many ensembles in Lancaster, including symphony and chamber orchestras, chamber ensembles as well as choirs, choral groups and wind ensembles.

  • Whilst at Trinity, performances included Aaron Copland's ballet Appalachian Spring, Heinz Holliger's experimental study in breath Pneuma and a concert alongside the late dance-band supremo Stanley Black. Notable conducting work has included Stockhausen’s rarely performed Gruppen for three orchestras, an appearance with the National Youth Orchestra Sinfonietta at the Lake District Summer Music festival perfoming the critically acclaimed Medousa: A Miniature Opera for which Andrew was composer and musical supervisor.

    Andrew has worked with eminent soloists such as Simon Blendis, Guy Johnston, Stephen Hough, Jennifer Pike and Peter Donohoe, amongst many others. Andrew gave the premiere of a new work for DJ and ensemble by Gabriel Prokofiev which was later unveiled at the Proms. He has prepared music for renowned film composer Debbie Wiseman, conductors Barry Wordsworth and Ed Gardner, and has been assistant conductor for Sir Simon Rattle, Duncan Ward and Matthias Pintscher at the London Symphony Orchestra.

    He has performed alongside celebrities such as Jonathan Ross, Henry Kelly and the late Sir Terry Wogan and has broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Future work includes engagements with Essex Chamber Orchestra, Norfolk County Youth Orchestra, Wolsey Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestras and Dorking Chamber Orchestra as well as at European Youth Music Week.

    Andrew has held teaching posts at Lancaster University, Junior Trinity and Oxford Brookes University and continues the roles of musical director with the Junior Trinity Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Elstree Concert Band and St. Paul’s Sinfonia. In February 2004 Andrew was awarded first prize at the Allianz-Cornhill Musical Insurance Conducting Competition having received unanimous votes from both jury and orchestra. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.