Jonathan Butcher

Jonathan Butcher has gained an enviable reputation as both a veratile and sensitive conductor. He has appeared at all the major London concert venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, South Bank, Barbican and St. John's Smith Square and has conducted orchestras including the London Mozart Players, the English Symphony Orchestra, the New London Orchestra and the Guildford Philharmonic. Jonathan has worked with many soloists of international repute, including Dame Moura Lympany, Steven Isserlis, Marissa Robles, Julian Lloyd Webber and Peter Katin. Abroad he has worked with the Promenade Orchestra of Radio Hilversum, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinlandplatz, the National Orchestra of Malta and has conducted 2 Hoffnung concerts in Munich as well as six New Year concerts in and around Ludwigshaven, Germany. He has returned there recently to conduct a concert of film music with the renowned Jazz Singer Jocelyn B. Smith.

Jonathan is equally at home with the symphonic, operatic, choral and musical theatre repertoire and has a flair for communicating with audiences. He has conducted Family Concerts at Polesden Lacey since their inception and regularly conducts the open-air Prom. Concert. He is the conductor of the IAPS, who give their final concert in the Snape Maltings. Jonathan has conducted the Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra since 1985 and also directs the Westminster Philharmonic and Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestras. He has been Artistic Director of Surrey Opera for twenty - seven years, most recently conducting a much acclaimed production of The Masked Ball. Other recent successes have included Peter Grimes and during the Summer of 2005 he directed Surrey Opera in a touring production of "The Abduction of Seraglio".

In June 2006 Jonathan made his debut with The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and later in the Summer he conducted and toured Southern England with a new production of Benjamin Britten's Begger's Opera performed by Surrey Opera.

Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra is Registered Charity No.: 1029543