Described by the Classical Source as ‘a name to conjure and a talent to relish’, we are delighted to announce Harry Ogg as WNO Associate Conductor.
I’m over the moon to be taking up this position with WNO. Young conductors often struggle to find the right opportunities to build up experience (you can’t ‘practise’ at home in the same way as an instrumentalist can) and within this position I’ll be conducting a lot of performances as well as assisting. I can’t think of a better place to grow and develop.
A graduate of Clare College, Cambridge and Liszt School of Music Weimar, the International Opera Awards Young Artist Bursary holder and twice-winner of the Brenda Charters Conducting Scholarship is highly acclaimed in both opera and concert repertoire.
Guest conducting and assistant roles have taken him to numerous ensembles including London Mozart Players; Haydn Chamber Orchestra; Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra; Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra; Deutsche Oper am Rhein and has toured over 25 programmes throughout the UK and France with Sinfonia d’Amici, an ensemble he founded in 2009. He has worked with Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic; Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra in the final of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition.
He works regularly with Opera Holland Park, English Touring Opera and has worked as a guest member of Music Staff for Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf.
During WNO’s Autumn 2018 Season, Harry assisted WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus on Prokofiev’s War and Peace.
Tomas is wonderful to work with as an assistant – he’s so encouraging and completely engaged with the whole team. Seeing him at work has been important to help me better understand what the role of a conductor really is within an opera.
Harry’s first engagement as WNO Associate Conductor will be conducting WNO Orchestra, and soloists Joyce El-Khoury and Jason Howard, on our Summer Opera Classics concert tour which will tour to Swansea, Newport and Newtown.
Joyce El-Khoury and Jason Howard are fantastic performers – every moment making music with them will be one to cherish! The programme is very eclectic. It’s a programme exclusively made up of highlights. That said, Joyce’s Song to the Moon and Jason’s Rigoletto are sure to make you sit up and listen.
Other engagements include assisting Tomáš Hanus on Jo Davies’ new production of Carmen during WNO’s Autumn Season 2019. Next Season he will also become Musikalischer Assistent des Gurzenich-Kapellmeisters to Francois-Xavier Roth at the Gurzenich Orchester Koln, Germany.