Oliver Gooch

Representation: General Management

Oliver Gooch is one of an exciting generation of young conductors.  In 2004 he was appointed Assistant Conductor on the Royal Opera House Young Artists Programme in a post specially created for him.

He was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and trained at the 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 the prestigious Clore Fellowship for the East of England, a programme designed to nurture new generation of cultural leaders.

In 1999 he founded Opera East Productions as its Artistic Director, a company described in the national press as, ‘deserving to be an opera company of national significance.’ With the company he has toured the East of England and beyond, including Britten’s chamber operas, Mozart’s da Ponte operas and others including The Rake's Progress for which he received a top rating in The Guardian.

He made his USA debut in 2008 with Dicapo Opera in the New York premiere of Conrad Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons. He was immediately re-engaged to conduct the US premiere of Janacek’s Sarka. He also enjoys regular collaborations with American Opera Projects, New York.  He works regularly in the UK with the leading opera companies including the Royal Opera (Peter Grimes, Werther, La Rondine, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La Boheme, Macbeth, The Bartered Bride, La Traviata, Il re pastore, Tosca, Bluebeard's Castle/ Erwartung, Il Trovatore); Glyndebourne Festival (Chorus Master Fairy Queen, Assistant to Sir Charles Mackerras Die Zauberflõte); Glyndebourne on Tour (Le nozze di Figaro, Albert Herring); Opera North (I Capuleti, The Adventures of Mr Broucek); Royal Ballet (Enigma Variations and Rite of Spring).

For the summer festivals, he has conducted for the Buxton Festival (Riders to the Sea, Savitri and The Wandering Scholar); for Iford Festival Opera (Rusalka, Lucia di Lammermoor, Eugene Onegin); for Stanley Hall Opera (Giorno di regno, L’elisir d’amore).

Forthcoming engagements include Don Giovanni (Teatro Sociale di Como), Rigoletto (Iford Arts), Carmen (Raymond Gubbay/02 Arena), Madama Butterfly (Raymond Gubbay/RAH), Heart of Darkness (ROH2/Linbury Theatre with Britten Sinfonia).  Concert engagements include Mahler’s Fourth Symphony (Philharmonia Orchestra), Southbank Sinfonia and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House on the main stage.

Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to ensure you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Ruth Connelly