Martyn Brabbins was recently appointed Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony and of the Symphony Orchestra of India, both starting in the 2025/26 season. He was Music Director of the English National Opera 2016–2023. He is an inspirational force in British music and has had a busy opera career since his early days at the Kirov and more recently at La Scala, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and regularly in Lyon, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Antwerp. He opened English National Opera’s 23/24 season with David Alden’s production of Peter Grimes in what turned out to be his swansong, as well as a musical highpoint of his seven-year tenure. He also led a rare performance of Tippett’s opera New Year with the BBC Scottish Symphony, recording it for release on NMC. In 24/25 he conducts The Makropoulos Case for Scottish Opera and Mazeppa for Grange Park Opera.

Amongst his symphonic highlights of 23/24: two BBC Proms concerts, including stepping in for the late Sir Andrew Davis, and two successive weeks at the Barbican in repertoire ranging from Mussorgsky to Nono, all with the BBC Symphony. Engagements abroad have included Stravinsky with the Radio Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Elgar with Lahti Sinfonia. In 24/25 he conducts the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony at Suntory Hall, the BBC Symphony at the Barbican (Boulez), makes his debut with the Danish National Symphony, and returns to the Antwerp Symphony, BBC Scottish and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Known for his advocacy of British composers, he has also conducted hundreds of world premieres across the globe. He has recorded over 120 CDs to date, including prize-winning discs of operas by Korngold, Birtwistle and Harvey.

He is Prince Consort Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music, Visiting Professor at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire and Artistic Advisor to the Huddersfield Choral Society. Martyn has supported professional, student and amateur music-making at the highest level in the UK for many years.

Biography

Martyn Charles Brabbins (born 13 August 1959) is a British conductor. The fourth of five children in his family, he learned to play the euphonium, and then the trombone during his youth at Towcester Studio Brass Band. He later studied composition at Goldsmiths, University of London. He subsequently studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory.

Brabbins first came to international attention when he was awarded first prize at the Leeds Conductors Competition in 1988. Between 1994 and 2005, Brabbins was Associate Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He became principal conductor of Sinfonia 21 in 1994. He was artistic director of the Cheltenham Music Festival from 2005 to 2007. During his Cheltenham tenure, he established a new ensemble, the Festival Players. In Leeds, he created a new chamber music series called 'Music in Transition'. On 17 July 2011, Brabbins conducted the 6th live performance of Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' at The Proms, which was later released on a Hyperion commercial recording. Brabbins was subsequently named president of the Havergal Brian Society. Brabbins is also conductor laureate of the Huddersfield Choral Society. In 2002, Brabbins founded a training course for aspiring conductors at the St Magnus International Festival in Orkney, which he continues to co-direct.

Outside of the UK, Brabbins became principal guest conductor of deFilharmonie (Royal Flemish Philharmonic) in 2009. In December 2011, Brabbins was announced as the next chief conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra. He held the Nagoya post from 2012 to 2016.

Brabbins first guest-conducted at English National Opera (ENO) in 2012, in a production of Vaughan Williams' The Pilgrim's Progress. On 21 October 2016, ENO named Brabbins its next music director, with immediate effect, a position he held until 2023.

Brabbins has conducted commercial recordings of music for such labels as Warner, Chandos, Hyperion, NMC, Nimbus, and Deutsche Grammophon.

Brabbins and his wife Karen (née Evans) met at Goldsmiths. The couple married in 1985, and have three children. In January 2013, the University of Bristol awarded Brabbins an honorary degree, of Doctor of Music honoris causa.

Gregory Batsleer is one of the UK's most dynamic and in demand choral conductors and chorus masters. In addition to his role of Choral Director with the Huddersfield Choral Society, Greg is also Chorus Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus (since January 2015) and of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus (since 2009). He is also principal conductor of the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Choir. He has previously held the position of Director of the Hallé Youth Choir (2008-11) and Director of Choirs at Manchester University (2009-13).

Gregory is also heavily committed to work outside of the classical music world and is Artistic Director of innovative live music company Pencil Presents. He has worked as music supervisor and consultant on performance and recording projects with artists including Elbow, James, Clean Bandit, Damon Albarn and New Order. He has a close working relationship with composer Joe Duddell and has premiered works by composers including Colin Metters, Uri Caine and Ben Parry.

Gregory began choral singing at the age of nine as a member of the Manchester Boys Choir and later went on to hold scholarships at Princeton University and the Royal College of Music. He has received tuition and support from leading musicians including Baldur Brönniman, Martyn Brabbins, Sian Edwards, Simon Carrington and Simon Halsey. On his return to the UK in 2008 and co-founded and directed the Manchester Consort as well as taking up the role of Director of the Hallé Youth Choir(2008-11) and went on to direct and lead the Manchester University Chorus (2009-13). He graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2012, where he majored in vocal studies.

He has also previously held successful associations with the Amadeus Orchestra and RNCM Outreach Department. As a guest conductor, highlights include performances with the Hallé, Academy of Ancient Music, New Century Baroque, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Royal College of Music Baroque Orchestra, members of Florilegium, Rodolfus Choir, the chapel choir at Royal Naval College Greenwich. He has appeared at festivals including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Three Choirs Festival and the Latitude festival. He has been guest chorus master for orchestras including Northern Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic, working with leading international conductors including Sir Mark Elder, Markus Stenz, Adam Fischer, Louis Langrée, Sir Roger Norrington and Robin Ticciati.

Gregory Batsleer’s outstanding work as a choral director was recognised with the 2015 Arts Foundation’s first-ever Fellowship in Choral Conducting.

Ellie Slorach is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Kantos Chamber Choir and Engagement Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She specialises in large scale multi-media and educational projects across all genres including orchestras, operatic, choral, and dance performances. Ellie studied Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music and was awarded Associate Membership (ARNCM) in 2023. She previously studied Music at the University of Manchester.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season included performances with the Orchestra of Opera North, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra three times. Equally at home in the choral repertoire, Ellie regularly conducts HCS, has recently collaborated with the Sansara Choir and the Estonian National Male Choir, led the Dunedin Consort Choral Weekend in May 2025 and conducted the outstanding CBeebies Prom: A Magical Bedtime Story at the Royal Albert Hall in August 2025

Holding the Guinness World Record for conducting the UK's largest choir, David Lawrence is one of the UK's most versatile conductors, working with orchestras, symphony choruses and national youth choirs. He has been nominated for a Gramophone Award for his conducting and awarded a prestigious ARAM by the Royal Academy of Music.

David's work has taken him to Singapore, Colombia, Canada, the United States, India, the United Arab Emirates, throughout Europe, and most often of all to Australia.  His positive and engaging manner makes him a popular guest conductor, and he is an experienced and respected trainer of choral conductors.  With particular experience in the field of contemporary music, David has prepared and conducted première performances by Per Nørgård, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Mauricio Kagel, Graham Fitkin, James Wood, Bob Chilcott and others.  As a guest chorusmaster of the Netherlands Radio Choir he has worked with many conductors such as Kenneth Montgomery, Frans Brüggen, and John Adams, and in 2002 working closely with Stockhausen he also conducted this exceptional choir in the German première of Scene II from his opera Sontag aus Licht.

David has conducted the London Philharmonic Choir, Hallé Choir, London Symphony Chorus, the CBSO Chorus for whom he is an Associate Conductor, and the national youth choirs of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. He has directed large scale education projects with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, the English Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and of course the CBSO.  In 2011 David conducted an award-winning performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Barrier Reef Orchestra in Queensland, and has conducted the CBSO in a massed performance of Carmina Burana, the Orchestra of Opera North with their Inspiration Choir, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony for Hull’s City of Culture Festival and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Huddersfield Choral Society for the BBC's Songs of Praise.

David is Choral Advisor to Sinfonia Viva with whom he has worked closely since 1998, Musical Director of the Harrogate Choral Society, and is Principal Conductor of the Basel Proms. He directs the London Symphony Orchestra's Community Chorus, and as Principal Conductor of Young Voices, a position he has held for 25 years, directs massed choirs in an annual series of concerts with some choirs incorporating more than 9,000 singers. In 2025 he directed Verdi’s Requiem at the 20^th Festival of Voices in Hobart, Tasmania, and joined the team at Huddersfield Choral Society as Associate Director.

Alex started his choral conducting journey when he joined HCS as a singing member while studying music at Huddersfield University.

Alex is a conductor and tenor based in Leeds. He is the Musical Director of Ilkley and Otley Choral Societies, and also founder of Vivify Ensemble, a vocal sextet specialising in early music. From 2013–22 Alex was a Choral Director for Diocese of Leeds Music, in which post he conducted Bradford Catholic Youth Choir in prestigious venues such as the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, and on national BBC television (BBC 1) and Radio (Radio 3 and 4). In 2023, Alex was awarded a Masters with Distinction in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing from the University of York, where he studied with Robert Hollingworth (I Fagiolini).

Daniel is also the Senior Teaching Fellow in Performance and Repetiteur at the University of Leeds' School of Music (part-time).

He is also Conductor of the Huddersfield Singers, and Choir Master / Deputy Organist of St John the Baptist, Adel.

Daniel has worked with Black Dyke Band (piano/organ), the CBSO Chorus (repetiteuring), Manchester Camerata (harpsichord), Opera North, Leeds Festival Chorus, et. al. He is the voluntary Music Director for the Leeds NHS Trust. He was accompanist of the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus for nine years and is an Honorary Life Member of the Chorus. He is a pupil of Darius Battiwalla.

Before working in music, Daniel taught computing to postgraduates, and created software for researchers in potential-field geophysics.

Joyce Tindsley is an experienced vocal tutor as well as being a working professional singer. She has been employed by the BBC for nearly 30 years, firstly as a member of the BBC Northern Singers and latterly the Daily Service Singers, as well as being an acclaimed mezzo-soprano soloist. She was Professor of Voice at Lancaster University 1988-93, has led masterclasses at Chethams School of Music, courses for organisations such as the Chapter House Choir of York Minster, Preston Arts, Kirkham Singers, LGN Choir St. Helens, the W.I. and has been the vocal tutor on courses for the Association of British Choral Directors. She also runs a private teaching practice at home. Joyce has led weekly adult singing classes in the Preston area for over 25 years.

Colleen Brown was born in the North East of England near Whitby and developed a love of music from a very young age. She started learning to play the piano and cello at primary school before studying singing at the age of ten. As a member of The National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Colleen sang in many of the countries' prestigious venues. Her time with the choir culminated with a trip of the South Pacific.

It was her love of music that brought her to Huddersfield University where she studied Music and whilst there, joined HCS. Colleen continued her studies in Singing at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before moving back to West Yorkshire.

As a soloist she has sung with local Choral societies of major works by Handel, Rossini & Elgar and as a recitalist she enjoys performing arias by Puccini & Verdi

Colleen is a singing and piano teacher for Calderdale Music where she works in the local schools.

Mitchell Wright is a conductor, accompanist, and bass-baritone based in West Yorkshire. He is the Music Director of HCS Voices, the community choir of the Huddersfield Choral Society, and the Orion Chamber Choir in Halifax. He began conducting in his teens and went on to study music at the University of Huddersfield, where he developed his skills and experience in both performance and conducting. Since then, he has worked with a wide variety of ensembles, ranging from chamber choirs to large community and school groups.

As a bass-baritone, Mitchell has performed repertoire across the classical canon, an experience that continues to inform his work with choirs. Alongside his conducting, he teaches in schools, helping young people build confidence and discover the joy of music. He is committed to making choral singing inclusive, ambitious, and rewarding.