Toby Thatcher
About
Toby Thatcher is an Australian/British conductor. He is Artistic Director of digital contemporary sonic-arts startup Zeitgeist, founder & Artistic Director of the 19th-century-specialist performance ensemble the Nineteenth Circle & Assistant Conductor to the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France.
In the 2023-24 season he will debut with Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Synaesthesis, the Kodály Philharmonia Debrecen, and the Southbank Sinfonia, and will return to Ensemble Modern, the Slovenian Philharmonic and the Australian Youth Orchestra. He will also be a Guest Assistant Conductor to the Orchestre National de Lyon.
Between 2018-19, Toby was mentored by Hungarian composer/conductor Peter Eötvös. He has been a prize-winner & finalist at five international competitions, including the Georg Solti International Conducting Competition with the hr- Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt, the Princess Astrid Competition with the Trondheim Symfoniorkester, and the International Competition of Young Conductors Lovro von Matačić with the Croatian Radio Orchestra.
He has been the Assistant Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra & Orchestre National de France, and Guest Assistant Conductor to the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Toby has worked with ensembles internationally including Orchestre National de France, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Slovenian Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Panon Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, Queensland Symphony Orchestra & Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Toby graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with an MA in Music Performance where he studied oboe. As an orchestral musician he performed with the London Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, & London Sinfonietta.
Toby has been invited as guest speaker by the Royal Academy of Music, University of the Arts London & the British Association of Romantic Studies. He has appeared multiple times on BBC Radio 3, & provided programme research for the BBC Proms.