The Elgar School and TFO are excited to be working in collaboration to bring conducting courses to Worcester, working with top international conductors. If you are a beginner, experienced or just want to try it out, please get in touch.
Email: janewhittle.tfo@gmail.com
Our next conducting workshops
Past Workshops
Meet our conductors
Huw Thomas
Born in Cardiff into a musical family Huw took up the Trumpet aged 11. In 1992 he was awarded a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. Study at Birmingham Conservatoire followed and upon completing a BMus (Hons) Huw took a job playing Co-Principal Trumpet with the Orquestra Do Norte in Portugal. During this time he performed extensively around Portugal and Spain where he also worked with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and toured with the famous Italian Tenor Andre Bocelli.
Huw has won many awards as a conductor, as a winner of the Denis and Maud Wright conducting award (run by the National Youth Band of Great Britain) he conducted one of the UK's finest Brass Bands (the Fairey Band) in concert. This award was chaired by Elgar Howarth and this lead to a series of lessons and masterclasses. In 2005 Huw also received the J R Memorial Cup for his conducting. He has also worked extensively with orchestras and made his conducting debut with the Sinfonia Tamesa in London in 2006.
Huw has attended lessons and Masterclasses with Bramwell Tovey (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra) and Jason Lai (Singapore Symphony Orchestra) to name but a few.
In 2009, Huw completed an MA in Music Performance at Durham University studying with Ray Farr and Elgar Howarth. This close association nurtured a keen interest in contemporary music, this then lead to his appointment as conductor of the professional contemporary music ensemble the Komposit Orchestra. This ensemble premiered new works by some of the UK's top composers, recordings of which can be found on this website. During this time he also developed an association with the Sunderland Symphony Orchestra and was able to develop his repertoire further within the orchestral world.
In late 2011 Huw was invited to MD on a big band album with some of London's finest young Jazz musicians. The Album 'Dealing in Wheeler' was released in 2012 and is inspired by Kenny Wheeler's big band scoring and textures.
Huw has worked with some of the finest bands in the UK including Brighouse and Rastrick and was Musical Director of the Leyland Band, he also conducted and edited their album Leyland Band in Concert.
As well as working in the UK, Huw frequently visits Denmark delivering rehearsals,masterclasses and ensemble coaching.
Adrian Lucas
Adrian Lucas has been Musical Director of the City of Birmingham Choir since 2002, continuing a long and distinguished line which includes David Willcocks, Meredith Davies and Christopher Robinson. From being organ scholar at St John’s College Cambridge, he held posts at Portsmouth, Norwich and Salisbury cathedrals before moving to Worcester Cathedral in 1996. During his tenure there, he was responsible for the design and installation of the Kenneth Tickell organ in 2008 as well as continuing a vibrant programme of touring, broadcasting and recording as an organist and with the Cathedral Choir.
From 1996 to 2011, he was Artistic Director to the Worcester Three Choirs Festival, introducing a wide variety of new musical threads to the great tradition of this long-lived institution. These included commissioned works from Francis Pott, Andrew Gant, Jackson Hill and Cheryl Frances-Hoad; cross-over concerts including performances of music from the Sacred Concerts of Duke Ellington and late night events by the David Rees-Williams Trio, Respectable Groove and Acoustic Triangle, as well as the main choral events.
Since leaving the cathedral world, he has been able to refocus his work on performance, working as a conductor, choral director and animateur, organist and continuo specialist.
As a conductor, Adrian has an impressive list of works to his name, including many performances of the choral works of Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Finzi; contemporary works by James MacMillan, John Tavener and Jonathan Dove; jazz-inspired music by Gershwin, Bernstein and Ibert; concertos with John Lill, Julian Lloyd-Webber and Emma Johnson; not to mention great symphonic works from the classical genii of Mozart and Beethoven through to Janacek and Walton. He has made a number of visits to Medellin in Colombia where his work with disadvantaged children has been a source of inspiration. He directed a number of projects in connection with the Cultural Olympiad of the 2012 Games and continues to take on a range of orchestral and choral concerts in the UK and abroad.
As an organist, Adrian continues to give recitals both nationally and internationally. He has played in churches and concert halls from Sydney to Seattle and particularly enjoys broadening the instrument’s repertoire into the realms of jazz. Recent projects have included jazz-inspired works by Iain Farrington and Ad Wammes.
Adrian is also active as a composer, arranger and orchestrator, including choral works from short à capella carols and motets through to Creation Canticles, a 41-minute work for solo soprano, chorus and orchestra. Alongside this are many arrangements for brass ensemble, and transcriptions of orchestral works, including scoring works for film and television.
Adrian also runs his own recording business, Acclaim Productions Ltd. Over the past few years, the company has recorded disks for Naxos, Signum, Albion and Toccata Classics, as well as providing sound for documentaries and own label releases. He is a UK and international examiner for ABRSM and has been an external examiner for the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. Adrian is Chairman of the British Music Society.
Recently, Adrian has been appointed as Head of Choral Studies for the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM).
External link for Adrian Lucas:
Acclaim Productions: www.acclaimproductions.co.uk