Sulivan Sweetland

Watkins is an exemplary Stravinskyan, creating subtle shades of mood… In Pulcinella, he negotiated the barely perceptible divisions between baroque elegance and modernist asperity with clarity and wit…Both the Dvorak and the Mozart were glorious.

Music Director, English Chamber Orchestra

Principal Guest Conductor, Ulster Orchestra

Paul Watkins’ natural musical instinct has led him from the soloist’s position to the conductor’s podium. Since winning the Leeds Conducting Competition in 2002, the Grammy Award nominated conductor, recently appointed Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra, appears regularly with Britain’s major orchestras.

His attention to detail and ability to communicate musical ideas earns him the respect of orchestral musicians, and many of his appearances have lead to re-invitations. Abroad he is developing a regular relationship with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and has recently conducted the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Queensland Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic and Norwegian Radio Orchestras.

In 2006 Watkins made his opera debut conducting a critically acclaimed new production of La voix humaine for Opera North: “The torment in Poulenc’s every bar is lavishly realized by conductor Paul Watkins” The Observer, 12 November 2006.