Nicholas Jenkins NSO music director
 
 
Nicholas Jenkins studied at Merton College, Oxford, TCM, and the GSMD.
He built his career as a singer and chorus master, and has been Chorus
Master to Grange Park Opera and the Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre-
Grenoble, as well as guest chorus master to Chœur du Châtelet, Estonian
Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Opera Rara, Philharmonia Chorus, and TCM
Chorus.

Current engagements include assistant conductor to Sir Simon Rattle for
Bizet Carmen at the Salzburg Festival and Easter Festival with the Berlin
and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras; he conducts a staged Rossini Petite
Messe Solennelle (Berlin, Bregenz Festival, Opéra de Dijon, Luxembourg
Grand Théâtre, Paris Opéra Comique), Massenet Cendrillon, Britten Noye’s
Fludde and Verdi Macbeth (Blackheath Halls); Orff Carmina Burana
(London). He is Interim Chorus Master to Netherlands Opera, where he
prepares Mozart Die Zauberflöte, Verdi La Traviata and Gluck Armide. He
is also assistant conductor to Marc Minkowski for Offenbach Les Contes
d’Hoffmann (Paris Salle Pleyel). During 2013/14 he conducts
performances for Theater an der Wien Kammeroper.

Nicholas is Musical Director of NSO with whom he has conducted Dove
Tobias and the Angel, Gounod Mireille, Mozart Idomeneo, Offenbach Die
Rheinnixen, Vaughan Williams Hugh the Drover and The Poisoned Kiss and
Puccini Edgar. Other opera conducting includes Offenbach L’Ile de
Tulipatan, Weill Der Jasager (Opéra de Lyon), Massenet Don Quichotte (La
Monnaie), Katori The Lily of the Valley (ROH Linbury), Mozart Così fan
tutte (Oxford Playhouse, Théâtre Besançon), Britten Turn of the Screw
(Dartington Festival), Donizetti L’elisir d’amore, Massenet Cendrillon,
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin, Verdi Nabucco (Blackheath Halls), Weill The
Seven Deadly Sins (Oxford, London). Concert work has included recent
performances with the Orchestra of Opéra de Toulon, Estonian
Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Scottish Ensemble.

He has worked extensively as assistant conductor to Marc Minkowski - at
Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Comique, Opéra de
Lyon, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Netherlands Opera, and Aix-en-Provence
and Salzburg Festivals. He has also been assistant conductor to Opera
North, Opera Rara, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Salzburg Festival, assisting
Oliver von Dohnányi, David Parry, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, and Sir Simon
Rattle.
Tony Baker
director /
The Judge
 
Tony Baker was born in Lancashire and trained in theatre design at the
Central School of Art and Design. Over the past 20 years he has designed
sets and costumes for many of the world’s leading Opera Houses and his
work includes Orlando and Le Coq D’Or (ROH), Giulio Cesare (Australian
Opera) and for the Grand Theatre de Geneve, Mitridate, Schoeck’s Venus,
Norma and a co-directed and designed Beatrix Cenci (Alberto Ginastera).
He has also designed Der Freischütz for the Théâtre des Champs Élysées
and Lausanne; Una Cosa Rara for the historic Drottningholm Court Theatre,
Stockholm, Don Giovanni for Opera Zuid, and Nabucco for Nationale
Reisopera; Norma for the Liceu, Barcelona; Leonora Teatro Communale di
Bologna; Fidelio Vlaamse Opera; Le Coq d’Or Rome; Giulio Cesare and the
European première of Orphée (Glass), for the Royal Opera Copenhagen.

He has worked extensively in the USA where he designed Otello (Dallas),
Mitridate (Santa Fe), Giulio Cesare (Los Angeles) and for New York City
Opera Handel’s Semele & Rinaldo. In the UK he has worked for WNO,
Garsington, Opera North, Buxton Festival, Mid Wales Opera, the Guildhall
School, Opera 80 and NSO.

In 2001 he made his first move into directing as well as designing by
staging Der Freischütz in Bilbao. In 2006 he directed and designed a
critically acclaimed production of Tippett’s The Knot Garden in
Montepulciano (the Italian première). in 2007 and 2008 he produced and
directed two specially devised Gilbert and Sullivan productions, Patience
and Thespis at the historic Victorian Theatre, Normansfield, Teddington. in
2008 he directed Stephen Oliver’s A Man of Feeling (Arcola Theatre).

He has been a visiting Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, a
guest Lecturer at the Central School of Speech and Drama and at Rose
Bruford College.

As a long time  performer of Gilbert and Sullivan , Tony has sung the roles
of  Major General Stanley, Sir Joseph Porter, Bunthorne , Lord Chancellor,
Don Alhambra and King Hildebrand.

Tony made his operatic design debut in 1989 with NSO's production of
Gounod’s Faust. More recently for NSO he has directed and designed
Mireille in 2011 and Edgar in 2012.

Nick Milner-Gulland after teaching at Marlborough College, was
headmaster of Cumnor House School from 1969 to 2000, where he was
responsible for music, drama, handwriting and classics.
He has conducted the Fayrfax Singers for over 30 years, performing much
of the major choral repertoire. In January 2002 he was appointed
conductor of the Fletching Singers.
When not conducting he leads a busy life as a teacher at HMP Lewes,
organist of Ringmer Parish Church, and player of the piano, organ and
harpsichord.
In recent NSO productions he has played the harpsichord, has been
chorus repetiteur and assistant conductor, and has conducted Law and
Marriage in 2011 and Pleasures of Purcell in 2012
Nick Milner-Gulland
Conductor