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, and in 2024, also made debuts at Festival Présences and Tokyo Spring Festival with the group. 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). In summer 2024, Jackson returns to Grange Park Opera to conduct the world premiere of Anthony Bolton’s Island of Dreams, an opera based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
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.
INTERVIEWS
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). In summer 2024, Jackson returns to Grange Park Opera to conduct the world premiere of Anthony Bolton’s Island of Dreams, an opera based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
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 Times - Richard Morrison
“Most of the musical interest lies in the deft instrumental writing, effectively realised by the Gascoigne Orchestra under George Jackson’s meticulous direction.”
Anthony Bolton, Island of Dreams (world premiere)
Grange Park Opera
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
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
21st June 2024
London Mozart Players
Thaxted Festival, England
Holst: A Fugal Concerto
Noah Max: Symphony No.1 (world premiere)
Holst: Lyric Movement
Holst: Brook Green Suite
Mozart: Piano Concert No. 23 in A
George Jackson conductor
Iyad Sughayer piano
July 11 + 13 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
30th July 2024
Aspen Music Festival
Aspen, CO
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Conductor George Jackson
Guitar Sharon Isbin
13th & 14th September 2024
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Adam Schoenberg: Go!
Kevin Puts: Flute Concerto
Ravel: Une barque sur l’océan
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Jake Fridkis flute
11th & 12th October 2024
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Michael Daugherty: Cadillac Ranch (world premiere)
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
Kevin Puts: Contact
Time for Three String Trio
8th November 2024
BBC Concert Orchestra
Great Yarmouth, UK
Friday Night is Music Night!
16th November 2024
Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier
Opéra Comédie, Montpellier
France
Haydn: The Creation
Emily Gazeilles soprano
Maciej Kwasnikowski tenor
Alexandre Baldo bass-baritone
29th November 2024
Brussels Philharmonic
Flagey, Brussels, Belgium
Moondog Symphonic
Moondog: Theme, Stamping Ground, Symphonique #3 (Ode to Venus), Symphonique #6 (Good for Goodie, Minisym #1, Lament 1 (Bird’s Lament, Witch of Endor, Symphonique #1 (Portrait of a Monarch)
EEC Suite: Golden Fleece, Hymn to Peace, EEC Lied, Two Poems
4th December 2024
BBC Concert Orchestra
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, England
Orff: Carmina Burana
Fflur Wynn soprano
Levy Sekgapane tenor
Morgan Pearse baritone
Choirs of the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University
Choristers of Southwell Minster
17th & 18th January 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Johann Strauss: Blue Danube
Matthew Kaner: Violin Concerto (Co-Commission with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra)
Antonín Dvorak: Symphony No. 8
Ben Baker violin
February 28th & March 1st 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Errollyn Wallen: Mighty River
Angela Elizabeth Slater: Mountains Become Oceans (World Premiere)
Sibelius: Swan of Tuonela
Debussy: La Mer
Hannah Weaver percussion
Rosanna Moore harp
March 21st & 22nd 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
George Antheil: Over The Plains
Samuel Jones: Trombone Concerto
Charles Ives: Symphony No. 1
John Shanks trombone
April 25th & 26th 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
L.V. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Grace-Evangeline Mason: The Imagined Forest
Stravinsky: The Firebird
Marc-André Hamelin piano
July 10 + 12 2025
Grange Park Opera
Surrey, United Kingdom
Nishat Kahn: Taj Mahal
World Premiere
Shah Jahan Caspar Singh
Mumtaz Mahal Julia Sitkovetsky
Jahanara Elizabeth Karani
Aurangzeb / Jahingir Ross Ramgobin
Nur Jahan Victoria Simmonds
Conductor George Jackson
Director Stephen Medcalf
CONTACT
General Management
email: Jordi Martin Mont
phone +44 7934 568677
email: Alex Maxted
phone +44 7788 284615
Contact @ Amarillo
email Amarillo Symphony