School of Music conducting tutor directs Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

School of Music conducting tutor Eduardo Portal will once again direct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a prestigious concert at the Leeds Town Hall.

In addition to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, recent seasons have seen him make important appearances with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra and Madrid Symphony Orchestra.

Since graduating as a conductor and violinist from the University of the Arts in Berlin, the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music, Eduardo has left a considerable impression amongst orchestras and audiences worldwide. He is an experienced opera conductor, with performances including Offenbach’s La Belle Helene, Janacek’s Katya Kabanova, Bernstein’s Candide, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Handel’s Imeneo, as well as work on Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Eduardo is also committed to contemporary repertoire and is founder of the Antares Ensemble in Spain, whose focus is on the performance of new music and research into its links with historical and rarely performed masterpieces.

The RPO concert program (Saturday 15 October 2016) features Weber’s Overture Der Freischütz, Brahms’s Symphony No.4 and Chopin’s Piano concerto No.2 performed by the winner of the Leeds International Piano competition 2015, Anna Tsybuleva. The competition, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013, is recognised internationally as one of the world’s most influential platforms for the next generation of professional pianists. The University hosts the early stages of the piano competition, with rounds held in the Great Hall on campus.

Eduardo teaches second-year and postgraduate students who wish to study conducting in the School of Music.