Sherborne
Summer School of Music
2024
John Gibbons’ biography
John Gibbons works with most major British orchestras including the BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras, the Philharmonia, LPO, CBSO, Bournemouth, Royal Scottish National, Ulster, and RPO with whom he conducted the first Classic FM ‘Hall of Fame’ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. He is Music Director of Worthing Symphony Orchestra - the professional orchestra of West Sussex as well as Northampton Symphony Orchestra, Ealing Symphony Orchestra and St Albans Chamber Choir.
He studied music at Queens’ College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music winning numerous awards as a conductor, pianist and accompanist. John is also a composer and arranger with notable performances in both St Albans Abbey and Clifton Cathedral. He assisted John Eliot Gardiner on the Beethoven ‘Leonore’ project and the Philips recording of music by Percy Grainger and was second conductor to Leonard Slatkin for Ives’ Fourth Symphony with the Concertgebouw and various conductors at the Royal Opera House.
Renowned for his adventurous programming, John has given many world and UK premieres of both new pieces and neglected works. He has several discs to his name including music by Skalkottas, Wordsworth, Arnold, Bruckner, Mozart and Benjamin and has also recorded several film scores and conducted numerous operas for Opera Holland Park, the Spier Festival in South Africa, the WNO, Opera Northern Ireland & Opera Theatre Company and ETO.
Well known as a communicator, John is a Fellow of the Royal College of Arts and Vice Chairman of the British Music Society.