Toby Purser’s conducting is distinguished by its exceptional stylistic versatility, and  a thrilling combination of passion and musical intelligence. Equally at home in symphonic, contemporary and operatic repertoire, his work also encompasses film music programmes and inter-cultural collaborations.  Toby is Artistic Director of the Peace and Prosperity Trust which supports charitable projects for young artists in the Middle East.

Head of Conducting at London’s Royal College of Music, he is also recognised as a leading pedagogue and mentor in the conducting community. He launched  ‘Conductors in Isolation’ during the Covid Pandemic, an online forum which now has over 1,800 members worldwide.

Symphonic work

He has received guest invitations from UK orchestras including Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and London Concert Orchestra, amongst many others. He founded the Orion Orchestra in 2005, and remains their Principal Guest Conductor.

For Raymond Gubbay Ltd, he regularly conducts Christmas at the Movies, Zimmer vs Williams,  and The Music of the Lord of the Rings and Beyond at all the leading UK concert venues. Recent international work has included his debut in China with the Chengdu Symphony Orchestra, in Mexico with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Sonora, and the Kenyan premier of Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the Nairobi Symphony Orchestra. He also conducted the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Maxim Vengerov for a public masterclass and concert at the RCM, and recorded the songs of Ernest Kaye with the Britten Sinfonia.

Operatic work

As well as invitations from English National Opera and Opéra National de Paris, other recent work has also included the UK première of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers for Opera della Luna; Belle Lurette for New Sussex Opera; and a second CD, Passione, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and tenor Jesús León.

His operatic collaborations have been nominated for an Olivier Award (Best New Opera Production - Britten The Turn of the Screw with ENO/Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and an International Opera Award (Best Rediscovered Work - Stanford The Travelling Companion with New Sussex Opera).

In 2019 he was invited to be musical director of the Vienna Opera Festival and Academy, conducting performances at the Vienna Musikverein. He is music director of New Sussex Opera, with whom he conducted Stanford’s The Travelling Companion, Offenbach’s La Belle Helène and two further Offenbach rarities: The Princess of Trebizonde and Belle Lurette. Next season will see the UK premiere of Saint-Saëns’ first opera,The Silver Bell.

As principal guest conductor for Opera della Luna, he has conducted productions including TheDaughter of the Regiment, Orpheus in the Underworld, and Johann Strauss’s The Queen’s Lace Handkerchief. He has also conducted La Bohème, Fidelio and Hänsel und Gretel for Lyric Opera, Ireland, and the world premiere of A Feast in the Time of Plague for Grange Park Opera

For further information and full biography, please contact James Black Manangement here.