Dr James Ross - Music Director
James Ross studied at London’s Southbank International School and won scholarships to Harrow School in London and Christ Church at Oxford University, where he studied Modern History, then Music as a postgraduate; his doctorate on French Opera, Politics and the Press was awarded Oxford’s prestigious Sir Donald Tovey Prize. He studied violin, viola and singing, gained extensive orchestral and chamber music experience and was a 1998 BBC Philharmonic Conducting Competition finalist. Since then he has conducted in nineteen countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. UK performances include at The Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Symphony Hall Birmingham, state occasions in Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II, and Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre, for whose 350th anniversary concert he conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
In the UK, in addition to Haslemere Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, he is artistic director of Kent Sinfonia, and music director of Sidcup Symphony Orchestra, King's College London Symphony Orchestra, Welwyn Garden City Orchestra and Chorus, Bridgnorth Sinfonia. As Artistic Advisor of The Commonwealth Resounds, he has conducted The Commonwealth Festival Orchestra in the UK, Malta and Sri Lanka, including the first orchestral performance at Colombo’s Nelum Pokuna Theatre, concerts and tours in Turkey and Uganda.
He has conducted more than 1,000 works including the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Tchaikovsky, operas by Bizet, Britten, Janačék, Mozart, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Wagner, and many ballet scores. Singers with whom he has worked include Sir Thomas Allen, Janice Watson, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Olga Borodina and the UK National Opera Studio.
As a contemporary music conductor, his numerous first performances include collaborations with the City of London Sinfonia and Arts Council, at London’s Saatchi Gallery with Philharmonia Orchestra members, and opera productions for the US Center for Contemporary Opera in Milan and New York.
James Ross also has extensive business experience as director of classical music consultancy Ulysses Arts, which provides strategy advice, due diligence, label services to venues, orchestras, soloists and record companies. Clients include Apple, Deutsche Grammophon, the Berliner Philharmoniker, L’Orchestre de Paris, L’Orchestre national de Lille, 21C Media Group, New York's Juilliard School of Music, Meyer Sound Laboratories, Barbican Centre, Nimbus Records and Afghanistan National Institute of Music.
As a guest speaker, James Ross lectured at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; he has taught at Oxford University and contributed to books and journals, especially on French music and culture. He has helped raise over £1 million performing for charities, including conducting English National Ballet in aid of Save The Children’s work with refugees from Syria. He is a UK Incorporated Society of Musicians Fellow, and on the Board of Directors of The Commonwealth Human Ecology Council.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, James Ross produced more than 30 recordings for Ulysses Arts, conducted a televised concert broadcast and recording in Istanbul with the Büyükada Ensemble; in 2021 he led the Ankara City Philharmonic Orchestra’s inaugural concert at the new Presidential Symphony Hall.
www.james-ross.com
www.facebook.com/james.ross.conductor
Tom Horn - Orchestra Leader
Tom began learning the violin from the age of three and through his early years played with various youth Orchestras in Kent, Channel Islands and in London. Most notably leading the London Schools Symphony Orchestra which enabled him to work with world-renowned artists such as Thomas Sanderling, Alexandre Markov and Robbie Coltrane. He then went on to study music and acoustics at Southampton University and became heavily involved in the music scene around the city as well as setting up the Concerto Ensemble to direct and founding the Charity Symphony Orchestra.
Since leaving University Tom has forged a career as a violinist and conductor working for the Buckinghamshire Music Trust and is Musical Director of the Farnborough Concert Orchestra, The Marlow Orchestra, Buckinghamshire County Youth Orchestra, Slough Youth Orchestra and Aylesbury Youth & Training Orchestras.
As a soloist, Tom has performed a number of works with various orchestras including all the Vivaldi Seasons, the Lark Ascending by Vaughn Williams, Schindler’s List by John Williams, Tzigane by Ravel, Mendelssohn concerto, Scottish Fantasy and Concerto No1 by Bruch and Mozart Concerto No.5. He has performed at a number of high profile events and engagements to members of Parliament, prime ministers and royalty.
His music making has enabled him to perform and conduct at prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Royal Festival Hall and has taken him all across Europe, Japan and the US. He has studied a broad spectrum of musical styles from Baroque to Jazz and has worked with high calibre musicians such as David Owen Norris, Michael Finnissy, Nicola Benedetti and Freddy Kempf.
Thomas Lydon - Chorus Master
Thomas Lydon has worked with choirs and orchestras across the South East, including the Petersfield Choir, the Waverley Ensemble, the Southdowns Camerata and the Harlequin Chamber Choir.
He specialises in choral training and is a regular arranger for the Novello Choral Pops series. He is a keen singer and has made regular appearances as a bass with the Choir of Chichester Cathedral. He is a long-time choral music editor, having held senior editorial positions at Hal Leonard and Oxford University Press.
He is delighted to be working with Haslemere Musical Society at the beginning of its second century.
Clive Osgood - Assistant Chorus Master and Rehearsal Accompanist
live was born and raised in Portsmouth. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Music at the University of Wales and was then awarded an organ scholarship at Salisbury Cathedral. He completed a second Master’s degree in composition at the University of Surrey, Guildford and is an associate of the Royal College of Organists. He is currently the Director of Music and Organist at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew’s in Haslemere and teaches music at Reed’s School, Cobham. He is heavily involved with amateur music making within his local community, directing and accompanying various choirs as well as playing in chamber groups. Clive has written music in a variety of forms including chamber and orchestral music, as well as musicals and opera, although sacred choral music provides the largest part of his output. www.cliveosgood.com
