William Cole

With a repertoire from early opera to new compositions, William Cole’s recent highlights include his concert debut with the Britten Sinfonia and Red Note Ensemble, Hans Abrahamsen’s Schnee with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Purcell’s The Fairy Queen for Waterperry Opera Festival. Active in the opera house and the concert stage, recent and future engagements include projects with the Royal Opera Covent Garden, English National Opera, Opera North, Operá National du Rhin, Theater Aachen, Music Theatre Wales, Snape Maltings’ Jerwood Opera Programme, Nevill Holt Opera and The Grange Festival. Engagements cancelled due to Covid-19 include a season as Head of Music for English Touring Opera, and his debuts with the London Sinfonietta and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

A committed exponent of new and experimental work, he is Music Director of Filthy Lucre, an immersive mixed-genre collective with whom he has worked with artists from dance, sculpture, and film in music from Xenakis to The Clash. Other work in this area includes major works by Ligeti, Boulez, Grisey, Vivier and Kurtág as well as new works by composers including Patricia Alessandrini, Emily Howard, Shiori Usui and Laurence Osborn. He is currently a member of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s NEXT programme. Other masterclasses and training programmes include the Dartington International Summer School conducting programme with Sian Edwards, Royaumont Abbey’s Voix Nouvelles with Ensemble Linea and Péter Eötvös, and the Conducting Seminar at Tanglewood Music Centre.

William studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was a Répétiteur Fellow and is now a visiting coach.