Oliver Gooch
(Conductor)
Oliver Gooch is rapidly establishing a reputation as a gifted and versatile young conductor, equally at home in both the symphonic and operatic repertoire. He served his apprenticeship as a protégé of the late Sir Charles Mackerras, and as a Young Artist at the Royal Opera House in a post created for him by Antonio Pappano. Since then, he has enjoyed collaborations with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Opera House, Royal Ballet, Opera North, Glyndebourne, Northern Sinfonia, Sinfonia ViVA, and the RPO. Also a keen exponent of contemporary music, recent engagements include the Red Note Ensemble, Scotland’s leading contemporary music group (nominated for a Creative Scotland Award) and CHROMA at the Linbury Theatre (nominated for a Sky Arts South Bank Award).
Oliver balances his orchestral engagements with extensive work in opera, on both sides of the Atlantic. He made his New York debut in 2008 with the première of Conrad Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons for Dicapo Opera, and returned for the US premiere of Janacek’s Šárka. In Europe, he made his Italian debut in Cremona with Die Zauberflöte, and subsequently toured Lombardy with Don Giovanni for AsLico. In the UK, he came to attention as Founder Artistic Director of Opera East Productions, most recently giving the world première of O’Regan’s Heart of Darkness for ROH2. Other engagements include Haydn’s L’isola disabitata for the Royal Opera’s inaugural tour of Australia (nominated for a Helpmann Award), Madama Butterfly and Carmen (Raymond Gubbay); Riders to the Sea, Savitri, The Wandering Scholar (Buxton Festival); and Musical Director of Ilford Festival Opera since 2005.
Forthcoming projects include Messiah (London Chorus/Royal Festival Hall), La Boheme (Lucca, Italy and Raymond Gubbay), Noye’s Fludde (Mid Wales Opera and Music at Bray), Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Little Sweep (OEP), concert engagements with the Philharmonia, English Chamber Orchestra and RPO. This season also saw his debut with the Hallé in Bridgewater Hall.
Oliver Gooch received his training at Cambridge University, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. He studied conducting at the Tanglewood Festival under Robert Spano and Seiji Ozawa, and was subsequently nominated for the prestigious Rolex/Mentor Protégé Arts Initiative in Geneva, under Sir Colin Davis. In 2006 he was awarded a prestigious Clore Fellowship, a programme designed to nurture new generation of cultural leader. In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and he is a Faculty member of both the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy and L’Accademia Europea dell’Opera.
Future engagements include performances of Messiah and Fauré’s Requiem for Raymond Gubbay Ltd.
