Martyn Brabbins

British conductor Martyn Brabbins is Chief Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic (from 2013) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. He was previously Artistic Director of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music 2005-2007 and Associate Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 1994-2005.

Brabbins is known for his affinity with music of the late 19th/early 20th centuries, to which he brings a Romantic sensibility, unerring sense of pace and an extraordinary ear for detail. He is also closely associated with British music, and has conducted hundreds of world premieres and has close links with many of today’s foremost composers.

Recent highlights have included his début with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; the First Night of the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony (shared with Elder, Norrington and Gardner); a world premiere by Christian Jost at the Flemish Opera; a rare staging of Vaughan Williams’ A Pilgrim’s Progress at English National Opera; a Brahms cycle in Japan, and Elgar with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester.

Brabbins has conducted several times at the Netherlands Opera, Frankfurt and Hamburg Operas and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2013 marks his début at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

He has an extensive discography of works ranging from Romantic to contemporary repertoire, winning awards such as the Gramophone Award and the Cannes Opera Award. He has recorded over 30 discs with the BBC Scottish Symphony on Hyperion, who also released his ground-breaking performance of Havergal Brian’s Gothic Symphony live from the 2011 BBC Proms.