Michael karcher Young

Conductor

English Symphony Orchestra
Assistant Conductor

Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity
Artistic Director

Herefordshire Youth Orchestra
Music Director

Colorado Mahlerfest
Associate Instructor / Pianist

Michael
KARCHER Young

Conductor

BIO

“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: North Netherlands Orchestra

Winner of the audience prize at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition for his ‘electric conducting’, Michael combines an innate musicianship with a visceral presence on the podium and is a passionate advocate for classical music in today’s world.

Previously working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera and Grange Park Opera, Michael is currently Assistant Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Herefordshire Youth Orchestra. In 2016 Michael co-founded the Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity to realise a ‘new vision of the orchestral concert’, successfully crowdfunding and producing a sell-out event, to unanimous positive feedback.

Following his work coaching, score-proofing and assisting on the World Premiere of John Joubert’s opera ‘Jane Eyre’, in 2017 Kenneth Woods appointed Michael as the first Assistant Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, where he enjoys a close relationship with the composers whose work the orchestra often performs and whose recordings have gained a series of 5 star reviews.

“”

“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

‘Electric Conductor’

After winning prizes at the Leeds Conductors’ Competition and the International Pedrotti Conducting Competition, Michael formed Charities Philharmonia: a critically lauded semi-professional orchestra consisting of graduates and students drawn from the London conservatoires. Here he produced and conducted five seasons of concerts exclusively in aid of charities including The Red Cross, Cancer Research UK, NSPCC and The Musicians’ Benevolent Fund.

Previously he has been Music Director of London Youth Opera, Little Operations, founding conductor of the Vanbrugh Ensemble and Principal Conductor of the Dorking Chamber Orchestra.

Michael began conducting whilst an undergraduate at the University of Leeds where he was awarded the Lord Snowden Prize for raising the profile of classical music at the university. Here he formed the Leeds University Union Symphony Chorus and established a series of charity concerts in aid of Cancer Research UK at Leeds Town Hall that continue to this day. Whilst studying postgraduate conducting, piano and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music, Kurt Masur awarded Michael the London Philharmonic Orchestra Conducting Fellowship and following this he became the Sir Charles Mackerras Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London. Michael is a proud alumnus of Agnes Kory at the Bela Bartok Centre for Musicianship.

Michael's ORCHESTRAL 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
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
Overture: Fidelio
Overture: Coriolanus
Overture: Egmont
Overture: Leonora
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

Bloch
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

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

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
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 8
Carnival Overture
Wind Serenade
Romance for Violin & Orchestra
Song to the Moon
Slavonic Dances Op. 72 (2, 7)

Economou
Folie á deux

Elgar
Cello Concerto
Enigma Variations
Salut d’amour
Symphony No. 2

Faure
Requiem

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

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

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

Kabalevsky
Colas Breugnon: Overture

Kurtag
Messages for Orchestra
New Messages for Orchestra

Mahler
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 7
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
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

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

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

Saint Saens
Carnival of the Animals
Cello Concerto

Sawyers, Phillip
Symphony No. 3
Songs of Loss and Regret

Schoenberg
Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene
Verklärte Nacht

Schubert
Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 8

Schumann, R.
Overture, Scherzo and Finale op. 52
Cello Concerto in A Minor
Piano Concerto in A Minor
Symphony No. 1
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
Valse Triste

Smetena
Vltava

Strauss, J.
Overture: Ziguenerbaron

Strauss, R.
Suite: Le Bourgeois Gentillhomme
Don Juan
Oboe Concerto
Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils

Saaraiaho, Kaija
Terra Memoria

Stravinsky
Dumbarton Oaks
Firebird Suite [1919]
Symphony in C / III
The Soldiers Tale
The Rite of Spring

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. 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
Serenade to Music
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

Wagner
Overture: Rienzi
Siegfried Idyll
Parsifal, Orchestral Suite
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

Walton
Crown Imperial
Façade
Façade Suite No. 1
Symphony No. 1
Two Pieces for Strings from Henry V

Weber
Overture: Der Freischütz
Overture: Euryanthe

Wiren
Serenade

Other Ensembles

Jankelevic Ensemble
Dvořák: Serenade No. 2
Stravinsky: Octet
Brown, Edward: Five Zones
Williams, Jonathan : Dectet
Hornett, Benjamin: Shockwave
Philip Neil-Martin: Standing Water
Oliver Knussen: Ophelia Dances
Brian Mark: A Eulogy to Words
Brian Mark: The 12 Other Disciples

Leeds Session Orchestra and Choir
Original orchestral-choral arrangements for rock band Jonny Berliner

Leeds University Symphonic Winds
Assistant Conducting
Magnus Linberg: Gran Duo
Berlioz: Grande Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale

RCM Contemporary Consort & New Perspectives Ensemble
Christopher Mayo: Talking of Strawberries All of the Time
Max Bendall: Canto
Steven Laurence Frew: Trio
Russell Hepplewhite: Cryptanthus
Edwin Roxburgh: Elegy
Louis Andriessen: Hout
Louis Andriessen: De Stat Assisting
Nadia Plein: A Trail Left…
Nadia Plein: Galanthus Nivalis

University of Leeds LS2 Contemporary ensemble
Hayden: Ergo
Varèse: Octandre
Spencer: E Quella, si Lontana

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

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

Scenes

Beethoven
Fidelio

Britten
The Rape of Lucretia
Midsummer Nights Dream

Donizetti
L’elisir d’amore

Humperdinck
Hansel & Gretel

Massenet
Cendrillon

Mozart
Le Nozzi di Figaro
Cosi fan Tutte
Die Zauberflöte
Arias: Ruhe Sanft, Ah lo Previdi

Puccini
La Boheme
Tosca

R. Strauss
Ariadne auf Naxos

J. Strauss
Die Fledermaus

Verdi
Don Carlo
Falstaff

“”

“The first symphony of Strauss’s friend Brahms was given with an intensity and insight which was second to none… [Strauss Oboe Concerto] Here Aviat and Young, for the first time in my experience, found exactly the right tone and feel for the music and delivered a performance without ever seeing it necessary to force the music and showing it to be the winsome flower it actually is. This was magnificent. “

Bob Briggs, Musical Opinion

“”

“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

Media

SCHEDULE

Thurs 23 Nov, 7pm

Shirehall, Hereford

Herefordshire Youth Orchestra

Autumn Concert

Michael Young - Conductor

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2
Lyadov: Eight Russian Folk Songs
Rimsky-Korsakov: Cappricio Espagnol