ARTIST PROFILE:
Alexander Shelley

‘A natural communicator, both on and off the podium’ (The Daily Telegraph), Alexander Shelley performs across six continents with the world’s finest orchestras and soloists. With a conducting technique described as ‘immaculate’ (Yorkshire Post) and with a ‘precision, distinction and beauty of gesture not seen since Lorin Maazel’ (Le Devoir), Alexander is known for the clarity and integrity of his interpretations and for the creativity and vision of his programming. To date he has spearheaded over 40 major world premieres, highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms symphonies, operas, ballets and innovative multi-media productions.

Shelley’s eight-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony, which concluded in 2017, was hailed by press and audience alike as a golden era for the orchestra, and in September 2015 Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the youngest in its history. Together they have toured Canada, Europe and to Carnegie Hall, commissioned dozens of new works, ground-breaking multi-media projects and built an extensive body of JUNO-nominated recordings.

Since 2015 Shelley has also served as Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, curating an annual series of concerts at Cadogan Hall and touring both nationally and internationally. In addition to his roles in the UK and Canada, Alexander was in 2023 appointed Artistic and Music Director of Artis−Naples in Florida, USA, which will see him provide artistic leadership for Naples Philharmonic, as well as for the entire multidisciplinary arts organisation.

Winner of both the ECHO prize and the Deutsche Grunderpreis, Alexander was in April 2023 conferred with the Cross of the Federal Order of Merit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in recognition of his services to music and culture. Born in London in October 1979 to celebrated concert pianists, Alexander studied cello and conducting in Germany and first gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors’ Competition.