Paul McCreesh

Mr Paul McCreesh (MusB Music 1981) – Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Gulbenkian Orchestra

Over the past 30 years Paul McCreesh has established himself at the highest levels of classical music in both the UK and overseas.

After graduating from Manchester with a MusB degree in 1981, he spent his early years as a music teacher in Leicestershire, performing as a musician in his spare time with the choral and instrumental ensemble he founded at university – Gabrieli Consort and Players.

However, the pull of performance proved too hard to resist. He quit teaching to dedicate himself to music full-time. Combining his passion for music of all types with an instinctive commercial awareness, Paul transformed Gabrieli from part-time side-project to world-renowned interpreters of great choral and instrumental repertoire, from the renaissance to the present day. The group still tours world-wide and has made many award-winning recordings.

Along the way, Paul has earned a reputation as one of the industry’s most innovative and dynamic artistic directors and conductors. He regularly works with orchestras and choirs across the globe, covering a wide range of music. Recent successes include the Budapest Festival, Spanish National, Danish National, Bergen Philharmonic, St Paul Chamber, and further afield the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony orchestras.

From 2006 to 2012, he was the artistic director of the Wratislava Cantans Festival in Poland, one of Eastern Europe’s most prestigious cultural events, and in September 2012 he was appointed principal conductor and artistic adviser of the Gulbenkian Orchestra from the 2013/2014 season.

Paul is particularly passionate about working with young musicians and broadening access to classical music. He works regularly with youth orchestras around the world and has an outgoing outreach relationship with Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.