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. Jackson is Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony, and leads them in their centenary season in 2024.
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. Last season he conducted the group at Festival Présences and Tokyo Easter Festival, in programmes featuring Reich, Werner, Boulez, Varèse and Webern. With Collegium Novum Zürich, Jackson conducted Isabel Mundry’s new work Noli me tangere, and with Brussels Philharmonic he led the world premiere of Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber’s Chahut. This season with Amarillo Symphony he conducts the world premieres of works by Michael Daugherty, Matthew Kanerand Angela Elizabeth Slater.
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. Jackson is Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony, and leads them in their
centenary season in 2024.
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. Last season he conducted the group at Festival Présences and Tokyo Easter
Festival, in programmes featuring Reich, Werner, Boulez, Varèse and Webern. With Collegium
Novum Zürich, Jackson conducted Isabel Mundry’s new work Noli me tangere, and with Brussels
Philharmonic he led the world premiere of Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber’s Chahut. This season with
Amarillo Symphony he conducts the world premieres of works by Michael Daugherty, Matthew Kanerand Angela Elizabeth Slater.
fearless conducting and thorough rehearsal technique. Recent engagements include Orchestre de Paris, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Israel Contemporary Players and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. Future plans include performances with Brussels Philharmonic, Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier and BBC Concert Orchestra. 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), La bohème and Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Holland Park), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Theater an der Wien).
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
fearless conducting and thorough rehearsal technique. Recent engagements include Orchestre de Paris, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Israel Contemporary Players and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. Future plans include performances with Brussels Philharmonic, Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier and BBC Concert Orchestra. 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), La bohème and Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Holland Park), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Theater an der Wien).
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
Classykeo - Soline Heurtebise
“L’album MOONDOG 1969 a été sublimé par l’interprétation magistrale de l’Orchestre philharmonique de Bruxelles, sous la direction éclairée de George Jackson.”
Moondog, 1969
Brussels Philharmonic
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
September 19 + 20 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Peter Maxwell Davies – An Orkney Wedding
Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No. 1
Mendelssohn – Scottish Symphony
Martin James-Bartlett piano
September 27 2025
Haydn Chamber Orchestra
St. James’ Church, Islington, London, UK
L.V. Beethoven – Overture to Coriolan
W.A. Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 14
W.A. Mozart – Symphony No. 39 in E flat major
Emmanuel Bach violin
October 24 + 25 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Chris Lowry – Fever Dreams (World-Premiere)
Camille Saint-Saens – Violin Concerto No. 3
Hector Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique
Fiona Shea violin
November 6, 7, 8 2025
Mid-Atlantic Symphony
Baltimore, MD
Beethoven – Coriolan
Mozart – Symphony No. 39
Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 1
November 21 + 22 2025
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Dani Howard – The Butterfly Effect (US-Premiere)
Claude Debussy – Deux Nocturnes
Gustav Holst – The Planets
January 16 + 17 2026
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Gavin Higgins – Fanfare (World-Premiere)
Rodrigo – Concierto de Aranjuez
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
JiJi guitar
January 29 2026
Ulster Orchestra
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dvorak – My Homeland
Joan Tower – Chamber Dance
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished)
February 27 + 28 2026
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Bernstein – Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
John Williams – Cello Concerto
Max Steiner – Gone with the Wind
Aria selections with Sarah Beckham-Turner
Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet
Oliver Herbert cello
March 27 + 28 2026
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Sibelius – Finlandia
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 1
Prokofiev –Symphony No. 5
Joyce Yang piano
April 14th 2026
Bath Philharmonia
Bath Forum
Bath, England
Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 3
Sir Stephen Hough piano
April 24 + 25 2026
Amarillo Symphony
Globe News Centre
Amarillo, TX
Arvo Pärt – Da Pacem Domine
Brahms – Requiem
Sydney Mancasola Soprano
Daniel Okulitch baritone
April 29 2026
Liverpool Philharmonic
The Tung Auditorium
Liverpool, UK
Josephine Stephenson – In Time Like Air (UK premiere)
John Adams – Gnarly Buttons
Steve Reich – Reich/Richter
Mark Simpson clarinet
May 16 2026
Ensemble Intercontemporain
Wigmore Hall, London
Nicholas Bentz – a gleaming like ivory that slowly resolves until it becomes dust (world premiere)
Anthony Cheung – Clocks for Seeing
Kevin Puts –Traveler
May 31 2026
BBC Concert Orchestra
Saffron Walden Hall, UK
Friday Night is Music Night: The Archers at 75
June 19, 28, July 4 + 7 2026
Grange Park Opera
Surrey, United Kingdom
Verdi: Don Carlo
Orchestra of English National Opera
PHILIP II, King of Spain ∙ MATTHEW ROSE
DON CARLOS, Infante of Spain ∙ OTAR JORJIKIA
RODRIGO, friend of Don Carlos ∙ MICHEL DE SOUZA
THE GRAND INQUISITOR ∙ JULIAN CLOSE
ELISABETH, a French princess ∙ MARINA COSTA-JACKSON
PRINCESS EBOLI, an aristocrat at court ∙ RUXANDRA DONOSE
DIRECTOR ∙ JO DAVIES
SET DESIGNER ∙ LESLIE TRAVERS
COSTUME DESIGNER ∙ GABRIELLE DALTON
LIGHTING DESIGNER ∙ ANNA WATSON
MOVEMENT ∙ LYNNE HOCKNEY
June 20 2026
Israel Contemporary Players
Zucker Hall
Tel Aviv
Yinam Leef – New Work (world premiere)
Sven Ingo-Koch – To Speak Of
Yann Robin – Übergang II
June 26 2026
BBC Concert Orchestra
Brighton Dome, UK
Friday Night is Music Night!
July 29, 31, August 2, 4, 6 + 8 2026
Opera Holland Park
London, United Kingdom
J. Strauss: Die Fledermaus
City of London Sinfonia
Rosalinde ∙ Alison Langer
Adele ∙ Rebecca Bottone
Alfred ∙ Xavier Hetherington
Prince Orlofsky ∙ Clare Presland
Gabriel von Eisenstein ∙ Thomas Atkins
Dr Blind, an aristocrat at court ∙ Monwabisi Lindi
DIRECTOR ∙ tbc
GALLERY
