Biography
Job Title: Leodian Concert Orchestra Musical Director
Ben Crick has established a reputation as an innovative and original conductor who is comfortable working with diverse and challenging repertoire; he is a former BBC Music Fellow.
In recent years he has conducted concertos with Tasmin Little, Raphael Walfisch, Peter Donohoe, Nicholas Daniel, Jennifer Pike and Benjamin Frith as well as conducting Handel’s Messiah with Dame Emma Kirkby performing the soprano solos.
His orchestral repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary works with a special interest in music of the British 20th century. He is committed to new music, regularly conducting world premieres, and is also passionate about discovering unknown music from previous centuries. He is as comfortable in the opera house as on the concert platform having given performances of Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, Cosi Fan Tutti, Dido and Aeneas and Der Fliegende Holländer.
Alongside freelance conducting engagements with numerous ensembles, he is the Artistic Director of several professional ensembles including Skipton Building Society Camerata. With this group, alongside over one hundred more conventional performances, he has staged operas in pubs, commissioned and performed new works in shopping centres and run a chamber music series which exclusively performs in alternative venues. He is the Musical Director of the English National Philharmonic Orchestra and in this role will conduct Lesley Garrett’s 2017 national tour. He has collaborated with people as diverse as the poet Ian McMillan, presenter Fiona Bruce, actor Ben Faulks (CBBC’s Mr Bloom) and Giles Brandreth. This approach has resulted in several national awards for both excellence in performance and audience development.
With a commitment to higher education Ben is a visiting lecturer at several universities and is a staff conductor at Leeds Conservatoire. Outside his conducting career he has written for Classical Music Magazine, Opera Now and Early Music Today, been an guest contributor on BBC radio 2 and 3 programmes and arranges music for many societies including the Royal School of Church Music.
This is all combined with as much caving, climbing and fell running as is possible to fit in around having a young family and an interest in real ale, which doesn’t help the fell running. For further information on music making you can follow Ben on twitter @benconductor or for more down to earth pursuits vist the youtube channel ‘Ben and Dave caving’.
Follow Ben Crick: Website
