BIography
Founder & Artistic Director: Orchestra for the Earth
Music Director: Oxford Opera
The past season saw John debut with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Slovak State Philharmonic and Armenian State Philharmonic. In previous seasons he has also conducted orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic and worked with soloists such as Thomas Hampson, James Ehnes, Wu Wei and Camille Thomas.
Equally at home in the operatic repertoire, 2024/25 will be his fourth season as Music Director of Oxford Opera, with whom he has conducted several productions including Tosca, La Traviata and Die Zauberflöte. He has also conducted at Glyndebourne, Palau de les Arts Valencia, Opéra National de Paris, and as a frequent guest conductor with Spectra Ensemble. With the latter he has put a special emphasis on underperformed operas by women composers such as Ethel Smyth and Amy Beach.
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His pioneering work with Orchestra for the Earth, which he founded in 2017, takes him around Europe with a wide variety of concerts that bring together music and nature, collaborating with leading artists, scientists and charities to raise awareness about the climate and environmental crises.
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A committed advocate of contemporary music, John has been invited to commission and conduct world premieres at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Het Concertgebouw and, most recently, a week-long residency at the Beijing Music Festival which included four world premieres and five Chinese premieres of contemporary classics by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Huang Ruo, Sir George Benjamin and Messiaen.
John honed his craft as assistant to many of the world’s leading conductors, such as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Karina Canellakis, Robin Ticciati and Edward Gardner, working with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Dresden Staatskapelle, Wiener Symphoniker, Les Siècles and others.
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He studied music at the University of Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours in 2016 and an MSt with Distinction in 2017. He also writes on music, with frequent publications in the Wagner Journal and an upcoming book published by Routledge. He is a regular guest lecturer at the Curtis Institute and Johns Hopkins University in the US.
