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Gregory Batsleer

Chorus Director

Gregory Batsleer is acknowledged as one of the leading choral conductors of his generation, winning widespread recognition for his creativity and vision. Since taking on the role of SCO Chorus Director in 2009 he has led the development of the Chorus, overseeing vocal coaching, the SCO Young Singers’ Programme and the emergence of regular a capella concerts. As well as preparing the Chorus for regular performances with the Orchestra, he has directed their recent successful appearances at the Edinburgh International Jazz, East Neuk, Glasgow Cathedral and St Andrews Voices Festivals, at Greyfriars Kirk, and on the SCO’s Summer Tour earlier this year.

In 2021 Gregory took up the position of Festival Director for the London Handel Festival. He leads the programming and development of the Festival, fulfilling its mission to bring Handel’s music to the widest possible audiences. Since 2017 he has been Artistic Director of Huddersfield Choral Society and was Chorus Director with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2015 - 2021.

As Guest Conductor Gregory has worked with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles. Recent highlights include performances with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, RSNO, National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Orchestra of Opera North, Manchester Camerata, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus, as well as SCO.

From 2012 to 2017, he was Artistic Director of the National Portrait Gallery’s Choir in Residence programme, the first ever in-house music programme of any gallery or museum in the world. He has curated and devised performances for the Southbank Centre, Wilderness Festival and Latitude and collaborated with leading cultural figures across a variety of different art forms. Gregory is the co-founder and conductor of Festival Voices, a versatile ensemble dedicated to cross-art collaboration .

As a non-executive director, Gregory sits on the boards of Manchester Camerata and Charades Theatre Company. His outstanding work as a choral director was recognised with the 2015 Arts Foundation’s first-ever Fellowship in Choral Conducting.

Gregory's Chair is kindly supported by Anne McFarlane
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The SCO Chorus have seldom sung better: their blend was rich and resonant, their rhythms crisp and bracing, their ensemble impeccable, and they paced themselves carefully across Haydn’s ever more exuberant songs of celebration. Quite simply an evening of musical joy …

The Scotsman ***** (Haydn Creation Oct 2022)

… this splendid group’s inspirational chorus director Gregory Batsleer …

Arts Desk (Handel Jephtha, BBC Proms, August 2019)

The SCO Chorus, trained to within an inch of their lives by Gregory Batsleer, sang this music with truth and thrilling conviction.

The Times (MacMillan Seven Last Words, February 2019)

What can so often seem like an endurance test was here a euphoric success from start to finish... most impressive was the extraordinary detail he demanded and received throughout from Gregory Batsleer’s expertly-trained chorus; needle-sharp diction capable of cutting through the orchestral largesse, and expressive range intensified by the superb homogeneity of the voices.

The Scotsman (Beethoven Missa Solemnis, April 2017)

The SCO Chorus under Gregory Batsleer was mesmerising, pitch perfect and dramatic ... totally committed to express every nuance of this intense work.

Bachtrack (MacMillan Seven Last Words, February 2019)