About


British conductor Thomas Payne is quickly gaining international recognition on the podium. Described as ‘clearly a name to watch’ – Seen and Heard International, he is Musical Director of London City Orchestra and enjoys relationships with both orchestras and opera and ballet companies across the UK and abroad.

In 2018/20, he joined the Royal Opera House music staff as a member of the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme. During this time he was assistant and cover conductor for numerous productions, including OtelloSwan LakeThe Sleeping BeautyThe NutcrackerManonMayerling and Don Quixote, and also conducted the Royal Opera House Orchestra in concert. He made his debut with Scottish Ballet debut last season with The Snow Queen and was subsequently invited back to conduct several performances of A Streetcar named Desire. 

As Musical Director of London City Orchestra he has conducted a wide range of repertoire such as symphonies by Mahler, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak as well as masterpieces such as Bach’s St John Passion. This season he aims to broaden LCO’s repertoire by performing works such as Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène and film classics such as Korngold’s Seahawk and Bernstein’s On the Waterfront.

Thomas has been on the music staff for Grange Park Opera for a number of years, assisting on productions such as Otello, Don Carlo, Werther, La gioconda and many others. Prior to this Thomas was Chorus Master at Longborough Festival Opera for productions of Fidelio, Tristan und Isolde and Der fliegende Holländer. Thomas regularly returns to the music staff at Covent Garden and has been personally invited to assist by many conductors, including Antonio Pappano at the London Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lee Reynolds at the Philharmonia and Martin Yates at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, where he also acted as second conductor on recordings of Vaughan Williams’ works for chorus and orchestra.

Thomas believes passionately in nurturing the talent of the next generation of artists and works regularly as Musical Director for Hampstead Garden Opera, conducting productions of Hansel und Gretel, Agrippina, Le nozze di Figaro and Savitri. He also works with talented young musicians from the London Youth String Orchestra.

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