Festival Musical Director and Conductor: The Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore
James Hendry is a leading young British conductor with a strong focus on opera. Raised in Kingston upon Hull, he was among the first students of the Yorkshire Young Musicians programme before studying piano and later répétiteur training at the Royal Northern College of Music, earning a British Education Award. He then joined the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, assisting Sir Antonio Pappano and other conductors.
From 2020–2024 he served as First Kapellmeister at Staatsoper Hannover, conducting repertoire from Verdi and Puccini to Rimsky-Korsakov and Holst. In the 2024/2025 season he led productions including Don Carlo for Finnish National Opera, Le Nozze di Figaro in Stockholm, Peer Gynt in Antwerp, and Tosca in Hannover, and returns to Finland for Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen.
Hendry has previously worked at Opéra National de Lyon (Barbe Bleue), on numerous Royal Opera House productions including Oreste, Der Rosenkavalier, Adriana Lecouvreur, Hänsel und Gretel and Turandot, and with companies such as English National Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor), Oper Frankfurt (Don Giovanni), Luzerner Theater (Revue des Folles) and Opera North (Le Nozze di Figaro). As a symphonic conductor he has appeared with the George Enescu Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Southbank Sinfonia and others. He has also served with the Hallé choirs, maintains a long association with the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, is an Associate Member and Honorary Associate Artist of the RNCM, and has recently given opera conducting masterclasses in Stockholm and Antwerp.
“It is with great pleasure that I return to the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival and the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company as Musical Director!
I am sure this year’s Festival is going to be even better than the last, and I can’t wait to see everyone in Buxton!”
