Kevin Griffiths

Kevin Griffiths is an exciting young conductor, born in 1978 in London. He has already experienced conducting professional orchestras including the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Vidin Philharmonic, Kammerphilharmonie Westfalen, Zurich Chamber Orchestra and La Camerata Strumentale - Citta di Prato. He is principal conductor and co-founder of “The London Steve Reich Ensemble”. Together they have performed in Holland, London and Zurich. Recently they have recorded their first CD of Reich’s music , which will be released in 2007 by the German label CPO.

Kevin enjoys performing contemporary music and has personally worked with composers such as Rudolph Schacher, Luigi Laveglia and Elena Firsova. In summer 2006 he conducted five first performances at the Dartington Summer Festival with great success. Other well-known artists he has worked with include Boris Pergamenschikov, Ricardo Castro, Dmitri Ashkenazy, the Tecchler Trio and the Dante Quartet. In the year 2001 he founded his own orchestra, “Ensemble Classique” which toured Japan in 2004; one of the concerts in Tokyo was dedicated to the Aichi World Exhibition in the presence of Joseph Deiss, the then President of the confederation of Switzerland. Having conducted and narrated concerts for young people with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, performing Beethoven with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, and several New Year concerts with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, he has been invited back for future concerts with all three Orchestras.

Kevin has lived in Switzerland and London. He completed his education as a violinist with Adelina Oprean (teaching diploma), Igor Ozim and Giuliano Carmignola (Concert Diploma, PGdip). He then received his first conducting lessons from Howard Griffiths, assisted him on various occasions and participated in several master classes such as the “Accademia Musicale Chigiana” in Siena, the “Vienna Master classes” and worked with the conductors Sir Colin Davis, Jorma Panula, Lothar Zagrosek, George Hurst, Julius Rudel (opera). In September 2003 he was one of the finalists of the first “Orpheum Conductors Master class” in Zurich, and was given the opportunity to conduct the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in the Tonhalle, Zurich.

In addition to his father, major influences in his development as a conductor were studying with David Zinman, who awarded him a fellowship for the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2004 and 2005, and Colin Metters, with whom he has been studying at the Royal Academy of Music on the Postgraduate Conductors course since 2004. After successfully graduating at the Royal Academy of Music, Kevin takes up his new position as a Junior Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in September 2007. He will be conducting the RNCM Symphony and Chamber Orchestra and the New Ensemble as well as Opera productions and, while receiving tuition from Mark Elder, he has the opportunity to work with orchestras such as the Hallé Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and the Northern Sinfonia. He is excited to have the chance to conduct the opening Musique-Cordiale Festival concert featuring an ensemble of singers, soloists and chamber orchestra. He will also play the violin in the orchestra of the Ensemble Cordial during the grand choral concerts when Errol Girdlestone takes over the baton.