Michael karcher-Young
“Renewed my love of
classical music.”
David Nathan, SoulMusic.com
“Electric Conductor.”
The Yorkshire Post
“Michael is always interested in getting
the emotional and spiritual essence of the
work to transpire in performance.”
Vladimir Jurowski,
Music Director: Bayerische Staatsoper
“The first symphony of Brahms was given
with an intensity and insight which was
second to none…
This was magnificent.”
Bob Briggs, Musical Opinion
Michael
KARCHER-Young
Conductor
“Renewed my love of classical music”
David Nathan, Soul-music.com
Artistic Director: Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity
Associate Conductor: English Symphony Orchestra
BIO
“Michael is always interested in getting the emotional and spiritual essence of the work to transpire in performance… A highly gifted musician and conductor who can be equally convincing in the field of symphonic repertoire and opera.”
— Vladimir Jurowski KBE, Conductor Emeritus, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Winner of the Audience Prize at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition for his “electric conducting”, Michael Karcher-Young is known for drawing audiences “inside the sound” of the music.
Michael is Associate Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, Music Director-designate of Leamington Sinfonia, and Artistic Director and co-founder of the Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity. He was also co-founder and Artistic Director of Charities Philharmonia, which supported major charities including the British Red Cross, Cancer Research UK and Help Musicians, and was described by BBC Music Magazine as “a fire-breathing ensemble capable of almost anything.”
He has assisted with productions for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera and Grange Park Opera, regularly covering rehearsals for the conductors he assisted, and worked as a session conductor for Musiversal at major London recording studios. At English National Opera he was entrusted with directing all dance rehearsals for The Rite of Spring, working closely with choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan.
“I found him to be a wonderful conductor… He has an affinity for movement and he displayed a great understanding of rhythm, tempo and timing… I could not recommend him more highly as a conductor.”
— Michael Keegan-Dolan, Choreographer
He previously served as Assistant Conductor with the English Symphony Orchestra, where he worked closely with leading British contemporary composers and contributed to numerous performances and recordings of new and established repertoire.
Michael takes a particular interest in the audience’s physical and emotional experience of performance, seeking to create conditions in which listeners feel fully immersed in the sound. Through projects such as Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity’s Get Inside the Sound, he has explored alternative concert formats designed to bring audiences into closer contact with the music-making process.
Alongside his conducting, Michael has developed a growing reputation as an orchestrator and editor. His work includes a revision of Christopher van Tuinen’s orchestration of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, editorial work on symphonic scores by David Matthews, Philip Sawyers, Adrian Williams and John Joubert, and new orchestrations of art songs by Undine Smith-Moore and Florence Price. As a pianist, he has contributed to numerous chamber and orchestral recordings and is highly regarded as a collaborative artist and coach.
“Michael has an absolutely fascinating property: he can, by his conducting, convince other people to love the music he is dealing with as much as he does.”
— Antony Hermus, Principal Guest Conductor, Opera North
“”
“The performance was crowned by a performance of The Rite of Spring that was absolutely outstanding… The rare qualities which made this performance stand out were that this was a real interpretation with the inherently wild rustic element of uncultured folk-based material given with a genuine sense of style throughout. This made the work cohere at every level, the result of a single-minded direction by Michael Karcher-Young that was very impressive.“
Robert Matthew-Walker
Musical Opinion
“”
“Phenomenal performance! One of the best evenings I’ve had in ages. I LOVED being a ‘part’ of the show…
It was very moving, very inspiring.
Renewed my love of classical music.“
David Nathan
SoulMusic.com
“”
“A final word about Michael Karcher-Young, the inspirer of this concert and future project; he gives every sign of being a thoroughly complete human being, having a deft way with his audience and a deeply serious approach to great music.“
Edward Clarke
Musical Opinion
Media
Gallery
Repertoire
Michael's ORCHESTRAL/CHORAL Repertoire List
Orchestral
Adams
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Albinoni / Giazotto
Adagio
Andriessen
De Staat
Aratunian
Trumpet Concerto
Malcolm Arnold
Clarinet Concerto No. 2
J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor
Oboe & Violin Concerto in D Minor
Overture/Suite BWV 1067 in B Minor
Double Violin Concerto BWV 1042 in D Minor
Barber
Adagio for Strings
Bartók
Bluebeard’s Castle
Concerto for Orchestra
Divertimento for Strings
Miraculous Mandarin Ballet
Piano Concerto No. 3
Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin & Orchestra
Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin & Orchestra
Violin Concerto No. 2
Beethoven
Grosse Fugue
Overture: Fidelio
Overture: Coriolanus
Overture: Egmont
Overture: Leonora No. 3
Piano Concerto No.1
Piano Concerto No.4
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 9
Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique
Bernstein
Candide Overture
Make our Garden Grow from Candide
Bizet
Carmen
L’arlesienne Suites
Bloch
From Jewish Life: Jewish Song, Prayer, Supplication
Borodin
Polovtsian Dances
Symphony No. 2
Brahms
German Requiem
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Tragic Overture
Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn
Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 1
Double Concerto for Violin and Cello
Britten
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Night Mail
Simple Symphony
Sinfonietta Op. 1
Les Illuminations
Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra
War Requiem
Briccialdi
Carnival in Venice Flute & Orchestra
Bruch
Violin Concerto No. 1
Bruckner
Symphony No. 4
Butterworth
The Banks of Green Willow
Chabrier
Marche Joyeuse
Chopin
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor
Copland
Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 Instruments
Fanfare for the Common Man
De Falla
El Amor Brujo
Siete Canciones Populares Españolas
Debussy
Prelude á l’apres midi d’un faun
La Mer
Nocturnes
Delius
Deux Aquarelles
Donizetti
L’elisir d’amore
Dukas
L’Apprenti Sorcier
Dvořák
Carnival Overture
Romance for Violin & Orchestra
Song to the Moon
Slavonic Dances Op. 72
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 9
Wind Serenade
Economou
Folie á deux
Elgar
Cello Concerto
Enigma Variations
Polonia
Salut d’amour
Symphony No. 2
Faure
Cantique de Jean Racine
Requiem
Finzi
Farewell to Arms
In Terra Pax
Fokkens, Rob
An eventful morning in East London
Gal, Hans
Concertino for Cello and Strings
Gorecki
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs / II
Grieg
Holberg Suite
Piano Concerto in A minor
Peer Gynt Suites
Handel
Concerto Grosso, Op.6, No. 6
Concerto Grosso, Op.3, No. 1
Coronation Anthems: Zadok the Priest
Haydn
Symphony No. 45
Symphony No. 88
Symphony No. 90
Symphony No. 100
Symphony No. 101
Symphony No. 103
Symphony No. 104
Holst
The Planets
St. Paul’s Suite
Humperdinck
Overture: Hansel & Gretel
Ibert
Capriccio
Concertino di Camera
Divertissement
Ives
Washington‘s Birthday
Jacobs, Gordon
Concertino for Clarinet & Strings from Tartini
Janacek
Idyla
Sinfonietta
Jenkins
The Armed Man
Kabalevsky
Colas Breugnon: Overture
Kurtag
Messages for Orchestra
New Messages for Orchestra
Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1
Totentanz
Lyadov
Eight Russian Folk Songs
Lysenko
Overture: Tarus Bulba
Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 10 (Cook IV version)
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana
Mason, Christian
Aspects of Radiance
Matthews, David
Romanza for Violin and Strings
Mendelssohn
Overture: Hebrides
Overture: Midsummer Night’s Dream
Overture: Die Schöne Melusine
String Symphony No. 10
Symphony No. 4 ‚Italian‘
Mosca, Luca
Lieder Ohne Worter
Mozart
Arias: Ruhe Sanft, Ah lo Previdi
Der Schauspieldirektor: Overture
Don Giovanni: Overture
Overture: Le Nozzi di Figaro
Mass in C
Requiem
Oboe Concerto No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 20
Piano Concerto No. 21
Piano Concerto No. 24
Piano Concerto No. 25
Violin Concerto No. 2
Symphony No. 29
Symphony No. 32
Symphony No. 35 ‘Haffner’
Symphony No. 36 ‘Linz’
Symphony No. 38 ‘Prague’
Symphony No. 39
Symphony No. 40
Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’
Musgrave, Thea
Green
Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain [arr. Rimsky-Korsakov]
Pictures at an Exhibition
Orff
Carmina Burana
Patterson, Paul
Allusions
Poulenc
Gloria
Pritchard, Debra
Wall of Water
Prokofiev
Peter and the Wolf
Romeo and Juliet excerpts of suites 1,2 & 3
Violin Concerto No. 1
Symphony No. 5
Purcell
Dance Suite from Fairy Queen
Dido and Aeneas
Fairy Queen
Rachmaninov
Isle of the Dead
Piano Concerto No. 2
Piano Concerto No. 3
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Ravel
Bolero
Capriccio Espagnol
Respighi
The Pines of Rome
Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade
Rodrigo
Concierto de Aranjuez
Rossini
Overture: Italian Girl in Algiers
Overture: La Gazza Ladra
Overture: The Barber of Seville
Overture: William Tell
Rutter
Esta Noche
Donkey Carol
12 Days of Christmas (arr.)
Saaraiaho, Kaija
Terra Memoria
Saint Saens
Carnival of the Animals
Cello Concerto
Sawyers, Phillip
Songs of Loss and Regret
Symphony No. 3
Violin Concerto
Trumpet Concerto
Valley of Vision
Schoenberg
Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene
Verklärte Nacht
Schubert
Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 8
Schumann, R.
Overture, Scherzo and Finale
Cello Concerto in A Minor
Piano Concerto in A Minor
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich
Cello Concerto No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 1
Violin Concerto No. 1
Chamber Symphony arr. Barshai
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarotti
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 10
Sibelius
Finlandia
Violin Concerto
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
The Swan of Tuonela
Valse Triste
Smetena
Vltava
Strauss, J.
Overture: Die Fledermaus
Overture: Ziguenerbaron
Strauss, R.
Suite: Le Bourgeois Gentillhomme
Don Juan
Oboe Concerto
Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
Stravinsky
Dumbarton Oaks
Firebird Suite [1919]
Symphony in C / III
The Soldiers Tale
The Rite of Spring
Sullivan
Overture: Yeoman of the Guard
Szymanowski
Violin Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto
1812 Overture
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Serenade for Strings Op. 48
Suite: Swan Lake
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 6
Tippett
Concerto for Orchestra
Double Concerto for Orchestra
Turina
Oraceon del Torero
Raspodia Sinfonica
Vaughan-Williams
Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Fantasia on Greensleeves
In Windsor Forest (cantata from Sir John in Love)
Let all the World in Every Corner Sing
Serenade to Music
Symphony No. 3 “Pastoral”
Symphony No. 9
Verdi
Overture: La Forza del Destino
Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, Aria
Vivaldi
Concerto in E Major for Violin „La Primavera“
Guitar Concerto in D Major
Gloria
Wagner
Overture: Rienzi
Siegfried Idyll
Parsifal, Orchestral Suite
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Walker
Lyric for Strings
Walton
Crown Imperial
Façade
Façade Suite No. 1
Symphony No. 1
Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V
Weber
Overture: Der Freischütz
Overture: Euryanthe
Williams
Schindler’s List: Theme
Wiren
Serenade
Woods
The Ugly Duckling
Michael's OPERA Repertoire List
Barber
Hand of Bridge
Bizet
Carmen
Bartok
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle
Britten
Peter Grimes
Dvorak
The Stubborn Lovers
John Joubert
Jane Eyre
Krása
Brundibár
Leoncavallo
Pagliacci
Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana
Massanet
Don Quichotte
Mozart
Der Schauspieldirektor (in German and English)
Don Giovanni
Puccini
Suor Angelica
Purcell
Dido and Aeneas
Fairy Queen
Rossini
Il Barbiere di Seviglia
Smetena
The Bartered Bride
Tchaikovsky
Eugene Onegin
Queen of Spades
Verdi
La Traviata
Musicals
Leonard Bernstein
West Side Story
Stephen Sondheim
Sweeney Todd
Andrew Lloyd-Webber
Jesus Christ Superstar