Chorus Master
Jonathan Grieves-Smith
JONATHAN GRIEVES-SMITH
Chorus Master
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Jonathan Grieves-Smith was appointed Artistic Director of Melbourne Chorale in 1998, Conductor Emeritus in 2003, and, following integration, is now Chorus Master of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Jonathan has held positions with Huddersfield Choral Society, Brighton Festival Chorus and the Halle Choir and has guest conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jonathan has worked closely with some of the world’s leading conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, Sir Mark Elder, Klaus Tennstedt, Vernon Handley, Kurt Masur, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Yuri Temirkanov and Sir Roger Norrington.
An advocate for new music, Jonathan has commissioned and conducted many world and national premieres, including music by Brett Dean, John Woolrich, Giya Kancheli, Gavin Bryars, Poul Ruders, Alfred Schnittke, Lou Harrison, Krzysztof Penderecki and Arvo Part. He conducted the first modern performances of Charles Tournemire’s Symphony No.2 Ouessant with the Orchestre National de Lille and has chorus mastered premiere recordings of Frank Martin and Arnold Bax for Chandos.
He has toured Brazil with Rome’s Coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecila, with the London Mozart Players and pianist Nelson Freire, and with Melbourne Chorale. He has conducted Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Chorus of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the BBC Singers, and been a guest of Dartington International Summer School and Europa Cantat.
Jonathan was born in Kendal, studied at Sussex University, learnt his skills from the great chorus master Laszlo Heltay, has five children, too many books, and an abiding belief that despite its best efforts the English cricket team will one day successfully defend the Ashes.
