“Toby Hession as conductor was powerful and poetic, ranging through the movements effortlessly”
Varsity
Conductor . . .
Toby is enjoying a growing career as a conductor of a varied repertoire. He has recently worked as an assistant conductor to Tim Redmond, Stuart Stratford, Duncan Ward, Ben Gernon, Dominic Wheeler, Chad Kelly, Stephen Higgins, and Sian Edwards, among others. In 2022, he made his professional debut with The Tallis Chamber Orchestra, and in 2023, makes his mainstage operatic debut conducting performances of Carmen for Scottish Opera (23 & 25 May). During his time at Cambridge, he conducted extensively for Cambridge University Music Society (CUMS), holding the coveted position of Conducting Scholar during his MPhil year (2018-19), and leading the Cambridge University Orchestra on a tour of Southern Poland in 2019. He has conducted concerto repertoire with soloists including Yuanfan Yang, Jacqui Martens and Masayuki Tayama, and worked in concert or rehearsal with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, The Salomon Orchestra, CUMS Symphony Orchestra, CUMS Sinfonia, The London Schools Symphony Orchestra, The Commonwealth Festival Orchestra, and The Seraphin Project (as Chorus Master). He has been taught by Stuart Stratford, Dominic Wheeler, David Hill and Sian Edwards, and has conducted UK premieres of works by J.N. Hummel and Ivan Fischer, as well as numerous world premieres of student compositions at Cambridge University and Chetham’s School of Music.