Our finale episode wouldn’t be complete without our special guest mentor and we’re delighted to welcome conductor Richard Davis!

Richard is Chief Conductor and Head of Orchestral Studies at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He has been a regular conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and has conducted televised BBC Proms performances at the Royal Albert Hall. His recent conducting engagements have included concerts with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  

Richard is Chief Conductor and Head of Orchestral Studies at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He has been a regular conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and has conducted televised BBC Proms performances at the Royal Albert Hall. His recent conducting engagements have included concerts with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  

He is known for his wide-ranging repertoire and is equally at home conducting the symphonies of Shostakovich and Mahler as he is performing world premieres and recording television soundtracks. 

Richard is also in great demand accompanying chart-topping groups such as The 1975 (which received the BBC Music Award for ‘Best Live Performance of 2016’) and Clean Bandit (with whom he produced a Warner Music CD and DVD (New Eyes) that stayed in the top 40 UK Album Charts for months).  Richard has also worked with Oscar-winning and Gravity composer Steve Price to produce a WWI video (Poppies) which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2015.  

In 2010, Richard stepped into an indisposed conductor’s shoes and conducted the BBC Philharmonic with only a few hours’ notice. The live broadcasted concert resulted in praise from the press – being described as “an exemplary conductor’ in Ariel magazine – letters of admiration from listeners along with much additional conducting work.   

  Richard’s book: Becoming an Orchestral Musician – A Guide for Aspiring Professionals (published by Faber) sells world-wide and has been described as ‘an unbeatable-value master class’ (Classical Music Magazine) containing ‘brilliance and honesty on every page’ (Pan Magazine) covering a ‘down-to-earth, informative introduction to life as a professional musician’ (Daily Telegraph).   

Richard is also in great demand accompanying chart-topping groups such as The 1975 (which received the BBC Music Award for ‘Best Live Performance of 2016’) and Clean Bandit (with whom he produced a Warner Music CD and DVD (New Eyes) that stayed in the top 40 UK Album Charts for months).  Richard has also worked with Oscar-winning and Gravity composer Steve Price to produce a WWI video (Poppies) which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2015.  

 In 2010, Richard stepped into an indisposed conductor’s shoes and conducted the BBC Philharmonic with only a few hours’ notice. The live broadcasted concert resulted in praise from the press – being described as “an exemplary conductor’ in Ariel magazine – letters of admiration from listeners along with much additional conducting work.   

Richard’s book: Becoming an Orchestral Musician – A Guide for Aspiring Professionals (published by Faber) sells world-wide and has been described as ‘an unbeatable-value master class’ (Classical Music Magazine) containing ‘brilliance and honesty on every page’ (Pan Magazine) covering a ‘down-to-earth, informative introduction to life as a professional musician’ (Daily Telegraph).   

Richard is also known as a flute player – having played as Principal Flute with the BBC Philharmonic for over 30 years. He premiered flute concertos by Bernstein and Maxwell-Davies, recorded and performed solo recitals many times on national and international broadcasts and won 1^st prize in international solo competitions. 

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