Conductor Biography
Richard Dickins, a graduate of the Royal College of Music where he was an Exhibitioner and prizewinner, studied conducting with Norman Del Mar. He subsequently worked as Del Mar's assistant on many occasions with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony. He has gained a reputation for his high degree of sympathetic rapport with concerto soloists and this has led him to work with some of the UK's finest musicians including Raphael Wallfisch, James Bowman, Christopher Cowie, John Harle, Noriko Ogawa and Philip Dukes.
In 1983, he made his Italian conducting debut with performances of Walton's Facade with the Lindsay Kemp Dance Company for La Scala at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan, following which he took the production on tour throughout Italy. Later that year he was invited to conduct further productions in London at Sadler's Wells and at the Edinburgh Festival. Since then he has had a busy schedule working with orchestras throughout the UK and abroad.
In 1992, he made a first appearance in Hungary conducting Verdi's Requiem at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. In 1994, he was the London Chorus Master for the World Festival Choir's performance of the Verdi Requiem with Luciano Pavarotti and in 1995 he made his debut with the Ulster Orchestra. He is founder conductor of the string orchestra London Concertino with whom he was recently invited by the UAE Ambassador to perform at the celebrations to mark Arab National day. His commitment to contemporary music has led to his being invited to conduct a number of first performances including works by Timothy Salter, John Madden, Rick Birley and Anthony Bailey.
Richard Dickins is well known for his work with young musicians. He became conductor of the Symphony Orchestra at Imperial College London whilst still a student and was later appointed the College’s first Musician-in-Residence. He is also principal conductor at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. He was recently elected an honorary member of the RCM and was presented with this honour by the Prince of Wales. Richard Dickins has appeared on BBC national and local radio as well as Classic FM.
Read more about this topic: Imperial College Symphony Orchestra
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