Michael England

Michael England has established a reputation as a highly versatile conductor of an extremely wide repertory, including ballet, classical, film, musical theatre and live television. He made his ballet debut with Shanghai Ballet, conducting their new production of Hamlet, choreographed by Derek Deane, for which he created the score, adapting and orchestrating music by Tchaikovsky.   Hamlet was awarded a gold medal at the 2016 Chinese Lotus Awards, the highest honour given in China for dance productions.   Michael has since returned to them to conduct revivals of Hamlet, as well as productions of Romeo & Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and their new production of The Lady of the Camellias.  He returned to them in April 2023 to conduct the world premiere of Le Fantôme de l’Opéra,  with a new score by Carl Davis OBE.

He has worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as cover conductor on the Royal Ballet productions of The Rite of Spring, Giselle, Chroma, Concerto, Monotones, The Judas Tree, La Valse, The Human Seasons and Marguerite & Armand, working under both Koen Kessels  and Barry Wordsworth.  Within musical theatre, in London’s West End and internationally, he has been Musical Director for productions of Les Misérables; The Phantom of the Opera; Jerry Springer – The Opera (also BBC TV); The Sound of Music; Miss Saigon; Top Hat; The Producers; Monty Python’s Spamalot; Cats and Evita.   He was invited to conduct the opening weeks of Cameron Mackintosh’s new 25th anniversary production of Les Misérables; for which he conducted the live cast album and he also worked on the 2012 film.  He was also Music Supervisor for The Theatre Channel,  recording and filming content for online streaming during the pandemic, for which he supervised over sixty recordings of West End Performers. During 2020/21 lockdowns he was asked to be on an online mentor for the Mercury Creatives, supporting and guiding young artists in Essex.

Television includes work as conductor and orchestrator for the live broadcast of BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017, and he was Musical Director for the UK television premiere, The Sound of Music – Live, broadcast on ITV television.    He has conducted concert performances of movies with live orchestra for screenings of Love Actually,  Joker, and The Holiday.  His radio broadcasts include conducting Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night, with programmes ranging from film music to an evening devoted to Tchaikovsky.  Michael also conducted the UK debut concert performance of George Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing at the Royal Festival Hall. Michael has composed music for the Royal Ballet’s Draft Works (Clore Studio) and New Works (Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House).  For Deaf Men Dancing he has created sound design and electronic compositions for Rosa (Sadler’s Wells), See Hear, Exceptional & Extraordinary (UK Tour), and is currently working on a new project entitled Hut 8 based on the work of Alan Turing.  He has composed various choral pieces, including a 40 minute Requiem. In addition to this Michael was commissioned by the Royal Ballet School to compose a traditional 40-minute classical ballet, La Destinée,  which premiered on the main stage at the Royal Opera House.

He has conducted many of the top UK orchestras including the Philharmonia (at Buckingham Palace in the presence of the then HRH, The Prince of Wales), City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Royal Philharmonic Concert, BBC Concert, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Orchestra of Opera North, National Symphony Orchestra.  International engagements include the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Slovenia Radio Symphony, Stockholm Sinfonietta and the Estonian Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta.  He made his debut with the NDR Radio Philharmonie recording a CD of film music, which was released in February 2020 on Sony Music and nominated for an Opus Klassik award.  In June 2023 he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra for the opening classical concert of the London BST Hyde Park season.  

In December 2023 he made his debut with the London Philharmonic at the Royal Festival Hall, as well as conducting the Philharmonia in Christmas concerts and a film gala with Mark Kermode and the CBSO. Next season he makes his debut at the Goteborg Opera in their new production of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Last year also saw him conduct Derek Deane’s Strictly Gershwin with the Queensland Ballet and he does the same with Tulsa Ballet in 2024. He will also return to the Royal Festival Hall for the AEG Christmas Series, as well as returning to the CBSO, RPOCO, RSNO and RNS.