George Vass

The respected British conductor George Vass studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music and made his professional debut in 1979. He was appointed artistic director of the Presteigne Festival in 1992 and has since appeared at many major British venues and festivals, notably with Orchestra Nova and Nova Music Opera. He also served as artistic director of the Hampstead & Highgate Festival (2004–2009).

Vass has appeared as a guest conductor with leading ensembles, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and the Ulster Orchestra, as well as international groups such as the Malmö Opera Orchestra. He has also collaborated with a number of well-known choirs—Bath Camerata and the choirs of Royal Holloway, King’s College London, and Merton College Oxford—and has conducted broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and Channel 4 television.

As founder and artistic director of Nova Music Opera, Vass has championed and premiered works by composers such as Sally Beamish, Charlotte Bray, Thomas Hyde, Cecilia McDowall, Joseph Phibbs, and Julian Philips, in addition to productions of *Curlew River* and *Sāvitri*. In 2025, he conducted the world premiere of Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade’s *Scenes from Under Milk Wood* at the Spitalfields Festival in London.

As a dedicated champion of new music, he received a BASCA Gold Badge (2017) and the Leslie Boosey Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society (2025) in recognition of his support for living composers.

His extensive discography includes chamber opera, orchestral, and choral music, released on labels such as BIS, Lyrita, Naxos, SOMM, and Resonus Classics. Recent and upcoming projects include Cecilia McDowall’s *Da Vinci Requiem* with the Choir of King’s College, London, and concerts featuring works by Hamilton Harty and E.J. Moeran with violinist Mathilde Milwidsky and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Vass is an ‘Associate’ of the Royal Academy of Music and received the BAFA Exceptional Service Award in 2018, as well as the Welsh Music Guild’s 2023 John Edwards Memorial Award for his contributions to Welsh music. He is also a board member of the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain.