Lee Reynolds is an emerging conductor with first rate opera companies and symphony orchestras.
As part of a long relationship with the LSO, Lee has conducted recording sessions at all of the major London studios, and performances at the Barbican, LSO St Luke’s and the Berlin Philharmonie. His 2015 recording of Chopin Piano Concerto No 2 with Adolfo Barabino was lauded in the international press, and his recording with Joshua Bell of Theodora (a new work by American composer J. Ralph) has recently been released. He has worked as Second Conductor with Daniel Harding and Michael Tilson Thomas, and has deputised for Valery Gergiev. Lee worked with the LSO in 2016 for recordings of Russian, Italian and Polish classical works, and will be returning in 2017 for further recording projects with video game and film studios.
Concert engagements for 2017 include performances in Poland, Spain and Russia; Beethoven Symphony No 3 (Eroica) with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Poulenc with the Southbank Sinfonia and Elgar the Dartington International Festival. Lee will conduct the world premieres of two new operas, one at Glyndebourne in November 2017, and one at Brooklands Air Museum in June 2018, and will work as Assistant Conductor for Kurt Weill Street Scene at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
At Glyndebourne, Lee worked with Andrès Orozco-Estrada on Don Giovanni in the 2014 Festival, going on to conduct the world première performances of Tycho’s Dream, by their composer in residence, Luke Styles, combining professional soloists with Glyndebourne Youth Opera. Lee has conducted Glyndebourne’s commission, Captain Blood’s Revenge by Lynne Plowman, premièring in May 2013 and on the subsequent Glyndebourne Tour. Lee was part of the team to win the RPS Award for Learning and Participation for Imago. As Music Director of Glyndebourne Youth Opera, Lee worked as Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master for their 2016 production of another new commission: Nothing, by David Bruce. In recognition for his work with voices, Lee received an award from the Arts Foundation in 2015 for Choral Conducting.
As an orchestrator, Lee’s work has been recorded at Abbey Road, and performed at venues around the world by the LSO, the LPO, the National Youth Orchestra, the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, by conductors including Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Jurowski, Kristjan Järvi and Daniel Harding. Lee’s sleeve notes appear in the LSO Live release of Fauré Requiem.
Lee believes strongly in making classical music available to everyone, and formed the Kantanti Ensemble in 2009 to create a reach-out-and-touch approach to orchestral performance. Giving at least eight concerts a year, the young professionals of the orchestra are joined by emerging and established soloists in a wide range of repertoire, gaining packed houses and rave reviews.