Gareth Jones began his conducting career in 1990 as a member of the Music Staff at Welsh National Opera. While there he conducted an extensive range of repertoire including Un Ballo in Maschera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Turandot, Nabucco, La Traviata, Ernani, Die Fledermaus, Eugene Onegin, The Yeomen of the Guard, Faust, La Bohème, Fidelio, Billy Budd, The Carmelites, Carmen, Kátya Kabanová, The Cunning Little Vixen, Jenufa, Le nozze di Figaro, Der Fliegende Hollander, Madama Butterfly, La Cenerentola, Die Zauberflöte and Hänsel Und Gretel.
In 2009 and 2010, Gareth conducted Aida at the Bregenz Festival. He has conducted The Mikado for Vancouver Opera and English National Opera and returned to the Royal Northern College of Music, his alma mater, in 2011 to conduct Barber’s Vanessa. He conducted Philip Glass’ A Perfect American for ENO in the UK première in 2013 and for Opera Queensland at the Brisbane Festival in 2014. That same year, Gareth conducted performances of Showboat in the UK and South Africa in a collaboration between the Wales Millennium Centre and Cape Town Opera. He joined WNO’s production of Kiss Me Kate in 2016 and returned to ENO in 2017 for their revival of The Pirates of Penzance.
In 1996, Gareth formed Sinfonia Cymru which has established itself as Wales’ premier chamber orchestra. Many prominent artists have worked with Gareth and the orchestra including Dennis O’Neill, Rebecca Evans, Simon Keenlyside, Joseph Calleja, Gwyn Hughes Jones, Jean Phillipe Collard, Peter Donohoe, David Pyatt, Michael Collins, Chloe Hanslip, Catrin Finch, Guy Johnston, Liwei Qin, Alina Ibragimova, Jiafeng Chen and Llŷr Williams.
As a result of a highly acclaimed Gala concert given by Sinfonia Cymru in April 2000 with Sir Bryn Terfel, which included a performance of Wotan’s Farewell, a bond has developed between Bryn, Gareth and the orchestra. Gareth has worked with Sir Bryn Terfel on numerous projects including the disc ‘We’ll Keep a Welcome’, opera galas at the Faenol, Henley and Hampton Court Festivals and an S4C recording of Handel’s Messiah. In addition Gareth has conducted more than seventy concerts worldwide with Bryn, including his BBC Proms debut with Renée Fleming and Bryn in works by Wagner and Strauss. In 2013 he toured Scandinavia with Bryn for a concert series of an all-Wagner programme with orchestras including the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic. Gareth was conductor at Sir Bryn’s Faenol Festival where he worked with international singers such as Andrea Bocelli, Angela Gheorghiu, Rolando Villazon, Renée Fleming, Carlos Alvarez, Simon Keenlyside and Diana Damrau.
Concert work in the UK has included appearances with the Hallé, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata. Highlights include BBC Proms in the Park with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, Sir Bryn Terfel’s 50th birthday celebration concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Sinfonia Cymru, concerts at the Henley Festival, Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, Festival of Voice in Cardiff and a semi-staged concert performance of Tosca at the Abu Dhabi Festival with Sir Bryn Terfel and Kristine Opolais.
Recent and upcoming engagements this season include concerts with Sir Bryn Terfel in Bucharest, Melbourne, Sydney and Budapest and performances of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and Les vêpres siciliennes for Welsh National Opera.
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