ABOUT

George Jackson is quickly making a name for the breadth and commitment of his work, whether in opera, symphonic repertoire or contemporary scores, building strong relationships with the orchestras he conducts. In September 2022 Jackson began his tenure as Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony, leading them in their Centenary year in 2023-24.

Jackson’s skill in preparing complex scores has led to an ongoing relationship with Ensemble Intercontemporain. Together they released the world premiere recording of Steve Reich’s Reich/Richter on Nonesuch Records, following successful performances of the work in Rome, Paris and Luxembourg. He also conducted the group for the French premieres of works by Rebecca Saunders and James Dillon at the 2019 Festival d’Automne à Paris. With Collegium Novum Zürich Jackson conducted Noli me tangere, a new work by Isabel Mundry, and with Brussels Philharmonic he led the world premiere of Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber’s new work, Chahut.

He is increasingly sought-after as a guest with European orchestras, who appreciate his fearless conducting and thorough rehearsal technique. Recent engagements include Orchestre de Paris, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie and the orchestra of Opéra de Rouen.

George Jackson is quickly making a name for the breadth and commitment of his work, whether in opera, symphonic repertoire or contemporary scores, building strong relationships with the orchestras he conducts. In September 2022 Jackson begins his tenure as Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony, leading them in their Centenary year in 2023-24.

Jackson’s skill in preparing complex scores has led to an ongoing relationship with Ensemble Intercontemporain. Together they released the world premiere recording of Steve Reich’s Reich/Richter on Nonesuch Records, following successful performances of the work in Rome, Paris and Luxembourg. He also conducted the group for the French premieres of works by Rebecca Saunders and James Dillon at the 2019 Festival d’Automne à Paris. With Collegium Novum Zürich Jackson conducted Noli me tangere, a new work by Isabel Mundry, and with Brussels Philharmonic he led the world premiere of Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber’s new work, Chahut.

He is increasingly sought-after as a guest with European orchestras, who appreciate his fearless conducting and thorough rehearsal technique. Recent engagements include Orchestre de Paris, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie and the orchestra of Opéra de Rouen.

Praised for his natural affinity for opera, he has received acclaim for his work in productions of Hänsel und Gretel and The Excursions of Mr Brouček (Grange Park Opera), Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Holland Park), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Theater an der Wien). Future plans include his Wrocław Opera debut with Rigoletto, and the world premiere of Gods of the Game, a collaborative opera commissioned by Sky Arts for Grange Park Opera.

The son of actor parents, Jackson began inventing theatrical entertainments with his sister at an early age, as well as learning the violin, and later served as a drummer and guitarist in post-punk, rock and Irish folk bands, developing broad musical tastes that he retains to this day. Jackson’s formative experiences include his participation at Lucerne Festival Academy and at Aspen Music Festival, where he was awarded the Aspen Conducting Prize in 2015. He is passionate and informed about the art and traditions of conducting, and regularly passes on his enthusiasm through podcasts on the subject.

Praised for his natural affinity for opera, he has received acclaim for his work in productions of Hänsel und Gretel and The Excursions of Mr Brouček (Grange Park Opera), Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Holland Park), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Theater an der Wien). Future plans include his Wrocław Opera debut with Rigoletto, and the world premiere of Gods of the Game, a collaborative opera commissioned by Sky Arts for Grange Park Opera.

The son of actor parents, Jackson began inventing theatrical entertainments with his sister at an early age, as well as learning the violin, and later served as a drummer and guitarist in post-punk, rock and Irish folk bands, developing broad musical tastes that he retains to this day. Jackson’s formative experiences include his participation at Lucerne Festival Academy and at Aspen Music Festival, where he was awarded the Aspen Conducting Prize in 2015. He is passionate and informed about the art and traditions of conducting, and regularly passes on his enthusiasm through podcasts on the subject.

The Guardian - Tim Ashley

“The City of London Sinfonia, meanwhile, play superbly for Jackson, an excellent conductor, wonderfully alert to the sadness as well as the humour that permeates the score.”

Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro
Opera Holland Park

Evening Standard - Barry Millington

“Not only did he pace the action unfailingly to contrast the moments of private anguish with the frenetic public activity going on around it, but he also drew out the beauty and wrung out the maximum pathos from a score that drips with it.”

Puccini, La Bohème
Opera Holland Park / City of London Sinfonia

The Telegraph - Rupert Christiansen

“George Jackson conducted the full ENO orchestra in a magnificent account of the score, sparkling with playful humour in the dialogues and exultantly romantic in the interludes.”  

Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel
Grange Park Opera / Orchestra of English National Opera

BBC Music Magazine - Claire Jackson

“George Jackson expertly pushes Pierre Boulez’s former ensemble through the pixelating patterns. Some audience snuffling and shuffling is audible in this otherwise mesmeric performance.”

Steve Reich, ‘Reich/Richter’
Ensemble Intercontemporain

British Theatre - Tim Hochstrasser

“The musical side of the evening operates at a very high level. The City of London Sinfonia, under George Jackson’s baton, relishes the tasty orchestral textures, bringing out the many layers of instrumental flavour that Puccini conjures up in the service of the dramatic moment. There is nothing routine in this performance and because Jackson risked creating genuine pianissimos under the cavernous Holland Park tent we got to hear inner parts of the orchestra not usually discernible within the overall wash of sound.”

Puccini, La Bohème
Opera Holland Park / City of London Sinfonia

The Arts Desk - Jessica Duchen

“The award-winning young conductor George Jackson exerts formidable control over the shape and pace of the action, no easy ask in such a bizarre creation”. 

Janáček, ‘The Excursions of Mr Brouček
Grange Park Opera / BBC Concert Orchestra

CALENDAR

21st and 22nd April 2023

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

World Premiere of
Student Composition from WTAMU
Ravel: Mother Goose Ballet (full) 
Rachmaninoff: Second Piano Concerto

Joyce Yang piano
George Jackson conductor

11th May 2023

Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia

Macedonian Philharmonic
Skopje

Rachmaninoff: Third Piano Concerto

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (‘Unfinished’)

Brahms: Tragic Overture

Marie-Ange Nguci piano
George Jackson conductor

3rd June 2023

BBC Concert Orchestra

Southbank Centre
London

Gavin Higgins: New Percussion Concerto (World Premiere)

Colin Currie percussion
George Jackson conductor

19th July – 5th August 2023

Opera Holland Park

Opera Holland Park
London

Puccini: La Bohème

Rodolfo Adam Gilbert
Mimì Katie Bird
Marcello Ross Ramgobin
Musetta Elizabeth Karani
Schaunard Harry Thatcher
Colline Barnaby Rea
Alcindoro / Benoît Henry Grant Kerswell
A Customs Sergeant Alistair Sutherland

Conductor George Jackson

Director Natascha Metherell
Designer Madeleine Boyd
Lighting Designer Charles Morgan Jones
Chorus Master Richard Harker

15th & 16th September 2023

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Copland: Rodeo

Michelle Caan piano
George Jackson conductor

7th October 2023

Amarillo Opera

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Puccini: Tosca

Cast tbc
George Jackson conductor

13th & 14th October 2023

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Celebraciones: A Celebration of Hispanic music

Nayelli Peña mariachi vocalist
George Jackson conductor

2nd, 3rd, and 4th November 2023

Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León

Valladolid
Spain

Dvořák: My Homeland

Anna Clyne: ‘Glasslands’ (Spanish Premiere)

Dvořák: Symphony No. 7

Jess Gillam saxophone
George Jackson conductor

17th & 18th November 2023

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Anna Merideth: Fringe Flower (US Premiere)

Barber: Knoxville Summer of 1915

Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Sara Hershkowitz soprano
George Jackson conductor

19th & 20th January 2024

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Francisco Coll: Hímnica (US Premiere)     

Bach: Concerto in D Minor                          

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

Mahan Esfahani harpsichord
George Jackson conductor

6th February 2024

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Maison de la Radio et de la Musique, Paris

Opening Concert of the Festival Présences 2024

Steve Reich: Jacob’s Ladder (French Premiere)  

Josephine Stephenson: new work (world premiere)                

Héloïse Werner: Close-ups (world premiere)

Steve Reich: Reich/Richter

Héloïse Werner soprano

Synergy Vocals

Hae-Sun Kang violin

George Jackson conductor

23rd & 24th February 2024

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Nathan Fryml: Novae Laudis (World Premiere)                                                         

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Amarillo Master Chorale
George Jackson conductor

8th & 9th March 2024

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Sibelius: Spring Song                                     

Dvorak: Violin Concerto                         

Schumann: Symphony No. 1 (‘Spring’)

Aubree Oliverson violin
George Jackson conductor

8th April 2024

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Tokyo Spring Festival, Bunka Kaikan

Tokyo, Japan

Edgard Varèse: Octandre                               

Anton Webern: Concerto, Op. 24                        

Elliot Carter: Double Trio

Pierre Boulez: Dérive 1

George Jackson conductor

9th April 2024

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Tokyo Spring Festival, Bunka Kaikan

Tokyo, Japan

Yan Maresz: Entrelacs  

Yann Robin: Übergang  II                             

Tristan Murail: Near Death Experience              

Pascal Dusapin: Fist

George Jackson conductor

19th & 20th April 2024

Amarillo Symphony

Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX

Christopher Theofanidis: New Work for String Quartet and Orchestra (world premiere)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

The Harrington String Quartet

Rebecca Nelson soprano

Amber Fasquelle mezzo soprano

Eric Barry tenor

David Crawford baritone

George Jackson conductor

11th May 2024

Israel Contemporary Players

Zucker Hall, Tel Aviv Cultural Center

Tel Aviv, Israel

Rebecca Saunders: Disclosure

Ligeti: Chamber Concerto

 George Jackson conductor

17th May 2024

Timisoara Philharmonic

Timisoara, Romania

Elgar: In The South

Vaughan Williams: Flos Campi

Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast

George Jackson conductor

Timothy Ridout viola

July 2024

Grange Park Opera

Surrey, United Kingdom

Anthony Bolton: Island of Dreams

World Premiere

Prospero Simon Keenlyside
Miranda Ffion Edwards
Ariel Hugh Cutting
Caliban Andreas Jankowitsch

Conductor George Jackson

Director Sir David Pountney