International Conductors Guild to launch 50th anniversary with conference

LONDON — Conductors from around the globe will gather at the Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Road, London, Jan. 2-5, for the 50th Anniversary launch of the International Conductors Guild Conference. This is the third International Conference hosted by the ICG with previous international events held in Copenhagen in 2013, and Valencia, Spain, in 2023. This past year’s ICG Conference was held in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, New York, with more than 125 in attendance.

The 2025 ICG London Conference features an in-depth conversation and Q & A with renowned cellist and arts advocate Julian Lloyd Webber on Jan. 4. Lloyd Webber enjoys one of the most creative careers in music today. As a solo cellist he has performed with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and every leading symphony and chamber orchestra in the UK in partnership with such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Neville Marriner, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Mark Elder and Sir Andrew Davis.

In 2007, at the invitation of the Secretary of State for Education, Lloyd Webber founded the UK government’s “In Harmony” program, and he continues to chair Sistema England. The two programs combined have introduced the power of music to more than 60,000 school children from the least privileged parts of England. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1994 and is the recipient of a Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum (1998) the Classic FM Red Award (2005) and the Incorporated Society of Musician’s Distinguished Musician of the Year Award (2014).

Lloyd Webber’s appearance promises to be more than the typical keynote speech as conference attendees, all conductors, will be invited to discuss the state of music education in schools and how conductors actively work with their administrative staff and education leaders to achieve collaborations with local school systems and arts education advocates.

Albany Symphony Orchestra Conductor Claire Fox Hillard serves as president of the International Conductors Guild. Other officials include:

Vice President: Christopher Blair

Secretary: Julie Sorensen

Treasurer: Robert Whalen

Immediate Past President: Julius P. Williams

Emeritus Past President: John Farrer

Board of Directors are Anna Binneweg; Jessica Bejarano; Carlos Brown; Edward Cumming; Stephen Czarkowski; Mercedes Diaz Garcia; John Gingrich; Lawrence Isaacson; Rufus Jones Jr.; Cynthia Katsarelis; John Koshak; Wilbur Lin; Sasha Mäkilä; Everett McCorvey; Jon Mitchell; Ian Passmore; Daniel Perttu; Charles Prince; Lucas Richman; Peter Stafford Wilson; Scott Wood; Scott Woodard; David Grandis — Editor, Journal of the International Conductors Guild; Dominique Royem — Media Consultant; Jan Wilson — Executive Director

A special feature of ICG Conferences is the Conductor Workshop, which gives conductors the opportunity to work with a leading conducting instructor in the field. This January, three conductors will work with the outstanding Mark Wigglesworth, chief conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Wigglesworth is recognized internationally for his masterly interpretations both in the opera house and in the concert hall.

In opera, Wigglesworth has enjoyed long relationships with The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has written articles for The Guardian and The Independent and made a six-part TV series for the BBC entitled “Everything to Play For.” His book, “The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters,” is published by Faber & Faber and has been translated into Spanish and Chinese. 

Wigglesworth also will lead a discussion of his most recent book following the workshop session.

The ICG Conference will begin on Jan. 2 with a “Get-Together Party” at the Cast Iron Bar & Grill located in the Marriott London Kensington Hotel on Cromwell Road. Each year the International Conductors Guild puts out a call for Conference Presentation Proposals, and this year received nearly 40 applications from members who volunteer to share their knowledge and scholarship with conference attendees. The full schedule of seminar presentations is located on the ICG website https://www.internationalconductorsguild.org/2025-london-conference-schedule.

For more information on registering for the London Conference, hotel and airline discount deals, contact the International Conductors Guild at [email protected] or view the https://www.internationalconductorsguild.org/2025-london-conference-registration website. The ICG London Conference is open to all conductors – symphony, opera, ballet, chorus, wind ensemble, and church or other ensemble directors.

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