Justin Doyle bio 2018
Justin Doyle is Chief Conductor and artistic director of the RIAS Kammerchor, Berlin. Born in Lancaster, England, Justin’s musical education began as achorister at Westminster Cathedral, and a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge. He won second prize in the prestigious Cadaqués Orchestra ConductingCompetition and was awarded the first Conductor Fellowship with the BBC Singers, with whom he continues to work.
A regular guest conductor with Opera North, other recent engagements have included concerts with the Orchestra of Opera North, Royal Northern Sinfonia, HalléOrchestra, AkademiefürAlteMusik Berlin, King’s Camerata, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, New London Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Sinfonia of Leeds,and Jersey Chamber Orchestra.
Justin has beenArtistic Director of the Ryedale Festival and Swaledale Festival, and Principal Conductor /Musical Director of ensembles such as the University ofManchester Chorus, Haffner Orchestra, Essex Symphony Orchestra and Manchester Chamber Choir. His broad musical tastes have also led him to work with periodinstrument ensembles, collaborate with musicians from other cultures, arrange folk music from all over the world and conduct live orchestral film scores. He hasrecently been appointed Gastprofessor in Choral Conducting at the HochschulefürMusikHannsEisler (Berlin), and his previous involvement in musical educationincludes the directorships of the Young Sinfonia (the youth orchestra of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Sage Gateshead) and Opera North Children’s Chorus; in 2018 he workswith the young singers of Genesis Sixteen.
Justin is also in demand as a conductor of opera, in particular the works of Mozart (‘an evening of almost unadulterated Mozartian bliss’Così fan tutte/ Operamagazine), Haydn (‘hard to imagine this fizzing piece ever being better done’L’infedeltàdelusa/ The Independent) and Britten (‘Justin Doyle and the Opera NorthOrchestra work wonders to dispatch Britten’s mischievous and miraculous chamber score with pungency and precision’Albert Herring/ The Times). He conductedBellini’sI Capuleti e I Montecchiat Buxton in 2016 (‘The Northern Chamber Orchestra under Justin Doyle gave the best performance I’ve heard from them at Buxton;Doyle brought out the best in them’ / Bachtrack), returning last year to conduct Britten’sAlbert Herring(‘…a super performance under the baton of Justin Doyle’ / Mark Ronan Theatre Reviews).
His work as Chief Conductor of RIAS Kammerchor began with a critically acclaimed debut at the new Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin (MonteverdiVespersandMissa ‘In illotempore’) and other highlights of this season have included MacMillan, Victoria, Bach and Henze at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and PoulencFigure Humaineat thePhilharmonie Berlin. This year also sees Justin direct the choir in recordings of Britten and Haydn for Harmonia Mundi, concerts throughout Europe and a major tour ofJapan. Future engagements away from the RIAS Kammerchor include PurcellDido and Aeneaswith the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, and Rossini’s ‘Fantasio' at Garsington Opera.