Philip Ellis (Principal Conductor)
Philip Ellis is Associate Conductor of the English Sinfonia, a regular guest conductor with the Hallé and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, and staff conductor for Birmingham Royal Ballet. He has conducted West Forest Sinfonia since 1989. In 1991 he won the Leeds Conductors' Competition, having previously won all the major conducting prizes at the Royal Academy of Music.
Philip Ellis has worked frequently with the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, English Northern Philharmonia, City of London Sinfonia and Brighton Philharmonic.
After a debut with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1987, his work abroad has included the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Turin Opera Orchestra and the Jersey Symphony Orchestra, where he has been Principal Conductor since 1995. He has conducted the BRT Philharmonic (Brussels) on many occasions for both radio and television. He is now a regular guest conductor with the National Orchestra of Mexico and the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen with whom he made his German debut in 1996.
He has recorded CDs with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and the Britten-Pears Ensemble, and has made a number of radio and television broadcasts for the BBC.
Levon Parikian (Guest Conductor)
Levon Parikian trained at the Royal Academy of Music, and worked for
ten years as a freelance timpanist and percussionist. He played with many leading
ensembles and orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth
Sinfonietta, Glyndebourne Touring Opera and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1997, Levon went to Russia to study conducting with Ilya Musin at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, having already studied with George Hurst, Michael Rose, and David Parry. Since his return from Russia, Levon has pursued a freelance conducting career. He currently holds Principal Conductor posts with several London-based orchestras, and is Chief Guest Conductor of the City of Oxford Orchestra.
He was recently appointed conductor of the Royal College of Music Junior Sinfonia, Artistic Director of the Rehearsal Orchestra, and Visiting Guest Conductor at Royal Holloway University of London. Levon has also worked with, among others, European Chamber Opera and the English Sinfonia.
Levon has been Assistant Conductor on recordings with the Philharmonia and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and also to Sir Simon Rattle in the Rehearsal Orchestra's weekend on Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.
Alexander Walker (Guest Conductor)
Alexander Walker studied at Bristol University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before spending two years as a pupil of Ilya Musin at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. In 1998, he took part in the final of the BBC Young Conductor of the Year competition.
Alexander has worked extensively in the former Soviet Union where his concerts have been broadcast on radio and television. He is principal guest conductor of the Voronezh State Symphony Orchestra in Russia and conducted the Belarussian National Philharmonic in the first performance in Belarus of Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations. He is a regular guest conductor in Finland, Poland and Denmark, and last season conducted La traviata and Swan Lake in the Ukrainian National Opera in Odessa.
In the UK, Alexander works regularly for the Royal Ballet, and has also conducted the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, English Touring Opera and Dartington Festival Opera. He is music director of Daventry Choral Society and has conducted the London Symphony Chorus and the New London Children's Choir.
Plans for this season include concerts with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra as well as completing a CD of British music with the Mikkeli City Orchestra, Finland for Alba Records.