✨Meet our conductor✨
👏We’re delighted to welcome back the wonderful John Paul Jennings! He’ll be leading us through Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony on the 7th of March and giving a special introduction to the historical and political context of the piece at the beginning of the concert 👀 Composed in 1937 under the shadow of Stalin’s Soviet regime, Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony navigates the complex relationship between composer and state, balancing outward displays of triumph with moments of profound irony and struggle. Get your tickets through the link in our bio!
🎶A recipient of the 2025 Bayreuth Festival Richard Wagner Scholarship, John Paul Jennings has quickly emerged onto the scene as a young conductor of note. From 2021-25, he was Assistant Artistic Director of Regents Opera from 2021-25, where he served as Assistant Conductor for Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Most recently, he gave his first performance with the Suffolk Philharmonic alongside Isata, Braimah, and Sheku Kanneh-Mason in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Other recent highlights include assisting Toby Purser and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Mark Wigglesworth and Lang Lang with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, both at the Royal Albert Hall. John Paul was the James Horner Scholar at the Royal College of Music, from which he graduated with Distinction.
So honoured to have had the Suffolk Youth Orchestra featured on Aragón TV as we rehearsed for our first concert in Huesca! Two concerts to go, including tonight at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón.
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#conductor #conductorthings #queerartist #queer #orchestra #classicalmusic #opera #instagood
A year and a half ago, I had the honour of giving a toast at your wedding. Today, I had to say goodbye.
Matt, you were one of the most incredible souls I’ve ever met. So full of light even in the darkest moments… you had a unique ability to find poetry, beauty, and most importantly a lesson to be learned in even the most seemingly ordinary situations.
As gay men who have left home and made a life for themselves abroad, we often end up with two groups: our chosen family, and the family we were born into. You did something unique: you simply extended your family to include me and so many others who had the fortune of knowing you. Thank you for never giving up on me even when I was at my worst, and for teaching me how to give myself the same compassion I hold for others. I’ll miss you so much ❤️
“Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”
#Throwback to conducting the #worldpremiere of @eamonnodwyer ’s piece Sticks and Stones! I had an absolute blast working with him and the amazing musicians of Project40.
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#classicalmusic #opera #conductor #conductorthings #lifestyle #gay #instagood #pride #expat #london #england #uk #instagay #queer #queerartist #musiciansofinstagram #music #goodvibes #aesthetic #gaysofinstagram #blessed #portrait #portraitoftheday
I remember so vividly a family trip to NYC in 2009. I spent $12 to rent a score from the Metropolitan Opera Guild and sit at a little desk up in the gods to follow along with a matinée of Die Walküre (which I promptly abandoned for an empty seat). I watched in awe as James Morris sang one of his last ever Wotans, alongside Gary Lehman as Siegmund, Waltraud Meier as Sieglinde, Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde, and John Thomlinson as Hunding. I knew in that moment that somehow, someday, the Ring Cycle would come into my life.
15 years later, here we are. I have the honour of having worked with Regents Opera on the Ring over several years, and now I am both Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master for Götterdämmerung. Next month, I continue with this as well as serving as Revival Conductor for Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried - a monumental task that I am so privileged to take on, especially so early in my career.
My deepest thanks to @benjaminjwoodward and @regie_caroline for trusting me to help them realise their incredible vision.
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#RegentsOpera #Wagner #RingCycle #OperaSingersofInstagram #OperaLife #InstaClassical #OperaChorus #OperaFans #TheatreLovers #OperaSingers #OperaStar #OperaProduction #YoungArtists #EmergingArtists #DieWalküre #RichardWagner #RideoftheValkyries #WagnerFanatic #DerRingDesNibelungen #LondonOpera #Siegfried #DasRheingold #Götterdämmerung #conductor #conductorthings #lifestyle #gay #queer #queerartist
🔥Our conductor🔥 we're so happy to be joined by John Paul Jennings @jpconducts for our next project (tickets at the link in the bio). Here's a bit about him:
🇺🇲American conductor John Paul Jennings has quickly emerged onto the scene as a young conductor of note. He is Music Director of the Suffolk Youth Orchestra, and Assistant Artistic Director of Regents Opera, where he has led performances in critically acclaimed productions of Strauss’s Die Ägyptische Helena and Verdi’s La forza del destino. He received great praise for performances of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Green Opera for the Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival in 2022, with critics describing it as “a searingly incisive orchestral tableau” (britishtheatre.com). In June 2023, he conducted a new production of Bizet’s Carmen with St Paul’s Opera, and his Czech debut came as assistant and second conductor of a new production of Bluebeard’s Castle at the Moravské Divadlo in Olomouc.
👨As a guest conductor, John Paul enjoys a regular relationship with the East Anglia Chamber Orchestra, and he attracted particular attention after jumping in at three hours’ notice for a concert with the Thames Philharmonia. He was featured in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Emerging Conductor Showcase in 2022, and conducted the Orchestra of English National Opera in a masterclass with Martyn Brabbins. Other recent highlights include assisting Toby Purser and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Mark Wigglesworth and Lang Lang with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, both at the Royal Albert Hall. John Paul also assisted on the UK Premiere of Jake Heggie's Three Decembers with Opera Della Luna.
⏭️Future engagements include debuts with Hampstead Garden Opera, the Colne Philharmonic, and the Lavenham Sinfonia, as well as continuing his highly successful tenure with the Suffolk Youth Orchestra. John Paul is based in East London, and in his off hours enjoys indulging his passions for fitness, theatre, and electronic music.
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to 2024 and its new adventures.
I chose this piece to share for the occasion because it has become the inspiration for my New Year’s resolution. Copland’s Appalachian Spring is one of my favourite pieces of American music, but it was not long ago that I used to be filled with dread every time I saw it on an audition repertoire list. Early on, my insecurities about my conducting ended up getting in the way of me ever getting through it successfully no matter how much I practiced, and it’s safe to say that it lost me several auditions over the years. As I matured (and did even more practice) I came to love the challenges of this piece, and chose it for this very special occasion: my last-ever concert as a student. Fear gave way to joy in the most profound and beautiful way that day.
Inspired by that experience, my resolution for 2024 is to live fearlessly in everything I do. I would encourage everyone to do the same; you never know what joy may be in store for you when you do.
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#classicalmusic #opera #conductor #conductorthings #lifestyle #gay #instagood #pride #expat #london #england #uk #instagay #queer #queerartist #musiciansofinstagram #music #goodvibes #aesthetic #gaysofinstagram #blessed #newyear #newyearsresolution #performance #concert #copland #conducting
