Chris Hopkins - Conductor

Chris Hopkins

Conductor and pianist Chris Hopkins is enjoying a busy season working on a wide range of projects, with opera and symphony concerts alongside concertos, solo and chamber recitals. Following from the success of his ENO debut last season conducting Cal McCrystal’s Iolanthe, this season he returns to conduct Simon McBurney’s production of Magic Flute and again in 2019/20 at the London Coliseum, alongside work at Garsington Opera, other ENO productions and concerts at Cadogan Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John’s, Smith Square and others. Previously he has worked with WNO, NI Opera, Holland Park Opera, Wide Open Opera, Opera Danube, OTC Ireland, and performed at venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, in the US, Asia and extensively in Europe as well as live and recorded appearances on BBC 1, Radio 3 and Radio 4.

Chris is Music Director of Hampstead Garden Opera, with whom he conducted Cimarosa’s The Secret Marriage last November to great critical acclaim. He also continues into an tenth season as Musical Director of Orchestra of the City with whom he has conducted a vast array of works from standard symphonic repertoire to world premiere commissions, with soloists including Guy Johnston, Min Kym, Mary Bevan, Ivana Gavric, Josef Spacek, Daniel Hope, Thomas Gould and Charlie Siem, this season continuing their residency at St James Piccadily alongside appearances in Tribe International Art Festival and elsewhere. He continues to be in demand with a wide range of ensembles including at Presteigne Festival, London Mozart Orchestra, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Blaze Ensemble and has had the pleasure of premiering works by composers including Colin Matthews, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, David Matthews, Thomas Hyde, Detlev Glanert, Gilad Hochman and the Pet Shop Boys.

Chris is currently a member of the permanent music staff at English National Opera and with this company and others has been assistant conductor to Mark Wigglesworth, David Parry, Sir Charles Mackerras, Ryan Wigglesworth, Trevor Pinnock, William Lacey, Jane Glover, Christian Curnyn, Dominic Wheeler on a wide range of productions.

As a pianist, Chris has played for audiences around the world, performing solo and chamber music in New York, Japan, Singapore, Europe and London as well working with orchestras in a range of concertos, from Bach to Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven (complete) Shostakovich and Gershwin; recently he has performed Mozart 15, 16, 19, 22, 23 and 24, Brahms 1, Rachmaninoff 2 and Prokofiev 3.

Chris was honoured in 2013 to be made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

To find out more about Chris, please visit his website.