One of the foremost conductors of his generation, Alexander Shelley is ‘a natural communicator, both on and off the podium’ (the Daily Telegraph), regularly performing across six continents with the world’s finest orchestras and soloists.
A passionate and articulate advocate for the role of music in society, he has spearheaded multiple award-winning and ground-breaking projects unlocking creativity in the next generation and bringing symphonic music to new audiences.
With a conducting technique described as ‘immaculate, everything crystal clear and a tool to his inborn musicality’ (Yorkshire Post), Alexander is known for the precision and integrity of his interpretations, for his creative programming and for the breadth of his repertoire, having led among other things, 36 major world premieres, highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms symphonies, operas, ballets and innovative multi-media productions.
He collaborates with artists such as Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Daniel Hope, Itzhak Perlmamn, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson alongside some of the finest orchestras of Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia, including Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Deutsche Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Helsinki, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malaysian, Oslo, Rotterdam and Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestras and the São Paulo, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, Munich, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand symphony orchestras.
In September 2015 Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the youngest in its history. The ensemble has since been praised as ‘an orchestra transformed … hungry, bold, and unleashed’ (Ottawa Citizen) and his programming credited for turning the orchestra ‘almost overnight … into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America.’ (Maclean’s Magazine).
In January 2015 Alexander also assumed the role of Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he curates an annual series of concerts at Cadogan Hall and tours both nationally and internationally.
