Robert Guy hails from North Wales and is a conductor and presenter who passionately believes in utilising the art's unique potential to communicate, connect and empower. Robert is an outstanding musician who is in high demand and has conducted more of the main classical and romantic repertoire than most of his generation across orchestras, chamber ensembles, choirs and opera. Robert enjoys a close relationship with Manchester Camerata and will make his debut with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in December. An advocate of new music he has conducted 50 world premières.
Robert is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of NEW Sinfonia, a multi faceted arts organisation which boasts a professional chamber orchestra, community vocal ensemble NEW Voices and education programme NEW Academi, based in North Wales. NEW Sinfonia are orchestra in residence at the North Wales International Music Festival and this season Robert conducted the National Youth Chamber Choir of Great Britain and the world première of a new opera by Paul Mealor called Gelert. Robert has worked with Welsh National Opera and leading soloists and composers including Rebecca Dale, Ye-Eun Choi, Tamsin Waley Cohen, Federico Colli and Raphael Wallfisch. Robert has led engagement workshops which have been featured by the BBC.
He has been involved in many prestigious concerts including being Assistant Conductor to Simon Halsey and the BBC Proms Youth Choir at the BBC Proms and making his debuts with the Orchestra of Opera North and Huddersfield Choral Society. He enjoys a close relationship with Manchester Camerata where he has performed with Tine Thing Helseth, conducted and presented concerts for Orchestra Live, recorded for Sony Playstation and performed for the Manchester International Festival. Robert is Principal Guest Conductor to Stockport Symphony Orchestra and guest conducts Immix Ensemble, a new music ensemble based in Liverpool.
Robert’s collaborative approach to building trust with musicians has been shaped by his early professional career as a viola player, where he notably played with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North and alongside the Allegri and Edinburgh String Quartets. He is now mentored by some of the greatest conductors of the modern era having been chosen for several prestigious programmes. These include being selected by Kirill Karabits to work with the Britten Pears Orchestra and by Jorma Panula as part of his Panula Academy in Finland working with the Turku Philharmonic. Internationally, Robert has been selected for prestigious masterclasses working with the Berlin Philharmonic in Aix-en-Provence, Neemi Järvi, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonietta and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Chorus.
Robert is frequently in demand as an empathetic and committed conductor of youth orchestras. Nationally, Robert has conducted the National Youth Orchestra of Wales at St David’s Hall and Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, the Hallé Youth Orchestra, and Pro Corda at Cadogan Hall in London. Internationally, he has been invited to conduct for the World Orchestra Festival, Asia Pacific Orchestra Festival (APAC) in Vietnam, Association of Music in International Schools (AMIS) in Salzburg, Haileybury Astana in Kazakhstan and the North London Collegiate School (NLCS) in South Korea.
Robert is proud to be Director of the University of Manchester’s elite undergraduate Conducting Programme, 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, commissioned a new choral work Light Into My Dark by John Casken and has led memorable performances ranging from Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius to Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Recent and current conducting students are rapidly making their way in the profession with organisations which include RSNO Chorus, The Hallé, NYCGB Fellowship Programme, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Buxton International Festival. He is also a faculty member for Cardiff International Academy of Conducting.
Robert is a proud former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and Liverpool FC fan.
@RobGuyConductor and Author of #The Conductor Guy: The Classical Music Podcast
#50world premières #241 student conductors
October 2022
Copyright © 2024 Manchester University Music Society - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy