Martin Yates

‘... one of the most exciting and versatile British conductors of his generation ...’ The Times

Martin Yates has, over two decades, built a career with a broad range of repertoire and genre.

Having studied piano with Ian Lake, composition with Richard Arnell and Sir John Tavener, and conducting with Bernard Keefe and subsequently André Previn, Yates made his conducting debut with the Israel National Opera where he conducted La Traviata, La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly.

Yates has worked as a guest conductor with the UK’s most respected orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has worked extensively in Scandinavia with orchestras such as the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, with whom he conducted the world premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s A Prayer Out of Stillness. Elsewhere he has conducted the Zurich Tonhalle, Jerusalem Symphony, Danish Radio Symphony, Royal Flanders Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Gran Canaria. Yates made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the New York Pops Orchestra in a programme celebrating the music of Charles Strouse.

Le ballet a pris beaucoup d’importance dans sa carrière musicale; il travaille beaucoup au sein du Royal Opera House de Covent Garden (Londres) où il a dirigé Agon, Manon, Roméo et Juliette, Mayerling, Seven Deadly Sins, Le lac des Cygnes et L’Invitation au Voyage. Il a également fait de nombreuses tournées aux Etats Unis, à Cuba, en Chine,  Hong Kong et en Europe. Il travaille aussi régulièrement avec le Finnish National Ballet, le Norwegian Ballet et le Royal Swedish Ballet.

Yates is much sought after as an orchestrator. He orchestrated two major piano works by John Ireland, completed from sketches E J Moeran’s Second Symphony and Richard Arnell’s Seventh Symphony, and orchestrated the song cycle by Edward Elgar “A Pageant of Empire”, all of which have been recorded and received with great critical acclaim. His orchestrations of the Van Manen ballet Four Schuman Pieces and MacMillan ballet Manon are performed worldwide.

Yates has recorded symphonic repertoire with orchestras such as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Royal Flanders Philharmonic. Current releases include a series of recordings of the music of Richard Arnell with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on the Dutton label, with whom he works on a very regular basis

Yates is lauded as an accompanist of the first rate and enjoys collaborations with soloists of international repute such as José Carreras, Barbara Hendricks, Bryn Terfel, Montserrat Caballé, Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu and Yo-Yo Ma. He is honoured to have conducted several Nobel Peace Prize concerts in Oslo as well as Proms in the Park in London.

His future engagements include performances with the George Enescu Philharmonic, The Royal Ballet, Finnish National Opera, The National Ballet of Japan, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.