Young British conductor Harry Ogg will be joining the Welsh National Opera (WNO) as associate conductor this summer, the Cardiff-based opera company has revealed. The post is in collaboration with the Donatella Flick-LSO Conducting Competition; Harry reached the final of the competition in London in 2018. He also won second prize at the MDR Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition in Leipzig 2018 and was selected for the Deutsche Dirigentenforum the same year.

Harry’s first engagement as associate conductor will be to conduct the WNO orchestra for three Summer Opera Classic concerts which will take place in Swansea, Newport and Newtown. He worked with the company in autumn 2018 when he assisted Music Director Tomáš Hanus on a new production of War and Peace (Prokofiev, 1946). This autumn, Harry will again work alongside Tomáš on WNO’s new production of Bizet’s Carmen (1875).

Harry commented: “I’m over the moon to be taking up this position with WNO. Having worked here on two productions as an assistant conductor, to take up this position with a company that I feel so close to is very special for me. Young conductors often struggle to find the right opportunities to build up experience (you can’t ‘practise’ at home in the same way an instrumentalist can) and within this position I’ll be conducting a lot of performances as well as assisting, as I already have done in the past. I find the musicians, directors, singers, music staff and technical staff at WNO truly inspiring. I can’t think of a better place to grow and develop.”

WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus added: “Having worked with Harry Ogg last year on War and Peace, I am thrilled with his appointment as WNO associate conductor. I am really looking forward to working with Harry again this coming autumn on WNO’s new production of Carmen.”

Harry is the second young conductor to take up this role at WNO, following in the footsteps of Kerem Hasan. Last year Kerem assisted maestro Carlo Rizzi on a new production of La forza del destino (Verdi, 1862), conducting a performance of the opera in Plymouth. Such was the success of his tenure that he will return to the WNO in 2020 to conduct The Barber of Seville (Rossini, 1816).

 

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Young Brit Harry Ogg has been appointed the Welsh National Opera’s associate conductor.